''Tower Bawher'' is a 2005 constructivist-style abstract

animated short Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

Theodore Ushev Theodore Asenov Ushev ( bg, Теодор Асенов Ушев; born 4 February 1968) is a Bulgarian animator, film director and screenwriter based in Montreal. He is best known for his work at the National Film Board of Canada, including the 2 ...

, set to the

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

Time, Forward! ''Time, Forward!'' (russian: Время, вперёд!, ''Vremya, vperyod!'') is a 1965 Soviet drama film directed by Sofiya Milkina and Mikhail Schweitzer based on a novel with the same name and a screenplay by Valentin Kataev. The film was pr ...

" by

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

composer

Georgy Sviridov Georgy Vasilyevich Sviridov (Russian: Гео́ргий Васи́льевич Свири́дов ; 16 December 1915 – 6 January 1998) was a Soviet and Russian neoromantic composer. He is most widely known for his choral music, strongly influe ...

. The film's title is an allusion to

Tatlin's Tower Tatlinʼs Tower, or the project for the Monument to the Third International (1919–20), Honour, H. and Fleming, J. (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Laurence King Publishing, p. 819. was a design for a grand monumental buildin ...

, an unbuilt structure conceived by

Vladimir Tatlin Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin ( – 31 May 1953) was a Russian and Soviet painter, architect and stage-designer. Tatlin achieved fame as the architect who designed The Monument to the Third International, more commonly known as Tatlin's Tower, whi ...

as a tribute to the glory of the

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...

. Drawing on the tower's design, the film seems to build toward a utopian goal, until the grandiose, futuristic forms abruptly tumble. In ''Tower Bawher'', Ushev celebrates constructivist art while also critiquing the use of art in the service of ideology. The film contains visual references to such Soviet era artists as

Dziga Vertov Dziga Vertov (russian: Дзига Вертов, born David Abelevich Kaufman, russian: Дави́д А́белевич Ка́уфман, and also known as Denis Kaufman; – 12 February 1954) was a Soviet Union, Soviet pioneer documentary f ...

, the Stenberg brothers,

Alexander Rodchenko Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko (russian: link=no, Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Ро́дченко; – 3 December 1956) was a Russian and Soviet artist, sculptor, photographer, and graphic designer. He was one of the founders ...

El Lissitzky Lazar Markovich Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Ла́зарь Ма́ркович Лиси́цкий, ; – 30 December 1941), better known as El Lissitzky (russian: link=no, Эль Лиси́цкий; yi, על ליסיצקי), was a Russian artist ...

and

Lyubov Popova Lyubov Sergeyevna Popova (russian: Любо́вь Серге́евна Попо́ва; April 24, 1889 – May 25, 1924) was a Russian-Soviet avant-garde artist, Painting, painter and designer. Early life Popova was born in Ivanovskoye District ...

. The 3 minute 46 second film was made over a five-week period in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, beginning in April 2005, when Ushev ran into problems working on was to have been his first animated short with the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

, the children's film '' Tzaritza''. The filmmaker had a strong connection with the Sviridov musical piece, having heard it as a child in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

as the

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

for the Soviet state TV evening news. Despite difficulties in securing the music rights to the Sviridov composition, which had been in dispute in Russian civil court at the time, ''Tower Bawher'' was completed in time for its world premiere at the

Ottawa International Animation Festival The Ottawa International Animation Festival is an annual animated film and media festival that takes place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OIAF was founded in 1975, with the first festival held from August 10 to 15 in 1976. Initially organized by ...

in September 2005. Awards for the film included the prize for best

non-narrative film Non-narrative film is an aesthetic of cinematic film that does not narrate, or relate "an event, whether real or imaginary". It is usually a form of art film or experimental film, not made for mass entertainment. Narrative film is the dominant ae ...

I Castelli Animati I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...

festival and the award for best abstract film at the

London International Animation Festival The London International Animation Festival is an annual animation festival founded in 2003 that takes place at the Barbican Centre in London in November and December.

. The film is similar in style to Ushev's 2008 film, ''

Drux Flux ''Drux Flux'' is a 2008 animated short by Theodore Ushev, inspired by Herbert Marcuse’s treatise ''One-Dimensional Man''. A film without words, ''Drux Flux'' uses figurative and abstract imagery to portray people as crushed by industry and pr ...

'', both utilizing Soviet constructivist imagery and Russian classical music score.

References

External links

*
Watch ''Tower Bawher'' at NFB.ca
Constructivism (art) 2005 films Visual music Films directed by Theodore Ushev National Film Board of Canada animated short films Animated films without speech 2000s animated short films 2005 animated films Abstract animation 2000s Canadian films {{short-animation-film-stub