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Sixteen features to vie at Golden Rose 2017

The Main Competition includes a total of 16 new pictures, of them five have been made in coproduction: Directions by Stephan Komandarev (Bulgaria, Germany, Macedonia); Light Thereafter by Konstantin Bojanov (Bulgaria, Belgium, UK), Radiogram by Rouzie Hassanova (Bulgaria, Poland); Voevoda by Zornitsa Sophia Popgantcheva (Bulgaria, Croatia) and ¾ by Ilian Metev (Bulgaria, Germany).

Following the festivals at Cannes, Sarajevo and Toronto, Directions will have its Bulgarian premiere in Varna; Light Thereafter is Konstantin Bojanov’s (Avé) sophomore film, while Radiogram is Rouzie Hassanova’s directorial feature debut to be premiered in Varna. Voevoda topped the box office early this year, while Ilian Metev’s feature debut as a director ¾ winning a Golden Leopard in Locarno, will compete at San Sebastian IFF and will also have its Bulgarian premiere in Varna.

Five more premieres will be given within Golden Rose 2017. The family movie Lilly the Little Fish by Yassen Grigorov is a fairy tale about the metamorphoses of a child producing a magic whirlwind every time somebody looks the child straight in the eye, which changes the child’s sex. Omnipresent, Ilian Djevelekov’s sophomore film following his critically acclaimed debut Love.net, tells the story of Emil, a well known writer and head of the creative team of an advertising agency, who becomes obsessed with placing spy cameras everywhere. What starts as an innocent hobby ends up as a total disaster. A Little Bit of Luck is Chavdar Jivkov & Aleksandar Smolianov’s directorial debut. A hot July Friday in Sofia pits two old rivals against each other. Twenty-five years later they are still boxers, albeit this time not wearing gloves. The Motorbike by Valentin Goshev is a story about a strong friendship, cherished for years regardless of the vicissitudes of history.

In Stanislav Todorov – Rogi’s Bubblegum Bilyana and Kalin meet unexpectedly after twenty-five years and remember their first experience of falling in love, their first kisses and the forgotten dreams.

Georgi Kostov’s Sex Academy: Men tells the story of Jean, who tries to change his life by attending classes on how to pick up women, mastering Don Juan’s lost art of seduction.

Nikolay Volev’s long-awaited Off the Road is also in the Main Competition. Svetoslav Ovcharov’s Enemies takes us back to the days of the Balkan Wars. Lift for Patients by Iglika Triffonova won Lidl Audience Award for Bulgarian Film at IFF Sofia: a candid film, where the monologues of the characters find a meeting point in the subject matter of human soul. Broken Road is Katerina Goranova & Asen Blatechky’s directorial debut. The film became hugely popular with audiences. In Magdalena Ralcheva’s  12 A Lina, who is a teacher, has been offered the chance to teach again after a one-year break, and is on the verge of a breakdown, both mentally and professionally.

 

Of the 16 features vying for the Golden Rose Award, 14 have been produced with the support of the Bulgarian National Film Center.