Theodore Ushev, a renowned multimedia artist, illustrator, and animator, hails from Bulgaria, where he earned a master's degree in graphic and poster design from the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia in 1995. Following his academic pursuits, he taught at the same institution for several years before making the transcontinental move to Canada in 1999.
Ushev's creative endeavors have taken him down a multifaceted path, with his work exhibited in numerous countries, including Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Japan, Denmark, and Russia. His digital animation films have garnered widespread recognition, being selected by prominent festivals such as Annecy, Ottawa, Sundance, Toronto, Montreal, Valladolid, Rio de Janeiro, Dresden, Tampere, and Leipzig.
Since 2003, Ushev has been a regular contributor to the Animation and Youth Studio at the National Film Board of Canada. Notable among his accomplishments is the design and animation of the Engrenage web portal, which earned him the Grand Prix Boomerang in 2004. He also developed the Invivo site for the Canadian pavilion at the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi, Japan.
As a prolific director, Ushev has completed several films between 2005 and 2007, including The Man Who Waited, Tower Bawher, and the children's movie Tzaritza, which achieved worldwide success on the festival circuit. In 2007, he collaborated with directors Denis Villeneuve, Guy Maddin, and Isabella Rossellini on the 10-movie series The Art of Seduction, designed for mobile devices and aired on Bravo TV, Sundance TV channels, and MSN Networks.
Currently, Ushev is working on an animated biography of one of Canada's most charismatic directors, Arthur Lipsett. He has also taken on the role of heading the new IMAX Stereoscopic Animation department at the National Film Board of Canada.
