Vasil Gendov (
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
: Васил Гендов. Born Vasil Dimov Hadzhigendov (Bulgarian: Васил Димов Хаджигендов); 24 November 1891 – 3 September 1970) was a
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
film and stage actor, film director and screenwriter. Gendov wrote, directed and had a starring role as an actor in the first feature-length film released in Bulgaria; the 1915
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...
comedy ''Bulgaran is Gallant''.
Gendov also produced Bulgaria's first
sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...
''The Slave's Revolt'' in 1933.
Early life and career
Born Vasil Dimov Hadzhigendov in
Sliven
Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace.
Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...
, Gendov studied at the Tears and Laughter Theatre and the
Ivan Vazov National Theatre
The Ivan Vazov National Theatre ( bg, Народен театър „Иван Вазов“, ') is Bulgaria's national theatre, as well as the oldest and most authoritative theatre in the country and one of the important landmarks of Sofia, the ...
in
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
between 1905 and 1907. He made his stage debut as an actor in the role of Robert Pfeiffer in Otto Ernst's play ''The Educators''. After graduating from theatre school in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, he studied in filmmaking in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
before touring in a troupe of theatre performers led by Bulgarian stage actress Roza Popova.
Film
In January 1915, Bulgaria's first feature-length film was screened in the capital of Sofia. ''
Bulgaran is Gallant'' ("Българан е галант") was written, directed by and starred Gendov.
[Golden Apricot. Yerevan International Film Festival.](_blank)
Retrieved 29 November 2015 The film was a light comedy and Gendov's performance drew comparisons to French actor
Max Linder
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE)
* Max (gorilla) (1 ...
. The film was almost entirely destroyed during the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
bombardment of Sofia in 1944
and all that remains are one or two frames.
Between 1915 and 1937 Gendov would write, produce and appear in eleven films, making him one of the most prolific filmmakers in Bulgaria of the era.
[Mira Liehm, Antonín J. Liehm (1977). ''The Most Important Art: Eastern European Film After 1945''. University of California Press. p. 21. ]
![BASA-46K-1-11-3-Dyavolat v Sofia, 1921](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/BASA-46K-1-11-3-Dyavolat_v_Sofia%2C_1921.JPG)
Gendov would found the first Bulgarian film production cooperative Yantra Film
and in 1933 he would write, direct and star in Bulgaria's first sound film ''The Slave's Revolt'' ("Бунтът на робите"). The film would also star Gendov's wife
Ivana "Zhana" Gendova, who appeared in most of Gendov's films. The film centered on Bulgaria's struggle for independence from the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
and Gendov starred as
Vasil Levski
Vasil Levski ( bg, Васил Левски, spelled in old Bulgarian orthography as , ), born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev (; 18 July 1837 – 18 February 1873), was a Bulgarian revolutionary who is, today, a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed th ...
, a leading figure in the Bulgarian uprising of 1873.
[Boyar, Ebru (2007). ''Ottomans, Turks and the Balkans: Empire Lost, Relations Altered''. I. B. Tauris. pp 145-147. ] The film proved to be controversial, with the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs claiming it 'depicts and demonstrates the imagined tyranny which the Bulgarians experienced under 500 years of Turkish rule,' and 'whose crude and ugly depiction' would 'offend ... the feelings of our nation as well as instigate Bulgarian ideas against us.' The Ministry then demanded an explanation from the Bulgarian government as to why it had given permission for the circulation of such a film.
The Bulgarian government defended the film and did not accept the Turkish view that the film was anti-Turkish, pointing out that 'since the imagined events in the film concerned the Ottoman period,
he film
He or HE may refer to:
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* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
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could not be perceived as being against the new Turkish government and nation.'
Later career, death and legacy
Gendov would go on to initiate the establishment of the first Union of Actors in Bulgaria in 1919–1920, the Union of Filmmakers in Bulgaria in 1931 and the Museum of Bulgarian Cinematography in 1948.
Vanquished after allying with Hitler, Bulgaria became a socialist people's republic and the film industry was nationalized and organized after the Soviet model in 1948.
[Radio Bulgaria: ''Radio Bulgaria: Bulgarian Cinema Turns One Hundred''](_blank)
Retrieved 29 November 2015 Gendov was then forced into early retirement from making films. However, he undertook creating the state film archives that would develop into what is now the
Bulgarian National Film Archive
The Bulgarian National Film Archive ( bg, Българска Национална Филмотека), also known as the Bulgarian Cinematheque, is an organization formed to acquire, restore, preserve, and store film and film-related archival art ...
. Gendov dedicated himself to collecting the films made by his colleagues, as well as film posters and media publications about the Bulgarian film industry.
Vasil Gendov would live out the remainder of his life in Sofia, where he died in 1970. On 15 January 2015, the centenary of the release of ''Bulgaran is Gallant'', the Bulgarian National Film Archive held a celebration and exhibition at the Odeon Cinema in Sofia. In 2015, Bulgarian filmmaker Iliya Kostov would release the documentary ''Vasil Gendov - Myth and Reality'', which explores Gendov's career and personal life in the context of the social and political situation of Bulgaria in the early twentieth century against the backdrop of the cultural development of Europe and the Balkans. The documentary was released in October 2015 and was screened at the 22nd Golden Rhyton Documentary and Animation Film Festival in December 2015 in
Plovdiv
Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...
.
22nd Golden Rhyton Documentary and Animation Film Festival
Retrieved 29 November 2015
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gendov, Vasil
1891 births
1970 deaths
Bulgarian film directors
Bulgarian male stage actors
Bulgarian male film actors
Bulgarian male silent film actors
Bulgarian screenwriters
Male screenwriters
People from Sliven
20th-century Bulgarian male actors
20th-century screenwriters