The idea of the script is rooted in the director’s biography: when he was a child and his father unexpectedly passed away, his mother invented a fake story about the father being abroad. She didn’t have the strength to tell him the truth right away.
Gergana Zmiicharova (actress and Gochev’s wife) and Gochev himself wrote the first draft of the script some 15 years ago. Gradually, they developed and enriched the true story modifying fictional lines and characters. Finally, the plot was structured around Petyo, a young boy who loses his father, and whose mother, instead of telling him the truth, sends him to his grandfather’s place by the sea. With a little hand-made ship borrowed from a neighbour, Petyo meets young Philip and the two of them invent plenty of sea adventures.
Chosen from among 30 children, Alen Angelov plays Petyo alongside Hristyan Manolov as Philip. Famous Mihail Mutafov plays the grandfather, while Gergana Zmiicharova is Philip’s mother.
The shooting lasted for 20 days and it took place in July and August 2019. “The film was publicly supported, but the financing was not enough to do the whole shooting at the seaside. So we hired a real boat and we transported it to a small village yard not far from Sofia. Using focus and out-of-focus images, we created the illusion of a sea just behind the corner”, producer Galina Toneva told FNE.
Roumen Vasilev is the DoP.
Gala Film is the producer with a 200,000 EUR grant from the Bulgarian National Film Center and an additional 35,000 EUR presale contribution from the Bulgarian National Television.
The film already screened out if competition at the 2022 Love is Folly IFF in Varna.
The theatrical distribution is scheduled for early 2023.
Production Information:
Producer:
Gala Film (Bulgaria)
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Coproducer:
BNT (Bulgaria)
Credits:
Director: Petrinel Gochev
Scriptwriters: Gergana Zmiicharova, Petrinel Gochev
DoP: Roumen Vasilev
Music: Dimitar Velichkov-Schmidt
Cast: Mihail Mutafov, Alen Angelov, Hristyan Manolov, Vesela Babinova, Gergana Zmiicharova, Dimo Dimov, Stanislava Nikolova
