BORIVOJ DOVNIKOVIC - BORDO
Borivoj Dovnikovic – Bordo delivered a masterclass on Monday, December 6th at John Cassavetes theatre, within the framework of the 51st Thessaloniki Film Festival. The main issues he referred to were his career as an animator over the years, the renowned Zagreb School of Animation, new technologies, politics, as well as the crisis of modern times. Bordo, a key figure in the field of animation and a legendary name of the Zagreb School, is an official guest of honor of the 51st Festival, on the occasion of the homage by the section Balkan Survey.
In the beginning of the Masterclass, the Thessaloniki Film Festival Director, Mr. Dimitri Eipides who attended the event, described Bordo as a “pioneer” of animation films. Moreover, he pointed out that the presence of the artist is a great honor for the Festival, as he made history in the field of animation, received international awards and paved the way for this genre.
On his part, the Head of the Balkan Survey section, Mr. Dimitri Kerkinos, stressed that Bordo, a truly multi-talented artist as he is an animation film director, a caricaturist, an illustrator, a cartoonist and a graphic designer, is the incarnation of the Zagreb’s School conscience, as well as the most innovative Croatian artist in his field.
As he made a flashback to his 60-year career, which is inextricably interwoven with the Zagreb School, Bordo mentioned that in 1950, when he working as a caricaturist in a magazine, along with a group of other artists, they started an effort to produce the first independent animation film. Having the Disney film patterns as their guideline, it took them a year to complete this 20-minute, black and white short film, which focused on the ideological battle between USSR and the Western World, as well as Yugoslavia’s role in this political scenery. Later on, in 1956, a group of top class artists founded the first independent studio that produced animation films and placed emphasis on the exploration of new approaches in the field of animation. The genre gained great recognition in the 60’s by receiving international prizes and awards, as well as three Oscar nominations. Nevertheless, Bordo insisted on making it clear that: “Each artist had its own personal style, so it is better to call it the Zagreb Circle, rather than the Zagreb School. As he, himself, underlined, after the 70’s a decline was observed, while the political changes in the 90’s reduced the production of animation films. Nowadays, the Zagreb School follows its path, having the state as its main, but not exclusive, source of financing and with a lot of new members, who receive international acknowledgement for their work.
Mr. Dovnikovic was asked by the audience if the School’s renewal process includes an opening towards new technologies. “Young people are very familiar with the use of computers and technology enables their work a lot, but this in not enough. In order to draw, brain and soul are more important than the hands or the computer.”, he said. He expressed his doubts as to whether today’s artists are really reviving the Zagreb School phenomenon and made the following observation: “The new generation lacks patience and wants to win awards and gain international recognition just after a year’s work, while it took us ten years to reach that point. Nowadays of course, the competition is bigger. Theoretically speaking, every person who has a computer has the potential to make animation films.”
When he was asked to comment on his colleagues’ work in other Eastern countries, as well as in the West, Mr. Dovnikovic responded that the main difference was that in socialist countries, there were big studios that belonged to the state, whereas in the capitalist countries the studios were private, with Disney Studios being the most typical example. “At some point in the past, Disney took part in the Zagreb Animation Film Festival. At first, the company’s representative could not believe how I could make movies, but later on he confessed to me that: “Here, you may not be rich, but you work in a better way”. In socialist countries, the conditions were pretty good because the artist’s task was to produce artistic movies. Back in my time, really good films were made in Poland, Bulgaria and Romania. After 1991, Hungary has taken the lead, with private, I guess, studios and a high level of production in terms of quality and quantity. I believe though, that we are in a phase of transition.”
The next issue that was brought up was that of the censorship imposed on the artists’ work by the Socialist Regime of the time. “Speaking for myself, I did not face any problems. We made films focused on violence, on Nazism, on militarism etc, with indirect references to Yugoslavia as well, but it was more of a social than a political, criticism.” He went to say that: “In Yugoslavia, the Socialist Regime was different compared to that of the USSR. The artists had the freedom of speech, without of course being able to turn against the Socialist system. Our films talked about social weaknesses and the lack of freedom in general.”
When he was asked to answer whether the financial crisis makes it harder for the artists, he responded in a humorous way by saying that as a retired artist, he no longer has to deal with the problem of the insufficient financing. “You Greeks have known this crisis at first hand. Back in the 50’s, the political circumstances caused the, known at the time, Duga Film Company to collapse. Huge cutbacks in culture were made and film production came to a halt, as in times such as these, the pension system and education become the top priorities. Nowadays, culture is still being financed, even though to smaller extent. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”
During the second part of the Masterclass, Bordo’s 8-minute film entitled “Skola Hodanja” (1978) was screened, “a comment on human creativity and independence, as well as a critical point of view regarding former Yugoslavia’s efforts at the time to gain autonomy”, as the artist, himself, stressed.
