Gloria Victoria / Gloria Victoria
Theodore Ushev
Canada / 2013 / 7' 0''Projections
Synopsis
Gloria Victoria unfolds on the still-smouldering rubble of the furious 20th century, propelled by the exalting “invasion” theme from Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony (No. 7). Resembling a military march with bolero overtones, the music sweeps over imagery of combat fronts and massacres, leading us from Dresden to Guernica, from the Spanish Civil War to Star Wars. Through a multitude of quotations, allusions and references, Theodore Ushev orchestrates a thundering nightmare in the name of peace.
Born in Kyustendil, Bulgaria, Theodore Ushev first made a name for himself as a poster artist in his native country before settling in Montreal in 1999. In Montreal, Ushev worked in the multimedia industry and then found fruitful creative soil at the National Film Board of Canada, where he has made more than 10 films to date, including Lipsett Diaries (2010), about the tortured life and art of the acclaimed experimental filmmaker, and the Academy Award-nominated short Blind Vaysha (2016). Ushev’s films have won more than 150 awards and mentions and have screened in many retrospectives.
Director
Theodore Ushev
Production
National Film Board of Canada, Copperheart Entertainment
Sound
Olivier Calvert
Music
Dmitri Shostakovich
Editing
Theodore Ushev
categories
Grand Competition 3