National Film Center executive director Marin Martschewski said, “This year only one feature and two shorts are completed, while in 2012 we had eight features produced with public support, three without and one coproduction. In 2011 we had six features supported by the NFC and six shot only with private money.”

During the last three years the “Golden Rose” festival was reinstated as an annual event. The Bulgarian national film institution issued a statement noting: “Founded in 1961, the Golden Rose was held annually only up to 1974. After that it took place every second year with the exception of the 1992 and 1998 editions which were cancelled.”

The NFC is expects that by the end of 2013, seven features will be ready. Among them will be Georgi Djulgerov’s Buffer Zone produced by Front Film www.frontfilm.eu; Stefan Komandarev’s The Judgment coproduced by Bulgarian Argo Film, German Neue Mediopilis Filmproduction, Croatian Propeler Film and Macedonian Sektor Film; and Georgi Balabanov’s Petrov File, a Bulgarian-German-French coproduction between Camera Ltd , Ostlicht filmproduktion GmbH and Arsam International. Nine more are expected before September 2014 including Ivan Nichev’s Bulgarian-Israeli Concert for the Survivals, a coproduction between Cinepaz and Cinisima Ltd, and Kostadin Bonev’s  A Town, Named Salvation produced by Borough Film.  Ivan Pavlov’s long awaited 1968 and Ventzislav Vassilev’s debut Snow are planned for the end of 2014.

“We believe that by the next Golden Rose edition we will be also clear on the number of independent films, produced without any public money, so that we could select them in competition,” Martschewski told FNE.