FAMILY PORTRAIT OF THE BLACK EARTH

Short Talk with Ivan Popov 'Zaeka' (director) and Mihail Minchev (writer)

Bulgaria / 2023 / 10‘

BEST ANIMATION FILM Category

21st IN THE PALACE International Short Film Festival 2024

Synopsis: After undergoing cancer surgery an old lady is desperate to find a replacement for her missing breast and entrusts her husband with the task. In the ensuing funny camaraderie wholesomeness breeds love and hope.

Biography: Ivan Popov, also known as “The Rabbit” (Zaeka), is a film director and creative leader with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of animation and advertising. Throughout that time, he has worked on major campaigns for leading international brands, created animated shorts, and designed immersive visuals and SFX concepts for music videos and dance performances. In 2013 Ivan founded ROBO Lab, which has grown to become one of the leading animation and post-production studios in Bulgaria.

Ivan Popov 'Zaeka', director

Vera Chandelle (author): What was the inspiration in making this film and telling this story?

Ivan Popov (director): We were part of this Fiction and Motion program, where we had to choose a story and make a movie out of it. My colleague can tell more about the story itself.

Mihail Minchev (writer): It was a short story competition and we along with other people were part of the jury and we chose to animate this story specifically, because we liked the bitter-sweet aspects of if. The story is about something  that is rather tragic: a lady with cancer that loses one of her breasts, and at the same time there is a funny spin into what happens: she doesn’t feel wholesome after the loss, so she gave her spouse the task of finding her a new breast. Another thing we liked was that this is a reversed story. What we see as the bulk of the film is more of a dream of the character that we see at the end, who is reading a botanical book and probably fantasizing that the plant he saw in the book is planted with the seeds of love from the old couple. There is one more way of perceiving it: you can watch it completely disregarding and think about the story in a circular way. For example, the end of the story is the beginning of another one. That is why we liked this short story by Yordanka Beleva.

Ivan Popov: Another thing is that the old lady in the film, started monetizing her lost breast with older people.

Mihail Minchev: As you can see, we emphasise that through the funny aspects of the film, because we thought we can do it beautifully within the realm of animation. It gives you a lot of freedom to play around that part of the plot.

Vera Chandelle: And how went the technical part of the filming?

Ivan Popov: First of all we tried to do the end of the film in stop motion, but we did not have enough budget, so we just made it look like it was created in stop motion. At the beginning we tried to film it in 2D, however there were only funds for blender, so we did the beginning of the film that way. The whole process took us around a year. In the ending scenes there is a train, that we created for a couple of months, because we could not find anywhere trains like this. We found one old Bulgarian movie with this type of train, we took measurements of it and used it as a sample. Overall it was a nice experience.

Vera Chandelle: This is the first ever premiere for the film, am I right?

Ivan Popov: Exactly, here in IN THE PALACE ISFF is the first official premiere of the movie.

Vera Chandelle: Do you have any new projects coming?

Mihail Minchev: Absolutely!

Ivan Popov: This was the first movie from Fiction and Motion and we are searching for a new story to tell, so one more is coming soon.

Mihail Minchev: If someone has a story, we will be happy to bring it to life in a beautiful way.

Author's view (Kaloyan Vasilev):
 
Family Portrait of the Black Earth is a poignant and beautifully crafted animation which we were proud to present for its world premiere at “In the Palace”. This bittersweet film, directed by Ivan Popov - Zaeka, offers a tender yet humorous look at enduring love. Through a carefully balanced tone, it transforms a deeply tragic subject into something more accessible by highlighting the absurdity.

Visually, the film is distinguished for its “camera” movements and the rich variety of editing techniques. The expressive facial animations of the characters, paired with cleverly orchestrated comic actions, reveal how the elderly couple navigates a life-changing loss - without the need for any spoken words.

At its heart, Family Portrait of the Black Earth is a moving story about faith, resilience, and the quiet power of love. It reminds us that even in the face of sorrow, humour and connection can carry us through. This film does not just leave a smile - it lingers in the heart, resonating with anyone who has loved, lost, or simply lived. It is a gentle, artistic reminder of the beauty in holding on.