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June 17, 2015 - Annecy, France
National Film Board of Canada
Theodore Ushev’s Blind Vaysha, produced by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), received the Junior Jury Award (short films) at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival’s special awards ceremony on June 17. According to the young members of the jury, the film was chosen because it takes an interesting approach to questioning the way we look at the world. Despite its at times melancholy tone, Blind Vaysha ultimately imparts a sense of hope, encouraging us to live in the present. Hailing from Tunisia and France, the youth jury members were Ines Daldoul (9) and Sara Ben Ayed (11), from the DigiArt Living Lab Tunis-Nabeul, and Alyssa Henenne (11) and Léonie Renut (11), from the Atelier de cinéma d’animation d’Annecy et de Haute-Savoie.
This is the third award Theodore Ushev has won at Annecy, where most of his films have been screened. Previously, he received a special mention for the Lipsett Diaries in 2010 and the FIPRESCI Award for Gloria Victoria in 2014. Blind Vaysha had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival.
This year marks the third time the special awards were presented at the city’s town hall with Jean-Luc Rigaut, mayor of Annecy, in attendance. A second awards ceremony will be held on June 18, the festival’s closing day.
The week-long Annecy International Animation Film Festival, one of the oldest and most important celebrations of animated film in the world, hosts the industry’s leading creators and professionals every year in June.
Blind Vaysha, directed by Theodore Ushev (8 min 15 s)
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Vaysha is not like other little girls. Her left eye sees only the past; her right, only the future. “Blind Vaysha,” they call her.
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The film was produced at the NFB by Marc Bertrand and executive producer Julie Roy, with the participation of ARTE France. Narrated by Actress Caroline Dhavernas.
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For his 13th film, the renowned filmmaker and animator adapted a philosophical short story by acclaimed young Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov. With Blind Vaysha, Ushev reaffirms his virtuosity in visual experimentation using an expressive aesthetic poised between religious paintings and linocuts.
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In 2006, Ushev began work on an acclaimed trilogy about the relationship between art and power with Tower Bawher, which was soon followed by Drux Flux (2008) and Gloria Victoria (2013). In parallel, he made several short films that focused on artists and filmmakers and their relationship to the world, including Lipsett Diaries (2010), winner of 16 awards.
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