Zdenka Doitcheva(1926-2020)

Zdenka Boyanova Doitcheva is Bulgarian director of animated films , a Czech origin. She was born on August 22, 1926 in Terezin , Czechoslovakia. In 1947, she graduated from college art school in Prague and in the next five years specialized animation . In Prague she has worked in studio "Bratri v triku". She married a Bulgarian student Bojan Doychev and so in 1952, arrived in Sofia, where she became an animator at the Animation Studio "Sofia", then assistant director of a great Bulgarian director of animated films Todor Dinov . Her debut as director was with Radka Buchvarova ; they created a film "Mouse and Pencil". Her first film was " The Little Diver " (1960). Doitcheva directed about 50 animated films, many of which participated in festivals of animated and short films in Europe and worldwide. At the beginning of the creative way Doitcheva created children's films, but over time she has drawn to stories with grotesque and allegorical character. Among the most famous of her movies are "The Hole", "Mahout", "Passion", "Aquarium", "Horoscope", and five caps under " Good night, kids " of Bulgarian National Television, shot at the end of 1970. For her work Doitcheva has won many awards, including the prize for best short film of Adelaide , in 1968, the Golden Record for children's movies from Tehran , 1970, the Palme d'Or for best short film in Cannes,1974 for the film Aquarium . In 2011, she received the Order St. Cyril and Methodius first degree for lifetime achievement. In 2006, film critic Grigor Chernev published a book about her - "A Czech woman in Sofia." On the cover is a frame from the film "Aquarium" and the book contains stories about Doitcheva, written by directors and artists Stoyan Doukov, Ivan Veselinov, writer Pancho Panchev and composer Boris Karadimchev .