The first part is to take place 11-31 March 2021 and a second part will be announced as a special edition later during the year. The festival will be held both physically and online in an extended time frame. The Bulgarian government authorised theatres to operate at 30% of their capacity as of 1 February 2021, and the festival’s opening ceremony is planned to take place in the National Palace of Culture. The Sofia IFF was one of the first festivals in 2020 to be affected by the spread of COVID-19 across Europe.

The festival’s industry section, the 18th Sofia Meetings, will be held online 17-21 March 2021.    

Kamen Kalev’s French/Bulgarian February (Koro Films / Waterfront Film), one of the 56 titles from the Cannes 2020 Official selection, will open the SFF on 11 March 2021.

Two Bulgarian debut films have been selected for the international competition: Pavel G. Vesnakov’s existential drama German Lessons coproduced by Bulgaria’s Moviemento and Germany’s Heimathafen Film & Media; and Alexander Kossev’s Petya of My Petya produced by BOF Pictures / Concept Studio, dedicated to the memory of the early deceased cult poet Petya Dubarova.

The online screenings will be organised in cooperation with the Festival Scope platform.

A special commemorative section 25 will include 25 international film personalities, part of whom have received the Sofia Award founded by the Sofia Municipality in 2005.

A total of 150 features, documentaries and shorts will be screened by the festival.