Pjotr Sapegin
Pjotr Sapegin was born in Moscow in 1955, to a family of artists. After initially studying under the artist Boris Birger he was educated at the Stanislawsky Theater Academy, graduating in 1978, holding a Masters degree in stage technology and design. After completing his studies he worked for 15 years as stage designer and art-director in various russian theatres – among them the renowned Bolshoi theatre – designing scenography and costumes for 60 theatre productions.
In 1990 Sapegin emigrated to Norway, where he started from ”scratch”, working for a short period in both in restaurants and childcare, before being able to return to his artistic roots, creating visual art and designs for magazines, theatre and others. Realising that Norway – albeit with some notable exceptions – had a relatively limited history of making animation films, Sapegin soon turned his focus on this particular form of artistic expression and storytelling, making his debut with Herkules in 1991. Since then Sapegin has been living and working in Norway, and is now a Norwegian citizen.
As a basis for his work Sapegin also became one of the founders of the animation studio Studio Magica AS in Oslo, but is now running his own production company, Pravda Productions (established 2001) with David Reiss-Andersen and Mikkel Sandemose. The animation branch of Pravda was renamed Kinopravda in 2004.
Since Herkules, Sapegin has developed into arguably the most prominent creator of Norwegian animated films, and has made a considerable number of both nationally and internationally highly acclaimed, and award winning short films. One Day a Man Bought a House (1998) alone has won more than 20 national and international awards, and has been screened at over 100 festivals worldwide. In addition to his short films, Sapegin has also made a number of internationally acclaimed animated commercials.
Filmography, short films:
Herkules (1991)
Edvard (1992)
Edvard - The Naked Truth (1993)
Fish Balls (1993)
Edvard - The Unbearable Lightness of Longing (1993)
Ippolita - The little Amazon (1994)
Edvard - The Stand-in (1995)
Mons the Cat (1995)
Edvard - The Cruise Tripper (1996)
One Day a Man Bought a House (1998)
The Salt Mill (1998)
Snails (1999)
In a Corner of the World (1
