site.btaTheodore Ushev's First-Length Feature Animated Will Be Produced in Burgas

The first feature-length animated film by Theodore Ushev, “Light Boxes”, will be partly produced in Burgas, where an animation studio for the project will be established. This was confirmed to BTA by the Oscar-nominated director and animator.

He announced the news during the Burgas International Film Festival, where he presented his latest short film “La Vie Avec Un Idiot” for the second time in Bulgaria, as well as the fourth selection of animated films in his curated Aquanima programme, which has been part of the festival’s lineup for the fourth consecutive year.

“The news is that the film will be made in Burgas, where the animation studio will be located. We already have a studio and a screenplay, it only needs a little more funding,” Theodore Ushev said.

“Light Boxes” is inspired by the novel of the same name by American writer Shane Jones - a poetic and visually bold story about war, love, imagination, and resistance against darkness. The screenplay was written by Theodore Ushev and edited by Chris Robinson. As BTA previously reported, the project was selected to participate in the Venice Gap-Financing Market 2026, part of the Venice Production Bridge at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. This year’s selection includes only two animated films.

Light Boxes is a Bulgarian co-production by Cinelibri, made with the support of the Bulgarian National Film Centre and in partnership with Canada, Poland, France, and Belgium. The film will combine stop-motion puppet animation with live-action elements — an approach that, according to Ushev, will allow him to explore new territories in storytelling and visual language.

During the festival, Ushev also presented his latest animated film “La Vie Avec Un Idiot” for the second time to a Bulgarian audience. The film is an adaptation of Viktor Yerofeyev’s short story of the same title. In a conversation with the audience after the screening, the director explained that from the very beginning he wanted the film to be structured as an opera, which is why he chose to work with composer Yan Volsy, as well as with soprano Lucy Page from the Lille Opera, who created the score for the female character in the story herself.

“I wanted the woman to appear oppressed. She actually has no voice, because the man translates what she says while she sings. Her melody had to be poetic, but also incomprehensible — she had to be a woman who has been deprived of her voice. That is why it can be said that it turned out to be an opera without words,” Ushev explained.

He described the film’s visual style as deliberately expressive and uncomfortable to watch. “I wanted the film to create a sense of visual discomfort, to have ink stains. That is why, while drawing and animating, I constantly splashed ink and watercolour throughout the process, so that it would be uncomfortable to watch,” the director said.

Ushev added that he gave similar instructions to French actor Dominique Pinon (Amélie, Delicatessen), who provides the voice of the main character in ”La Vie Avec Un Idiot”. “We did not want the voice to be smooth and perfect. We wanted to feel the inner tension - for it to be uneven, trembling, fragmented, and flawed,” the director added.

Regarding his second feature film, “Idling”, on which he is working with producer Nikolay Mutafchiev and again with actor Dominique Pinon, Ushev announced that filming was completed at the end of 2025 and that the project is currently in post-production. “I hope we will be able to present it next year, and at some point in Burgas as well,” the director added.

For the fourth consecutive year, Ushev also presented his Aquanima selection as part of the festival. He describes it as a completely subjective choice of films that impressed him over the past year.

According to him, since its creation, the selection has gained popularity, and filmmakers are now happy to have their work included in it - a sure sign that he and the festival team are doing things right.

“Of the six films in total, four are from the National Film Board of Canada, where I also work. These are debut films by young filmmakers, and I like them very much,” the director said.

He highlighted the festival’s musical nature (the BIFF Tunes thematic selection of music documentaries) as one of the reasons behind the choice of some of the titles. “In “Ultra Strong”, for the first time you can hear the voice of singer Regine Chassagne from Arcade Fire, who is also the composer of the music, and on top of that, it is combined with Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden,” he said.

Ushev noted that the selection includes both more upbeat and darker films, including some already award-winning titles. “There is a film that was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film - “Retirement Plan”. I think that among those included in the selection there is another one that is very likely to be nominated next year because it is very good,” he said.

Among the other titles, Ushev highlighted “Paradaïz”, which has won two of the most important short film awards in Germany - at the festivals in Leipzig and Dresden - as well as “Kyiv Cake” by Ukrainian filmmaker Mykyta Lyskov.