Galery

1

Share a case of disappointment still.

The Sofia International Film Festival this year for some reason focused on the Black Swan, a highly commercial film. At one point, I realized that the organizers were able to show Pina by Wim Wenders immediately after the festival in Berlin, which was a great opportunity for the Bulgarian audience. The film was not shown and thus Wim Wenders did not attend the festival. I'm disappointed because if there is a festival in Bulgaria that could become a major event this is precisely the Sofia International Film Festival. Moreover, if there is an opportunity an artist like Wim Wenders to take part in it, the organizers should do their best to make this happen, not because he is great, or a celebrity, but because he is an interesting person who could draw the interest of the audience.
 
I lived in Sofia five years and I know many people who would like to watch films, which for some reason do not reach Bulgaria. There was a European cinema, something like a house of art, which showed Pedro Almodovar’s films for months. No matter how much the audience like Almodovar, it cannot watch the same films every time. I think new things are on the way. In addition, there are many young people studying abroad and are interested in theater and cinema. Many of them return to Bulgaria. So, there is audience for valuable things.

Would you return?

I do not know. It depends on the circumstances. If they allow me – I would. But if I have a good opportunity for any other type of work abroad, I would not return probably. I am not going to live somewhere in particular and to settle there forever. Perhaps this is the most interesting in the cinema: you constantly see things that are in other countries, different cultures, a real exchange of emotional and spiritual information in fact. On the other hand, the people I meet are in constant movement, they come from different countries, have different interests and this is what I like most. That is why I like this festival and I have not yet managed to see even a small part of Athens.

How would you rate the organization?

Everything is wonderful. I was at major festivals in London, but the scale there is different as well as the funding. Here in Athens they take care of us, guide us and help us in many ways, which is unusual for me. And people are more relaxed, more southerners in the best sense.

What do you think of the contemporary Bulgarian cinema?

Recently I watched Mission London and Love.net. There is another film, but I am not aware of it. I could say Mission London is among the films that I could not understand because the humor in it is more or less connected with something I have not experienced. Love.net did not surpass my expectations, but it was well shot.

I think when people make films, and successful ones, I cannot criticize them, because personally I do not like them. Every job and every team are for themselves. The fact that someone is from Bulgaria could not reach worldwide recognition. In this sense, I think that more and more films will be made. In no case we should be susceptible to any type of bad feelings that "we do not have films in Bulgaria" and the like. This was the course of things. The question is what will happen in the future.

Yavor Gurdev’s ZIFT was released a few years ago. A film noir, very well made, a kind of crime film that I liked a lot. Of course, it had nothing to do with the Bulgarian reality in the 1960s but it is ultimately an interesting look of the history.

The creativity and the sense of creativity have nothing to do with from where a man comes. In cinema, always something can be done with or without a budget. So let's wish to have many new and interesting films.