Uncle Tony, Three Fools and the Secret Service

A documentary that ignited outrage in its home country for revealing the power-play and intrigue underlying Bulgaria’s animation history. In the 1960s and ’70s, communist Bulgaria had a celebrated animation studio with Donyo Donev as its leading light. His short films such as Clever Village, De Facto, and the beloved Three Fools series delighted viewers at home and abroad. But as this documentary reveals, the true creative force behind these films was actually his “assistant” animator, “Uncle Tony” Antoni Trayanov. More troublingly, the documentary claims that Donev and other senior studio figures were in league with the Bulgarian secret police. (Fest Anča)