Hommage Fjodor Chitruk

This year, Russian culture celebrates the 100th birthday of great director Fjodor Savelyevich Chitruk (1917 – 2012). In the Russian animation community, professionals of all ages believe that Chitruk, an unquestioned authority in the profession, influenced their artistic outlook. And of the large number of animation lovers, a majority grew up with films by Chitruk. Over the course of more than 70 years, Chitruk animated almost 200 cartoon characters, created a collection of famous films as a director, and trained several generations of Russian star animators. In 1937, Chitruk began to learn the profession of an animator at Moscow studio Soyuzmultfilm.Unfortunately, World War II abruptly interrupted his career. His long path on the front took him from Dnepropetrovsk to Vienna, and after the war he worked in Berlin as an interpreter. He returned to the studio in 1947. Creating cartoon characters as an animator, Chitruk was a strong advocate of the classic style of Disney animation. But in the early 1960s he had a successful debut as a director with his film “The Story of a Crime”; thanks to Chitruks talent, a constellation of new, famous animated heroes came to light. During this period, Soyuzmultfilm began to move away from the Disney style canons, actively expanding the boundaries of themes, genres and art forms. But it was in his own films that Chitruk first expressed the spirit of the new age. Starting to work with artists of the younger generation – Sergei Alimov, Vladimir Zuykov, and Eduard Nazarov, Chitruk created famous films such as “Toptyzhka”, “Boniface’s Holiday”, “The Man in the Frame”, “Film, Film, Film”, or a trilogy about “Winnie-the-Pooh”. The Open Russian Festival of Animated Film “Suzdalfest” where Chitruk has always been one of the most important guests and participants, opened this jubilee year of the patriarch of animation with special competitions, exhibitions and publications. The Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart has also dedicated a special programme to the anniversary of Chitruk. He always had a special relationship with Stuttgart, where he lived with his parents in the early 1930s and studied at an art school. Later, he repeatedly visited the Festival as a director/animator. This May, when Russian animation celebrates the 100th birthday anniversary of Chitruk, a documentary about the great Russian master as well as famous films by himself will be shown in hisbeloved Stuttgart.Interviews with (in alphabetical order) Albrecht Ade, Mikhail Aldashin, Andrei Khitruk, Ivan Maximov, Aleksandr Petrov, Mikhail Tumelia

„…To Be Everything…“ Commemorating the Centennial of Fjodor Chitruk („…To Be Everything…“ Commemorating the Centennial of Fjodor Chitruk)

Regie Director: Dmitry Zolotov / / 2017 / 00:54:00 min. / Produktion Production: Master-Film Studio

“…To Be Everything…” is a documentary which follows the work and life of Fjodor Chitruk, a master of film animation who made a major contribution to its development in Russia. The film’s title is a quotation from a Chitruk interview and represents the film’s main goal: to understand the essence of his creativity and position in film history and to trace formative influences (among which a special place belongs to German culture) on his artistic output. The film’s narrative embraces Chitruk’s works, memoirs and interviews, archival documents and commentaries by his colleagues and disciples.Interviews with (in alphabetical order) Albrecht Ade, Mikhail Aldashin, Andrei Khitruk, Ivan Maximov, Aleksandr Petrov, Mikhail Tumelia

The Man in the Frame (The Man in the Frame)

Regie Director: Fjodor Chitruk / Russland / 1966 / 00:09:48 min. / Produktion Production: Soyuzmultfilm

The Island (The Island)

Regie Director: Fjodor Chitruk / Russland / 1973 / 00:09:42 min. / Produktion Production: Soyuzmultfilm