Multi-talented Zlatin Radev manages animation for Boyana Film Studios. He produces and directs his own animated films, plus he's a full-time professor of animation in Sofia, Bulgaria. Courtesy of Zlatin Radev.

It's a windy fall morning in Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. Tiny raindrops are falling to the ground together with the yellow leaves. We are looking for a café that is open at this early hour. Finally, we find a place by the tramway-lined boulevard — the landmark of Sofia. The morning coffee comes steaming. My interlocutor and I start a conversation about Bulgarian animation.

His name is Zlatin Radev, 42, animation division manager of Boyana Film Studios, Bulgaria’s biggest film studio. He is also an acclaimed animated film director and producer whose films, Canfilm, 1990, and Shock, 1996, were warmly accepted by the international public and generously awarded at numerous festivals around the world. Zlatin Radev is also a full-time animation professor at the National Academy of Theatre and Film Art in Sofia. Currently he is developing his 26x22 stop-motion series, an action-adventure-comedy about the life of… The Junks, targeted at children 8-12. Zlatin is preparing to shoot the pilot episode and looking for co-production partners.

Bulgarian animation enjoyed worldwide fame in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s with its strong short artistic films. Bulgarian animated shorts have received numerous prestigious international prizes such as the Palm D’Or in Cannes, the Grand Prix at Annecy and Academy Award nominations, among many.

Canfilm, an early work of Radev's, received international acclaim, including an Academy Award® nomination for Best Student Film. © Boyana Films

Over the past five years production has shifted from strictly personal shorts to animation for large audiences. The studios have been opened to foreign partners and offered subcontracting services on international projects. At the same time, Bulgarian companies have been trying to develop and produce their own projects for shorts, series and feature films. Bulgarian animation companies have now started seeking international partners for their projects.

The Scene
There are several animation studios in Bulgaria. They are located mainly in Sofia. Boyana Film has the largest animation facility. The studio complex offers a full range of services for animation and live-action, as well as audio and video post-production facilities, plus a film lab. The company represents Kodak motion picture materials, ARRI lighting equipment and Panther cinema cranes in the region.

The animation division of Boyana Films has two departments: a 2D and stop-motion department. The 2D department is equipped with the newest Animo 4.1 system (becoming the first Bulgarian client of Cambridge Animation) and has a capacity of about 22-26 minutes per month for TV series layout and animation. With roughly 150 workstations at the studio, the goal is to reach the capacity of two 26-minute shows per month. To that end, there is a permanent training program at the studio with two training courses per year for animators, assistants and in-betweeners. The courses are for about 50 people in each, lasting four and a half months.

In the past five years, the company has worked for international companies such as Nelvana, Duran, Valentine Production, Millimages, Ravensburger TV, and others, doing animation and layout services for the series Anatole, Tom-Tom et Nana, Der Kleine Herr Jacob, Pirates VPA and Old Tom. Last summer Boyana finished work on the German short series Anshi & Karl Heinz from Stiglmayr Film GmbH for the Bavarian Television in Munich, Germany. Boyana also worked on the animation for the trailer and pilot of the French action-adventure-fantasy 26x26 series Brann, produced by Cameo SA, France. The project was presented at Cartoon Forum.