Jordan Todorov

Jordan Todorov
Born (1980-05-29) May 29, 1980 (age 44)
NationalityBulgarian
Alma materNATFA
Occupation(s)Film director, Screenwriter, Journalist
Years active1998–present
Websitehttp://www.jordantodorov.com [permanent dead link‍]

Jordan Todorov (Bulgarian: Йордан Тодоров; born May 29, 1980) is a Bulgarian documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and journalist. He graduated with an MA in Film Studies from the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2003.

Career

Filmmaking

Todorov made his writing and directing debut with Concrete Pharaohs (2010), a picturesque documentary about the Kalderash Roma – a closed community of no more than 1 million people all over the world.[1] The film was produced by the Bulgarian company AGITPROP and became the first Bulgarian documentary commissioned by HBO.[2] The film was shortlisted for the Japan Prize 2011 - the International Contest for Educational Media.[3] Todorov served as a researcher for The Boy Who Was a King - a documentary that tells the story of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who at the age of six became the Tsar of Bulgaria.[4] In 2011 Todorov has been commissioned by the Bulgarian National Television to direct the Twilight segment of the Bulgarian version of BBC's Big Read survey.[5]

In 2011 Todorov wrote and directed the documentary Dad Made Dirty Movies (2011), that tells the story of the late American sexploitation producer and director Stephen C. Apostolof. The idea of the documentary dawned on Todorov in 2005, when he received an odd email from a friend: "Look who filmed the erotic scripts by Ed Wood!".[6] The film is produced by AGITPROP in association with Filmtank (Hamburg), ZDF and Arte.[7] Principal photography began in New York City in December 2009, and continued in California, Nevada and Arizona in May 2010. Dad Made Dirty Movies features interviews with Apostolof's children and his third wife Shelley, stars from his films, cult filmmakers, film critics and film historians. Dad Made Dirty Movies premiered at Visions du Réel International Film Festival[8] and played at more than thirty festivals around the world, including Sydney Underground Film Festival,[9] Transilvania International Film Festival,[10] Trieste Film Festival[11] and Mumbai International Film Festival,[12] among others. The film has been sold in more than thirty territories worldwide.[13] Dad Made Dirty Movies will air on HBO in the autumn of 2012. In 2013 Todorov helped produce the short documentary film Plamen, which features the story of Plamen Goranov, who became a symbol of the Bulgarian social protest movement and a catalyst for nationwide protests and government resignations when on 20 February 2013 he set himself on fire in front of the Varna municipal building.[14] In 2014 Todorov was awarded the MEDIA funded Nipkow Programm fellowship to develop his next documentary film in Berlin - a portrait of the iconic photographer Will McBride.[15]

Journalism

Todorov began his career as a journalist in 2002, working for the weekly newspaper 168 Hours, where he spent several years writing feature stories, interviews and news. Through the years he has earned a reputation for writing about offbeat subjects and characters in a humorous and somewhat surreal way. As a freelance journalist Todorov has written on a wide range of subjects for a number of publications as diverse as Playboy,[16] Esquire, Fotogeschichte,[17]L'Europeo, Vice, Capital, Amica, Expresso,[18] Brava Casa and Abitare.[19][20] He worked as staff editor for the Bulgarian edition of Rolling Stone until the magazine's closure in September 2011. Todorov has interviewed an array of prominent international figures. His feature interview subjects have included Dita Von Teese,[21] Forrest J Ackerman, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, Kevin Warwick, Amos Oz,[22] Isabel Allende, Aubrey De Grey, Alison Goldfrapp,[23] Richard Kern, George Lois,[24] Mark Benecke, Alain de Botton,[25] Bunny Yeager, and Georgina Spelvin[26] among others. He authored a biography of Stephen C. Apostolof due to be published in mid-2012 as a tie-in to his most recent documentary Dad Made Dirty Movies.[7] Todorov was a managing editor of the Bulgarian edition of Max.[2] He writes for Atlas Obscura - an online compendium of "The World's Wonders, Curiosities, and Esoterica”.[27]

Other

In 2011 he was a member of the FIPRESCI jury at the 15th Sofia International Film Festival.[28] The next year he was a member of the jury at the 10th In the Palace International Short Film Festival.[29] In October 2013, Todorov curated "Bunny's Pin-up Girls" - an exhibition of photos by the American photographer Bunny Yeager in Sofia, Bulgaria.[30] In 2016 he translated into Bulgarian the New York Times bestseller Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art - a non-fiction book about the mysterious disappearance of Michael Rockefeller in New Guinea in 1961.[31] Todorov also translated into Bulgarian River of the Sacred Monkey (1970) – a travelogue detailing the adventures of Dimitar Krustev (1920-2013), a Bulgarian-born artist and adventurer, who in 1968 became the first person to successfully navigate the Usumacinta River on the border of Mexico and Guatemala.[32]

Filmography

Bibliography

  • Dad Made Dirty Movies: The Erotic World of Stephen C. Apostolof (McFarland) ISBN 978-1476668680
  • Реката на свещената маймуна (original title River of the Sacred Monkey) (Erove) ISBN 9786197313123
  • Дивашка жътва (original title Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art) (Erove) ISBN 9786197313000
  • Atlas Obscura Explorer's Journal (Workman Publishing Company) ISBN 978-1-5235-0173-1
  • Bulgarian cinema. Encyclopedia (Titra) ISBN 978-954-90486-2-9

Awards and honors

  • 2014: Nipkow Fellowship awarded by Nipkow Programm - Berlin[33]
  • 2012: Bulgarian Film Academy Award for Best Television Documentary for "Dad Made Dirty Movies"[34]
  • 2012: The 16th Sofia International Film Fest Young Jury Award for Best Documentary for "Dad Made Dirty Movies"[35]
  • 2011: Bulgarian Film Academy Award for Best Debut Film for "Concrete Pharaohs"[36]
  • 2011: Japan Prize shortlist - "Concrete Pharaohs"[3]
  • 2011: The 15th International Festival of Documentary Films in Jihlava, Czech Republic, Silver Eye Award Nomination for Best Mid-Length Documentary for "Dad Made Dirty Movies" [37]
  • 2010: Golden Rhyton Festival of Non-Feature Film Award for Best Debut Film for "Concrete Pharaohs"[38]
  • 2010: The 14th International Festival of Documentary Films in Jihlava, Czech Republic, Silver Eye Award Nomination for Best Mid-Length Documentary for "Concrete Pharaohs" [39]
  • 2010: The 14th International Festival of Documentary Films in Jihlava, Czech Republic, Silver Eye Award Nomination for Best Central and Eastern European Documentary for "Concrete Pharaohs" [39]
  • 2008: Best journalist story/campaign/publication nomination at the 6th Right to Know Awards, organized by Freedom of Information Advocates

Network[40]

References

  1. ^ "Concrete Pharaohs". Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Jordan Todorov - dafilms.com". dafilms.com. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "JAPAN PRIZE International Contest for Educational Media".
  4. ^ "Jordan Todorov". IMDb.
  5. ^ "Българска национална телевизия - За БНТ - Пресинформация". Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
  6. ^ "The Bulgarian, who broke Hollywood taboos". Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Jordan Todorov | Edno". Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  8. ^ "DOKweb". Archived from the original on June 15, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2011., East European Picks at Visions du Réel
  9. ^ "Dad Made Dirty Movies | SYDNEY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL". Archived from the original on March 3, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ "Trieste Film Festival – DAD MADE DIRTY MOVIES". Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  12. ^ 13th Mumbai International Film Festival to open with Brad Pitt's Moneyballbollywoodtrade.com Archived September 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Center, Bulgarian National Film. "FNE at Berlinale 2015: Bulgarian Film in Berlin - FilmNewEurope.com". www.filmneweurope.com. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  14. ^ "Credits".
  15. ^ Blaney, Martin (November 12, 2014). "Euro filmmakers "in shock" over training threat". Screen. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  16. ^ Playboy, Issues 11-2014 By ИД «Бурда», p. 150, at Google Books
  17. ^ "Home". fotogeschichte.info.
  18. ^ "Thoughts.: Thoughts. Isabel Allende". Archived from the original on September 15, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  19. ^ "Няма такъв автор - Капитал".
  20. ^ "The Kalderash Roma people construct the afterlife with concrete and African granite | Abitare Bulgaria". Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  21. ^ "Max (Bulgaria) November, 2012 | Pocket Venus: Dita von Teese". Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  22. ^ "Оз: Великият и могъщият". 2010.
  23. ^ "Истории от провинцията". September 20, 2013.
  24. ^ "Златния Грък от Медисън Авеню". September 5, 2014.
  25. ^ "Ален де Ботон: Ние сме любов и мрак". January 24, 2020.
  26. ^ "Дяволът в Джорджина Спелвин". October 11, 2013.
  27. ^ "jordantodorov's User Profile | Atlas Obscura". Atlas Obscura. Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  28. ^ "FIPRESCI - Awards". Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2014.
  29. ^ "IN THE PALACE - International Short Film Festival, Bulgaria | 2013 | News". inthepalace.com. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  30. ^ "Между еротиката и мистерията - Pin-up фотографията на Бъни Йегър / Интервюта /".
  31. ^ "Йордан Тодоров".
  32. ^ "Реката на свещената маймуна. Автентична хроника на изследването на дива река с правдиво описание на последните оцелели потомци на изчезналите маи". www.erove.eu. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  33. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 15, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  34. ^ Eng, David. "2012 Bulgarian Film Academy Awards – winners". Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  35. ^ "SIFF's Young Jury selected their favourite films". Retrieved December 27, 2023.[permanent dead link‍]
  36. ^ "BULGARIAN FILM ACADEMY 2011 Awards for 2010". Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
  37. ^ "Dad Made Dirty Movies - IMDb". IMDb.
  38. ^ "Dad Made Dirty Movies" (PDF). www.artfilmfest.sk. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 15, 2014.
  39. ^ a b "Institute of documentary film's Activities | DOKweb".
  40. ^ "Access to Information Programme | Court cases - Report about Bulgarian citizens and companies who were involved in oil trade with Iraqi companies or their representatives during the Saddam regime". www.aip-bg.org. Retrieved December 27, 2023.