Two Bulgarian films in the Official Selection of the 70th Cannes Film Festival
Directions by Stephan Komandarev and the co-production Western by Valeska Grisebach will compete in Un Certain Regard. Both films are supported by The Bulgarian Film Center.
For the first time since nearly 30 years Bulgarian production is invited to participate in the Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival. Last year the co-production Dogs by Bogdan Mirica co-produced by Stephan Komandarev and Katya Trichkova has been selected for the same programme and won the FIPRESCI award.
Directons is the fourth feature by Stephan Komandarev, whose The World is big and Salvation lurks around the corner made it to the short list of nine in the Best Foreign Language Oscar category and The Judgment won the Golden rose award in 2014. Directons tells the interweaving stories of six different people in six taxicabs in the contemporary Bulgarian reality. The script is written by Simeon Ventsislavov and Stephan Komandarev, behind the camera is Vesselin Hristov and the cast includes Anna Komandareva, Vassil Vasilev – Zuek, Ivan Barnev, Gerasim Georgiev - Gero, Assen Blatechki, Irini Jambonas, Stefan Denolyubov, Vasil Banov. The film is a co-production with Germany and Macedonia. The Bulgarian production company is Argo Film - Stephan Komandarev, Katya Trichkova.
Western is a Germany/Bulgaria/Austria co-production. The film tells the story of a modern duel between a man and his rival. The Bulgarian co-producer is Chouchkov Brothers – Borislav Chouchkov and Viktor Chouchkov.
Young Bulgarian producers are participating at Cannes this year. Mila Voinikova has been selected for EFP's high profile Producers on the Move initiative. Mila Voinikova has spent the last eight years as a producer at Miramar Film after studying and working in the USA. In 2017, her first feature film as a lead producer, Konstantin Bojanov’s Light Thereafter, premiered in competition in Rotterdam. Mila is currently developing Pernik Tragedy, the third film by Ilian Djevlekov.
Vanya Rainova (Portokal Production Company) will be the Bulgarian participant in the 14th edition of Producers Network this year. The exclusive programme offers a series of events and tailored meetings with potential partners, film funds representatives and industry experts, with a focus on international co-productions. Vanya was nominated by CineMart, Rotterdam’s co-production forum, where she presented the project January, by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Andrey Paounov. The project has been supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center.
Two Bulgarian shorts are included in Short Film Corner – Serafim by Vanya Doneva and Este es tu bebe by Hristo Poryazov.
The internationally acclaimed co-production Requiem for Mrs. J. will be presented in the ACID’s new slot at Cannes: ACID TRIP. The Bulgarian co-producer of the film is Geopoly Film – Pavlina Jeleva. Requiem for Mrs. J. will also have its market screening at the Marche du Film. Light Thereafter by Konstantin Bojanov and XII A by Magdalena Ralcheva are also scheduled for market screenings.
The European Audiovisual Observatory is organizing a conference focused on the impact of VoD on the film value chain. EFADs - European Film Agency Directors, co-hosts the roundtable discussion: Exporting outside Europe: how to better promote and distribute European films in the world?
The Bulgarian stand at Cannes will be located at the South-East European Pavilion – a common space shared with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Cyprus, Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro. The two new catalogues issued by the Bulgarian National Film Center – Bulgarian Films - 2017 and Bulgarian Cinema – Facts, Figures, Trends – 2017 will be presented. The Bulgarian stand will once again welcome film professionals from all over the world and give opportunity to our film makers to meet with colleagues, organize meetings and discuss their work.
