Today on February 8th 2022, Borivoj Dovniković Bordo passed away. The Bard of Croatian animation, cartoonist, illustrator, graphic designer, one of the founders and the most important figures in the history of our festival, left us at the age of 92.

When presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award of the 27th World Festival of Animated Film - Animafest Zagreb 2017 to Bordo, the Animafest Council reflected on his prolific career:

“Borivoj Dovniković Bordo is an outstanding draftsman, caricaturist and illustrator, who made his first steps in classical style of animation. However, as an independent author already in the 1960s he became one of the most important names of the Zagreb School of Animation, and consequently of the global animation scene.

An indefatigable explorer of the freedom of movement in animation, a master of the color white, extremely powerful and adaptable background, a man with a profound interest in the fate of the little man in contemporary world. His drawing skills and sense of rhythm made Bordo one of those modernists whose works are enjoyable to all animation aficionados. He managed to integrate the poetics of jest and occasionally classical identification with the characters into his recognisable signature style, but not at the expense of playful form and creative freedom.

Bordo has been thrilling generations of authors and audience with titles like Curiosity, Krek, Flower Lovers, Second Class Traveller, Exciting Love Story and many others. One of the fathers of Professor Balthazar, an acclaimed writer, organiser and driving force behind animation events, Borivoj Dovniković Bordo deserves honours in all the spheres of his activity, but even without them he would still be an equally significant modernist artist, acknowledged on all continents – wherever there are people who appreciate the art of animation”.

Today, we can only add that we will be forever grateful for his unconditional support, the joy with which he visited the festival and for everything he has taught us.