Yulian Kalisher

An Obedient Pupil

Made after several Indian folk & wisdom tales. It tells about the absurdity to follow philosophical truths to the letter. One needs to follow ones inner truth and weigh it with ones common senses and ones circumstances. He also plays with his audience by in the end having the wise man in the tale plead for the opposite. So what does one think oneself..?. In the art-direction new and various ways of using paper are being explored in Kalishers last 3 animations. You could also say that this particular animation reflects the Russian situation at the time, with all kinds of Western countries advising & influencing the russian govenment how to proceed dismantling the USSR and stepping over to a capitalistic economy ( with "shock"therapy), which resulted in a 10 years Rulership of all kinds of criminals and the Ultra-capitalistic Putin kleptocracy that's ruling now.

The Package

About what Minka and Lelya saw during their walk, trying to sell the galoshes that belonged to the guests of their parents to the rag picker.

Golden Words

The brother and sister were very fond of having dinner with adults, their remarks made the guests laugh, and mom and dad were pleased that the guests saw such a mind and such development.

Oh, Princess!

The animation is made using quotes of Medieval Persian Poetry, to tell a fairytale love story between an wandering poet and a princess. To win her (and half the kingdom) he needs to fulfil 3 tasks given by the Caliph. The poem quotes are by Omar Kayyam (1048-1123) from Nishapur, now Iran; Babur (Zahiriddin Muhammad Bobur) (1483-1530) ( Founder of the Mogul Empire), born in Andijan in present day Uzbekistan; Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209) from Ganja, now Azerbaijan link , Ali-Shir Nava’i ;(Alisher Navoi) (1441-1501) link from Herat, now Afghanistan. Perhaps good to remind you that Kalisher comes from the Region. Born in Ashchabat (Turkmenistan), he lived and worked until 1967 in Tasjkent, Uzbekistan. Followed by “The barefoot Erudite”(1988), and “The Obedient Pupil”(1991) the animation shows an interest in respectively Persian, Chinese and Indian wisdom and mysticism, not very common yet at the time in the atheistic oriented Soviet Union

The Chest

A chest is locked. Song, dance, and at least nine different animation techniques ensue.

Song of the Bats

How Semyon got rid of mice by giving them wings.

Why Does a Camel Need an Orange?

Three stories about Zebra, Horse and Sloth.

Blue Tit's Calendar

An animated film about forest dwellers based on the stories of Vitaliy Bianki.

The Birth of Hercules

Based on the ancient Greek myths about the exploits of Hercules.

Novogodnee priklyuchenie

The story of the acquaintance of two dads - a boy and a teddy bear. One dad did not have time to buy a Christmas tree and went to the forest to get it, and dad-bear went to the city to look for toys for the forest Christmas tree. That's how they met.

Big Secret For A Small Company

How a dog, a horse and a cat became friends.

The Holiday of Disobedience

About that, how parents abandoned the disobedient children and returned only then, when they reformed.

The Wizard of Oz

A cartoon about a girl, Ellie, of her little dog Totoshka, who, because of the evil Gingema, ended up in the Magic Country, where incredible adventures awaited them.