20-09-2021

FESTIVALS: Golden Rose Film Festival 2021 Ready to Kick Off

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    VARNA: A total of 12 feature films and 15 short films will be screened in the two official competitions of the 39th Golden Rose National Film Festival, which will be held in Varna 23-29 September 2021. All feature films are supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, and two of them are coproduced with the Bulgarian National Television.

    Six feature films from the official competition are coproductions with majority Bulgarian participation. Two are coproduced with France, two with Romania, one with Germany and one with Portugal and Luxembourg.

    Three coproductions were supported by Eurimages and two participated in the 2020 and 2021 Cannes Film Festival's Official Selections. There are four fiction debuts and five second feature films. Two Bulgarian minority coproductions will be screened out of competition.

    The festival will open with Igor Ivanov’s Only Human, a coproduction between North Macedonia’s Skopje Film Studio, Bulgaria’s Gala Film, Serbia’s Art & Popcorn, Slovenia’s Iridium Film and Kosovo’s Trigger. “Composed of six different stories and spoken in three languages, with a Serbian DoP (Maja Radošević) and a Bulgarian sound designer (Boris Trayanov), the film is emblematic for the Balkan region. It shows that neighbouring people can support each other both artistically and technically”, said producer Galina Toneva.

    Bulgaria’s experienced media expert Prof. Dr Ivo Draganov will head the jury next to the famous actress Irmena Chichikova and art historian Plamena Dimitrova-Racheva, alongside the artistic director of Ukraine’s Molodist IFF, Andriy Khalpakhchi, and the Cyprus Eurimages and Cinema Officer - Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture, Diomides Nikita. The same jury will decide on the short films competition winners.

    This year the Bulgarian National Film Center will celebrate its 30th anniversary.

    Feature Film Competition:

    A Twisted World (Bulgaria)
    Directed by Marius Kurkinsky
    Produced by ARS Digital Studio
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center

    German Lessons (Bulgaria, Germany)
    Directed by Pavel G. Vesnakov
    Produced by Moviemento
    Coproduced by Heimathafen Film & Media
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein Fund

    Humble (Bulgaria, Romania)
    Directed by Svetoslav Draganov
    Produced by Cineaste Maudit Production
    Coproduced by Contrast Films, Parada Film, the Romanian Television
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center

    Petya of My Petya (Bulgaria)
    Directed by Alexander Kossev
    Produced by BOF Pictures, Concept Studio
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Burgas Municipality

    January (Bulgaria, Portugal, Luxembourg)
    Directed by Andrey M. Paunov
    Produced by Portokal
    Coproduced by BNT, Terratreme Filmes, Tarantula
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Portuguese Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual, Film Fund Luxembourg, the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme

    Women Do Cry (Bulgaria, France)
    Directed by Mina Mileva, Vesela Kazakova
    Produced by Activist 38
    Coproduced by Ici et La Productions, ARTE France Cinema
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, Ile de France, Eurimages

    The Naked Truth about Zhiguli Band (Bulgaria)
    Directed by Victor Bojinov
    Produced by Concept Studio
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Burgas Municipality

    I Don’t Like You (Bulgaria)
    Directed by Borislav Kostov
    Produced by VAIK – Valeriy Kostov
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center

    In The Heart of the Machine (Bulgaria)
    Directed by Martin Makariev
    Produced by Forward Pictures Entertainment
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center

    February (Bulgaria, France)
    Directed by Kamen Kalev
    Produced by Waterfront
    Coproduced by Koro Films
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, Ile de France, Eurimages

    Uncle Claus (Bulgaria)
    Directed by Ivaylo Penchev
    Produced by Cinemaq
    Coproduced by Urban Media
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center

    Fish Bone (Bulgaria, Romania)
    Directed by Dragomir Sholev
    Produced by KLAS Film
    Coproduced by the Bulgarian National Television, Hi Film Productions, the Romanian Television
    Supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Romanian Film Centre, Eurimages