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Ivan Petkov

The programme of the 11th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media included the premiere of a documentary by Maria S. Topalova, "The collapse of the last Soviet republic in Europe." The film is about the most intense and critical months of the development of the political and economic crisis in Greece since the beginning of 2015. Maria S. Topalova, director and producer of the film, has set herself the goal of presenting a perspective that differs from the one that can be seen or read in the media.

The participants in the film are people whose position cannot be heard even in their native Greece. A community that has emerged in connection with the pro-European protests and demonstrations and that involves intellectuals, economists, researchers of the crisis, ordinary people who are affected by the collapse of the Greek economy. These are the stories of people that are giving real dimensions to the crisis that has been marginalized, put in media frameworks and distorted by the viewpoint imposed by the government. A crisis that remains media news for the mass European and world audience. A crisis whose analyses often mingle with political bias and a considerable dose of romanticism, but only on the part of those who are living outside its borders.

The aim of the film is to show a different analysis of the crisis and to present the inability of the ordinary Greek citizen to comprehend its integrity and substance. As stated by one of the participants in the film, the reason is that society has become so individualistic that it is unable to think beyond personal and momentary survival. The expansion of personal interest is only reaching the level of small groups of people who are united by their own interests, which is leading to sticking to the status quo and to the inability to make changes and implement reforms, which Greece so desperately needs. Every group in society is fiercely opposed to every other group that is trying to take away the supposed safety of the old habits.

The rest of the team that worked on the film attended the premiere as well, namely cameramen Vasilis Vafidis and Nikos Kakonas, editor Anastasia Balezdrova, composer Yuri Stupel and graphic artist Ivan Petkov.

The film provoked great interest among the participants of the forum and it was the logical end of the preceding discussion on "The Greek crisis and is there a light at the end of the tunnel." The panel was initiated by our media and moderated by GRReporter journalist Anastasia Balezdrova. Bulgarian News journalist Ivan Petrinski made a presentation of the crisis, Daniela Gortcheva of magazine Dialogue, the Netherlands, presented the perspective of the average European taxpayer whose money is reviving the collapsed Greek state. Georgi Donkov of BG VOICE, Austria, presented the dimensions of the Cyprus crisis, considering if the solutions to it would be applicable to the much bigger Greek crisis. The conclusions of the discussion were more pessimistic and realistic than optimistic and groundless. The participants agreed on the idea that, in addition to the difficult reforms that the Greek state is to make, a clear, concrete and targeted political will is required too, which is now lacking in Greece. Of course, some of the conclusions were related to the situation in Bulgaria, the Balkans and in Europe.