site.btaProminent Bulgarian Director, Writer Ludmil Todorov Dies at 68

Bulgarian writer, actor, screenwriter and director Ludmil Todorov has passed away after an illness, his family told BTA on Wednesday. He was 68.

Ludmil Todorov was one of the most prominent contemporary Bulgarian film makers and writers, and leaves behind an impressive oeuvre of novels, short story collections, films and film scripts.

Born on January 12, 1955 in the northern town of Gorna Oryahovitsa, Todorov studied at the English-language high school in Ruse. In 1982, he graduated in film directing from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts.

As a filmmaker, he wrote and directed the films Migration of the belted bonito (2012), Seamstresses (2007), Emigrants (2002), Two Men Out of Town (1998), Emilia's Friends (1996), The love summer of a schlep (1990), Running Dogs (1989), and Colours in the Dark (1987). As an actor, he appeared in Love Pieces (1989), Measure for Measure (1981), Zhivot do poiskvane (1987), and At Every Kilometre (1969-1971). Todorov was highly praised at national and international film festivals.

His first collection of short stories, Loosing Winnie-the-Pooh, was published in 1988. Todorov is the author of two collections of short stories and five novels, including A Barge in the Desert (2013) and A Summer Dissembled (2014). 

His selected short stories were published in English in 2021 by Accents Publishing, USA.

In 2013, he received the Hristo G. Danov literary award for A Barge in the Desert. In 2016, he received the Golden Quill Award for his contribution to Bulgarian culture and art.

Both his films and his books vividly portray the life and the people of present-day Bulgaria.

In an interview with BTA, Todorov said, "My initial idea was to write a novel about the two beginnings of the world. I wanted to write a book about sun and shadow, fire and water, black and white.  The result was a story about a family in which the mother and father embody the different beginnings, and their daughter bears the beginnings of both. She is the protagonist of the novel, the character who delivers the narrative. 

Speaking to BTA in November 2022 following the publishing of his last novel, Changing Optics, he said it took him an unusually long time to finish it. "I spent two years writing Changing Optics, whereas other novels usually take several months. Time doesn't guarantee anything, it's just that the task I set myself was more complicated. I wanted to reconcile two incompatible views of the world in one person while staying within the bounds of psychological plausibility." The novel explores the split of human personality caused by family relationships.

Todorov is survived by his wife, prominent Bulgarian journalist and translator Zlatna Kostova, and son Matey Todorov, also a translator.