Documentary films

is the story of my grandmother, a woman who has outlived the three epochs. Her life represents and reflects the stories of many others, of society and of the country itself." Youlian Tabakov

The story of the complex relations between a group of evangelists and their Muslim neighbours in a village in the Rhodope mountains.

Vasil Gendov’s ambiguous life story impresses with an array of ‘starts’: he made both the first Bulgarian feature film ever and the first talking movie. He was the founding father of the Bulgarian National Film Archives and the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers. Alongside being a film pioneer, he was a controversial person. Drawing on documents and evidence of that time, the documentary seeks to unveil his complex character in the context of the dynamic social and political situation in this country in the early twentieth century against the backdrop of the cultural development of Europe and the Balkans.

Memoirs of Countess Anna de Grenaud-Stanchoff range over some of the most important and dramatic periods of Bulgarian modern history – from 1887 to 1915. Even nowadays, her penetrating look makes fit for interpreting countless aspects of the palace, diplomatic and political life of the country. The film tries to find in the memories of the past the answers to questions of today, commented by the grandson of the Countess – eminent diplomat and public figure Ivan Stanchoff.

"The film resulted from my desire to take some extraordinary musicians out of the context in which we are used to seeing them, and put them on a European stage, where they could be appreciated for their virtuosity. The film tells of their journey from small Thracian villages and gypsy slums to some of the most prestigious stages in Brussels, where they performed for very pampered and sophisticated audiences." Zlatina Russeva