R.I.P. Ideya Garanina (1937-2010)
Lots of sad news lately... director Ideya Garanina (filmography) was murdered in her home on March 19 ( article). Garanina was a leading director at Soyuzmultfilm studio from the 1970s until the early 1990s. Along with her cinematographer, Aleksandr Vikhanskiy, she revolutionized puppet animation (she worked in other techniques as well). Her poetic films won many international awards.
Since her retirement, Garanina gradually broke off ties with her former colleagues in animation, left Moscow and went to live in her parents' house in her ancestral birthplace: a little village near the town of Kalyazin. She kept a farm there with two cows, several calves and pigs. After a while, the work became too difficult and she hired a 42-year-old worker to look after the animals. Because of dissatisfaction over the working conditions, the man strangled her, then fled the house after stealing her cell phones, religious icons and produce. The man's girlfriend, who was with him at the time of the crime, went to the police shortly after. The police have not yet found the suspect.
So in memory... here are some of Garanina's films that have had English subtitles added. Perhaps her most ambitious work was the 1988 animated feature film "The Cat Who Walked by Herself" (this last November, the film had its North American premiere at the WFAC).
Cabaret (Балаган, 1981)
(translation by Films by Jove... it's not that great to be honest, but it's serviceable)
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
Crane Feathers (Журавлиные перья, 1977)
(subtitles by Films by Jove)
Click to viewThe Cat Who Walked by Herself (Кошка, которая гуляла сама по себе, 1988)
(subtitles by me)
(two of Garanina's other films, without subtitles, can be seen here and here)