The director’s first intention was to shoot a short film, but since his interest in the topic was strong, he turned the story of a Syrian immigrant Azat into a feature film.
“Azat is on his way to Germany. While crossing Bulgaria, he finds himself in jail. There he meets the Boss and their friendship changes his life”, Kostov told FNE. “Working on the film got me to know people from Syria and that made me to completely change my prejudges. Now I understand the feelings of these people forced to leave their home country. Moreover, the main character is not fictional, as there is a real prototype”, Kostov added.
Kalin Pacherazki plays the lead, surrounded by Yavor Baharov, George Angelov, Ekaterina Petrova, Dimitar Dimchev,Vasil Draganov. The Golden Globe nominee Maria Bakalova also participates in the film. “We collaborated for around two months. In terms of work she is a real machine”, Kostov added.
He shot the film for only 10 days in May 2019 with Hristo Genkov as the main DoP and using two to four cameras. Since the subsidy of 25,000 EUR from the Bulgarian National Film Center was allotted for a short film, the rest of the financing had to be procured from private sources and sponsorships. “Everything was difficult, but the crew helped me significantly by agreeing to work for lower rates during 12-14 hours per day”. The film was also supported by the Sofia municipality.
I Don’t Like You was produced by VAIK – Valeriy Kostov in coproduction with Magic Shop, with a budget of nearly 185,000 EUR. “It was an incredible risk, but we succeeded to complete the film”, Kostov also said.
The domestic release is planned for 2022.
Production Information:
Producer:
VAIK – Valeriy Kostov (Bulgaria)
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Coproducer:
Magic Shop (Bulgaria)
Credits:
Director: Borislav Kostov
Scriptwriters: Borislav Kostov, Liuben Chatalov
DoP: Hristo Genkov
Composer: Kliment Dichev
Cast: Kalin Pacherazki, Liuben Chatalov, Yavor Baharov, George Angelov, Ekaterina Petrova, Dimitar Dimchev, Vasil Draganov, Maria Bakalova
