Veteran Iranian animator Esfandiar Ahmadieh dies at 83

TEHRAN,Feb.8(MNA) -- Veteran animator Esfandiar Ahmadieh, who is considered as the father of Iranian animation cinema, died of a blood disease on Tuesday morning at Tehran’s Sajjad Hospital. He was 83. Born in 1929 in Tehran, he was named as the founder of Iranian animation by making “Molla Nasreddin” and “Satellite”. He sketched the two-minute animations with pencil. In late 1940s and early 1950s, he drfew several animations including “Jealous Duck”, “Wheat Crop”, and “Where Are You Going Kite?” He was a disciple of veteran painter Ali Asghar Petgar for two years before he entered Kamalolmolk academy in 1948 where he took courses with the great painters Esmaeil Ashtiani, Mahmud Oliya and Hossein Sheikh. “Ahmadieh began animation during that time without telling anybody and his works were welcomed by people years ago,” illustrator Nuroddin Zarrinkelk mentioned in an honoring ceremony held for Ahmadieh. The first Tehran International Animation Festival in February 1999 dedicated special screenings to the commemoration of Feodor Khitrouk (a well-known Russian animator) and Esfandiar Ahmadieh. His funeral procession probably will be started from in front of the Iranian Artists Forum on Thursday morning.