Donyo Donev

Donyo Donev Доньо Донев
Born	June 27, 1929(1929-06-27) Berkovitsa, Montana Province, Bulgaria
Died	November 28, 2007(2007-11-28) (aged 78) Sofia, Bulgaria
Nationality	Bulgarian
Ethnicity	Bulgarian
Occupation	Animator, director, cartoonist
Years active	1957–2007
Spouse	Zhivka

Donyo Donev (Bulgarian: Доньо Донев) was a Bulgarian animator, director, art director and cartoonist. He is best known as the "father of the Three Fools"^[1] – an animated humorous sequence whose short episodes were continuously released during the 1970s and 1980s. His biting satirical caricatures were published in the most of the Bulgarian newspapers.

Donev's works are characterized with the simplified lines and at the same time plasticity of the motion and vivid expressiveness. He was the first who used deformed manner of speaking and interjections as a sound image of a second plan together with drum' and bagpipe' sounds.^[2]

Biography and Career

Donyo Donev was born on 27 June 1929 in Berkovitsa, a small town in the northwest part of Bulgaria. He enrolled at the National Academy of Arts in Sofia, where he studied graphic art in 1949–1954 under the eminent Bulgarian artist Iliya Beshkov.^[1] After graduating in the academy he attended a postgraduate course in 1959 in the Moscow's Soyuzmultfilm.

He worked as an artist with the Bulgarian paper "Evening News" (1954–1956). During the period 1956–1970 Donev was an animator and director in the department of animation in the Studio of Featured Films (SFF), Sofia. Since 1970 he was a head of a film unit in the Studio of Animated Films (SAF), Sofia where he stayed until 1993. In 1970 was released the first short episode of The Three Fools. This animated caricature became popular throughout the country. Subsequently, it were released nine more episodes in the 1970s and 1980s. The sequence turned into a badge of Donev' creative works. There are not a single episode of them that was not awarded at the foreign film festivals.^[3] Some of his other notable works are Happy End (1969), Clever Village (1972), De Facto (1973) and Causa Perduta (1977). There are also numerous awards he received for his other animated films through the years.

In the 1990s Donev was an editor-in-chief of the satirical paper named after his famous animated characters The Three Fools. He was also an editor in "Fras" (bang!) – a magazine for humour and fun.^[4] As a cartoonist he constantly took part in exhibitions in Bulgaria and abroad.

Donev has been a professor at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts for years, where he taught directing of animation.^[1] He was decorated with the high government prize the Order Of Saint Cyril And Saint Methodius.

Donyo Donev died in 2007 at the age of 78.

Selected filmography

The Three Fools sequence

• 1970 – The Three Fools / Trimata glupatsi
• 1972 – Three Fools as Hunters / Trimata glupatsi – lovtsi
• 1974 – The Three Fools and the Cow / Trimata glupatsi i kravata
• 1977 – The Three Fools and the Tree / Trimata glupatsi i darvoto
• 1978 – The Three Fools and the Fool Woman / Trimata glupatsi i glupachkata
• 1979 – Three Fools as Athletes / Trimata glupatsi – atleti
• 1980 – Three Fools as Pedagogues / Trimata glupatsi – pedagozi
• 1982 – Three Fools as Fishermen / Trimata glupatsi – ribari
• 1989 – The Three Fools in the Restaurant / Trimata glupatsi v restoranta
• 1990 – Three Fools Non-stop / Trimata glupatzi non-stop

Other

• 1969 – Happy End / Hepi End
• 1972 – Clever Village / Umno selo
• 1973 – De Facto / De fakto
• 1977 – Causa Perduta / Kauza perduta
• 1985 – We Called Them Montagues and Capulets / Narekohme gi Monteki i Kapuleti
• 1988 – Wolf's Suite / Valcha syuita

Some Awards

• 1988 – Golden Mikeldi for Wolf's Suite – Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films ^[5]
• 1989 – Silver Dragon for Wolf's Suite – Cracow Film Festival ^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Rokanova, Aleksandrina (2008). "Interview with Dimitar Bezhanski — Donev's friend" (in Bulgarian). Blitz agency. http://www.blitz.bg/article/8475. Retrieved 28 November 2008. 
2. ^ Kazakov, Velislav (2008). "About Donyo Donev" (in Bulgarian). Forum Community Newspaper. http://www.forumbulgare.ca/pages/january2008/society02.shtml. Retrieved January 2008. 
3. ^ е-vestnik (2007). "article " (in Bulgarian). е-vestnik. http://e-vestnik.bg/2788/%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%8C%D0%BE-%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B2/. Retrieved 28 November 2007. 
4. ^ "Issues " (in Bulgarian). literary club. 2001. http://litclub.bg/archiv/broi31/periodika.htm. Retrieved 01-14 February 2001. 
5. ^ ^{a b} http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1085267/awards IMDB awards list

External links

• Donyo Donev at the Internet Movie Database
• Donyo Donev at artweek (Bulgarian)
• Culture and Society Forum (Bulgarian)

Persondata
Name	Donev, Donyo
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	27 June 1929
Place of birth	Berkovitsa, Montana Province, Bulgaria
Date of death	28 November 2007
Place of death	Sofia, Bulgaria