Documentary films

A journey through space and time, beginning in the ninth century AD and continuing well into this century's echo of Cyril and Methodius' mission. Why is their work so significant to all Slavic nations in crucial moments of their histories, being relevant even today? Who is St Methodius: an assistant and co-worker of his younger brother Constantine Cyril the Philosopher or is he the real Baptist of Bulgarians, Slovaks, Czechs and Poles? Researchers from different countries, children and artists, custodians of churches and legends are searching for answers in this journey following in the footsteps of the Holy Brothers and the letters invented by them.

The film tells the story of Engineer Ivan Ivanov, the longest-ruling and most successful mayor of Sofia, who was in office in the most turbulent times from 1934 through 1944. During his terms, Sofia was known as the “Little Brussels” and the “Vienna of the Balkans”. is a documentary about the dramatic and extraordinary life of a person who preserved his morals and dignity despite all hardships and vicissitudes he had to endure. However, this film is not simply a depiction of the life story of an exceptional character. It also focuses on the role of the individual against the backdrop of major historical events. It delves into the issues of what price has to be paid for withholding one’s personal choice and whether it is possible to abide by one’s principles in a time when this may turn into an excessive burden.

Lyubo is a 53-year-old and he can’t sing as he used to. He is not welcomed in the band anymore. Todor is a lonely, 38-years-old bachelor. Only when he plays his guitar in the streets he forgets his solitude. Both Lyubo and Todor are part of a six-member band of blind street musicians. Shall the band get rid of Lyubo? Shall they go to the seaside to earn some money… or shall this further exhaust their tight budget?

Gabrovo. Two houses, almost next to one another. A father, and two brothers who never met. The younger was born 10 years after the execution of the elder. But both have the same name – Mitko Trifonov Palauzov. The film explores the history of the child and the propaganda story that ruined the life of the living man, who had to go by the name of his dead brother for half a century. This is a film about lying to the dead and the effort of the living brother to make at least his life real.

Poised on the Danube River in northern Bulgaria, the town of Belene suffers from an identity crisis. Between 1949 and 1959, a nearby island was the notorious major Communist forced-labour camp. Currently Belene is twenty-five years structing another project that, if actually finished, promises to be an economic boon: the country's second nuclear power plant. Andrey Paounov's bizarre, tragicomic documentary about the dark past that haunts this sleepy, mosquito-plagued community.

This is a documentary about the first Bulgarian book of international significance, which managed to draw the attention of 19th century scholarly Europe towards Bulgaria and its history. Ever since it appeared, it was claimed to be a mystification, and all the inquiries and the research of dozens of enlightened minds of the previous century until the present day have failed to solve the mysteries surrounding it.

The ugly and already empty building of the former Police Directorate is still towering in the square at the Lions' Bridge in Sofia. A century ago, the Comintern gave it to Bulgarian communists who called the edifice ‘National House'. The irony of it all was that its history turned the building into a silent witness of the genocide committed against several generations of Bulgarians. After seven decades of silence, it is the first Bulgarian movie telling the truth of the monstrous atrocities committed there against thousands of victims of the communist terror, a pointless carnage that has bereft this small country of an enormous human potential, much needed now, when the nation builds a real democracy.

In a God-forsaken village somewhere in the Eastern Rhodopes a bunch of old men carry on the remains of their days. They live bound the their own existence just like Sisyphus and the stone. The film story takes place within a single day – twenty four hours before Christmas.

This film aims at introducing the Bulgarian European and world audiences to the unique and rich ornithological variety (about 428 species) of Bulgaria, some of them shown also in unique aerial frames. In the film are shot many of Bulgarian nature beauties, which are combined with the unique soundtrack. This unique ornithological treasure is subject to great scientific and amateur interest of ornithologists from all over the world.