Bulgarian Cinema
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Val Todorov
THE BULGARIAN CINEMA - CONSTANTS AND VARIABLES
Copyright (c) 1993 by Val Todorov, all rights
reserved. This text may be freely shared among
individuals, but it may not be republished in any
medium without express written consent from the author.
"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
This Mark Twain quotation, which in the given context refers to the
new Bulgarian cinema as a whole, opens a review on one of the most recent
films released in the country. It is symptomatic that the movie is a debut. It
is also symptomatic that this is a debut by a professional with more than 20
years experience in the industry. "Shrove Sunday" (Sirna nedelja) is written
and directed by Radoslav Spassov, a veteran in the cameramen's guild.
However, before examining particular trees in the changing film flora of the
new political, cultural and economic climate, let's throw a quick glance at
the whole wood.
. Death?
Rumors of the death of the Bulgarian cinema, although exaggerated, are
not groundless at all. After the fall of the socialist rule in November 1989
and the first free elections in June 1990, not only was Georgi Dimitrov's
mummy taken out of his Stalinist Mausoleum and burned to ashes, but the
whole film industry -- with its totalitarian structure based exclusively on the
state support and control -- virtually collapsed. It did not happen in a day.
The process was long and painful, as if in slow motion, and its last shot of
total distraction was taken somewhere in the beginning of 1992, although
other chain-reactions of disintegration still linger on. After the clouds of dust
settled, the aftermath was found to be a rather mournful and devastating
sight.
Ten years ago Ronald Holloway in his book "The Bulgarian Cinema"
wrote: "The Boyana Studios at the foot of Mount Vitosha turn out a feature
film a week for cinemas or television. The annual breakdown is about equal:
twenty-five for movie screens and the same for the TV tube. This is in
addition to another twenty-five animated films, and over two hundred shorts
and documentaries."
Now: In the last year only five feature films were released. In total, the
films produced in 1992 are 12.8 times less than in 1987.
Ten years ago: "There are approximately thirty-six hundred cinemas in
the country."
Now: There are 319 cinemas in the country. Over the last five years,
the number of the cinemas has decreased 8.6 times, which is particularly
tragic in the villages and small towns where the decrease is up to 29 times.
Even in the capital Sofia only 18 cinemas remain open.
Ten years ago: "Each moviegoer is reckoned to attend the movies on an
average of ten to thirteen times a year."
Now: For the last five years, the attendance has been reduced 4.2 times
-- each moviegoer attended an average of nine movies in 1987, and only
two in 1992.
Ten years ago: "A sprawling complex, the Boyana Studios are referred
to as "film city" by the local population. Nearly all of the technical facilities
are housed under one roof, the staff including over nine thousand qualified
employees."
Now: "In the transitional period the staff has been reduced to 250
compared with the 1,500 who were formerly employed," says Mikhail
Kirkov. "The result of our financial reconstruction, from a government
institution to a private company, is still unknown."
Ten years ago: "When one considers that as late as 1953 only one
feature film was produced a year, the growth of the Bulgarian film industry
is astonishing, to say the least." Especially, keeping in mind that this is a
country smaller than Pennsylvania with a population less than nine million.
Now: When one considers that as recent as 1988 seventy-two full-
length films (20 features, 26 for TV and 26 documentaries), fifty-seven
animated and more than four hundred other shorts were produced, the
collapse of the Bulgarian film industry is astonishing, to say the least.
When I was trying to do a research for this paper, the answer to my
question, what was the current situation of the Bulgarian cinema, more
often than not was, "What Bulgarian cinema?" This answer was given by
ordinary moviegoers, film buffs and even some professionals. Total apathy
and disinterested pessimism to the subject abounded. The first and probably
the largest video distributor on the country, ironically called "Bulgarian
Video", does not hold any Bulgarian title produced since the fall of the
socialist rule. It is practically impossible to find a video copy of any recent
Bulgarian film.
Although in 1992 one hundred fifty-nine new films opened in the
cinemas around the country, and five of them were Bulgarian (compared
with 99 films from the USA and 53 from Europe), it seemed that most of
the people did not notice them. Paradoxically, it seemed that most of the
people, consciously or not, accepted the notion that the Bulgarian cinema
was some kind of by-product of the socialist cultural practice, which
therefore naturally disappeared with this ideology for good.
. NFC
In such circumstances, the question about the mere existence of the
subject of this paper is absolutely legitimate. What then was the moderate
optimism of the critic quoting Mark Twain based on? If one could answer in
only three letters, the answer would be NFC. The National Film Center was
founded on June 6, 1991, but it gathered momentum in the first half of
1992 when the National Commissions started their work.
"Cinema was the first part of Bulgarian culture to adjust to the new
market economy, so obviously we confronted some big problems," says
Dimiter Dereliev, the managing director of the Center. "From a state
monopoly we had to create a private business, and to support both
production and distribution. Before the political changes there were no
independent producers, so we had to initiate a whole profession -- people
who were willing to take personal initiatives, as well as responsibilities. At
the same time we wanted to establish a subsidy system where the NFC,
unlike the Organization of Bulgarian Cinematography, should not make the
decisions about where to place production money."
On the highly politicized landscape of the Bulgarian society, it was
predictable that the question of power would be crucial to the structures and
modus operandi of the new Film Center. In a way, the architects of the new
legislation, which made the Center possible, mimicked the metastructures of
the state power and its separation -- legislative body, executive authority
and judiciary control. The panic fear of eventual recurrence of any
totalitarian forms of monopoly or centralized control put the emphasis on the
separation of powers in the Center itself. "The most important thing that
had and have to be done is separating the powers and imposing the free
market principles," says Georgi Cholakov from the NFC.
The power differentiation has been achieved by founding the National
Commissions for feature movies, documentaries and animated films. They
play the role of legislative bodies of the national film production,
determining which of the film projects will receive state subsidy, and the
amount. Each commission for allocation of state subsidy includes nine
members who are elected by the Union of the Bulgarian Filmmakers, the
Ministry of Culture, the Producers' Association, the Distributors' Association
and the Ministry of the Finances.
The National Film Center itself plays the role of an executive body: it
contracts with the producers of the projects, chosen by the commissions, and
secures every particular funding. Usually, the Center provides half of the
budget of the approved production, which might sound like a generous
percentage, but bear in mind that even a national hit can not cover more
than 10% of its production and distribution costs. This is also the main
reason why the founders of the Center based their concept on the French
model of partial state subsidy rather than on the principles of total free
market regulations. No national film industry in Europe could survive even a
year without some financial state support. And this is even more true for
such a small country as Bulgaria.
Finally, the Minister of Culture, who controls the activities of the NFC
and the commissions, plays the role of a supervising body in the system of
film funding, producing and distributing. In such a way, the separation of
power is secured, at least on paper, and the threatening phantom of a near
totalitarian past has been exorcised out of the Bulgarian film industry. At
least the enthusiasts who stand behind the NFC believe this is so. However,
the more important questions remain: Does the new system really work?
What are its achievements until now? What are its new projects? Are there
any alternatives to it?
. Alternatives
Yes, there were, and there are, attempts for film productions outside of
the Center's aegis. For example, Sergei Komitski's "A Bullet for Paradise"
(Kurshum za raja), produced by the director's brother, opened on May 1,
1992. It was the first independent film after a forty-five year wide hiatus in
the private producers' business, and was entirely funded with Roumen
Komitski's own investments.
The story of a young shepherd, who accidentally becomes involved in
the struggle for national liberation at the turn of the century, does not limit
itself to the popular formulas of the "Eastern", but also tries to analyze the
mechanisms of the power and to revise some ethnopsychological myths of
the region. Although the movie received favorable critical reviews and
relatively positive viewers' response, it turned out to be a financial disaster
for its producer. The reason was stated above: it is virtually impossible to
cover the production costs only from the national distribution.
Another example is "The Alchemist's Dream" (Mechtata na alhimika) by
Rangel Vulchanov who did refuse state subsidy from the Center and turned
the project into an entirely French production. In fact, the system of
European co-productions, with more or less foreign money involved, is the
only reasonable alternative to the NFC system of support. Although the
Center contributed to the production of eight new features with public
money last year, it is more than willing to encourage international funds for
Bulgarian projects. As a result, at least three recent movies are French co-
productions.
Considering the fact that its own budget is very limited, the Center
worked hard and managed to make Bulgaria the third East European
member of Eurimages after Poland and Hungary. Eurimages is an all-
European fund that financially supports co-productions between its members.
In the first three years of its existence, the Fund supported one hundred and
one European co-productions, providing 12% of their funding. "A very
important part of our job is to secure Bulgaria a role in the international film
society," says Dereliev. "Now we also hope to get access to the MEDIA
program." MEDIA is a financial program of the European Community and
its goal is encoded in the abbreviation itself: Measures to Encourage the
Development of the Industry of Audiovisual Production. A year ago, the EC
experts counted Bulgaria as a surprising sleeper where the processes of
restructuring of the film industry were running at a faster pace compared
with the other East European countries.
The National Film Center tries to support not only the ninety-three new
private producers as an undoubted demiurge of their current occupation, but
to assist the Boyana Studios in its painful transformation and reconstruction,
as well. For now, it seems that the only way for the Balkans' largest studio
complex to escape extinction is to set up joint ventures with foreign
companies. And indeed, last year no fewer than eleven foreign companies
commissioned the Boyana to produce bigger or smaller parts of their new
films. Primary European productions were sent to Bulgaria, but the
American doyen of B-movies, Roger Corman, said in 1990 that he would
consider shooting all of his films in Bulgaria. His first two movies shot in
the country were "Death Stalker IV" and "Queen of the Barbarians III".
"The average budget for a film in Bulgaria is five to six million levs
(currently, $1=28 levs), but with official salaries as low as twelve hundred
levs per month, it can cover a lot of labor. Most important, though, is that
we deliver work of a quality that matches international standards. This is
confirmed by the foreign directors, such as Steven Spielberg, who have shot
here or sent for, say, Bulgarian animators." To these words of Mikhail
Kirkov, chief of Cadence Animation, which is part of the Boyana Studios, I
may add only that the actual salaries of film professionals are rather several
times higher.
. New Releases
Last year 26 million levs of state subsidy was contributed by the NCF,
while this year approximately 50 million levs of government money will be
allocated for production. Last year, with only five films released, was the
transitional year for the national film industry. First there were Ivan
Balevski's "Palpitation" (Aritmija) and Georgi Popvassilev's "Bad Boy"
(Losho momche), two debuts and probably the last films produced within the
old structures, followed by the totally independent "Bullet for Paradise",
mentioned above. Then the first premiere nursed by the Center came on
September 21, 1992, and it was "Vampires and Spooks" (Vampiri, talasymi)
by Ivan Andonov -- a veteran director, actor and animator, whose previous
films are famous for their record box-office takings.
In his last work, the director strives once again to respond to the
popular demands and the mores of the day, like he did many times before
with his "Dreamers" (Mechtateli, 1986), a period piece about the founders of
the Bulgarian Socialist Party at the turn of the century; "Yesterday"
(Vchera, 1987), a nostalgic trip with an angry young man and his
conformist fellows in the heat of the Beatle-mania; and "Adios Rio" (Adio
Rio, 1989), a bitter satire on the new middle-class and its moral decay in
the age of perestroika. Now Ivan Andonov sends us back to 1945 in a small
town where the communists have already seized the power and start
establishing the "new order". That time of chaos turns into a grotesque
carnival of tragedy and slapstick, terror and folly, desperate souls and ghosts
from the past, searching the answer of one and the same question: "When
will the communists be gone?" The film, which is about a faded actress who
tries to survive by all possible means including a faked photograph of her
with... Georgi Dimitrov's dog in order to pass for a communist activist,
explores the moral dilemmas of dignity and betrayal, the twisted relationship
between artist and power.
The next two projects supported financially by the NFC were Peter
Popzlatev's second effort "Something in the Air" (Neshto vyv vyzduha), a
co-production with Arion Production, France, and Radoslav Spassov's
"Shrove Sunday, a Day of Forgiveness" (Sirna nedelja), which opened on
February 26, 1993. The theme of the film is explicated in its title -- do we
have the right of absolution after all? And the sin to be forgiven is the same
one as in "Vampires and Spooks" -- the sin of compromise.
The story of Angel, a typical man of circumstances, ragamuffin and
conformist, gambler and coward, dreamer and pragmatist, is set in the 50s,
during the Personality Cult. The protagonist is constantly torn between good
intentions and inevitable betrayals. The film is designed to point out and
explore all the political taboos of the period -- the forcible nationalization,
the youth-brigade movement, the Secret services, the gulags -- but the critic
Karin Yanakieva suggests the film is in danger of falling victim to its own
urge to deliver answers, as these answers verge on being predictable. In his
directorial debut, Radoslav Spassov appears to be mostly influenced by
Georgi Djulgerov -- a master of the Bulgarian cinema he worked for as a
director of photography for more than twenty years.
The next films to be released this year are Ilian Simeonov's and
Hristian Nochev's "Frontier" (Granica), Rumyana Petkova's "Burn, Burn
Little Fire" (Gori, gori ogynche) and Rangel Vulchanov's "The Alchemist's
Dream" (Mechtata na alhimika). The first two probe in the same painful
problems of the near past -- guilt, compromise, betrayed ideals. "Frontier"
depicts life in a distant frontier post, so close to the barbered-wire fences on
the border, too far away from the freedom of choice; life that is valued and
measured in days on furlough. A film about a lost generation and their
burnt out romantic ideals is the last work of Rumyana Petkova, a prominent
feminist director. "Burn, Burn Little Fire" takes place in a small Muslim
town in the Rhodope Mountains in the 60's. It feels as if the town is sealed
up, so in the carbon dioxide of hatred and prejudice men can hardly breathe
and little flames of hope are almost choked out.
On the other hand, Rangel Vulchanov, the Bulgarian Federico Fellini, in
another French production delivers a new tale in his trade-mark style of
political allegories and magical trips, which gave the name to the whole first
period of the Bulgarian cinema -- the cinema of poetics. "The Alchemist's
Dream" is the small world of Monsieur Michael who tries with his
hairdresser's magic to help the dwellers of that Balkan Macondo entangled
in provincial intrigues of love and envy. Almost a quarter of century after
Vulchanov made his "Aesop" (1970) and despite the fact that now the
Aesopic language is not the only possible syntax to declare one's vision, the
film easily falls in this same metaphorical and didactic trend, a trend which
the director maintains in the last ten years with "Last Wishes" (Posledni
zhelanija, 1983), "Where Are You Going?" (Zakyde pytuvate, 1986), "Where
Do We Go" (A sega nakyde?, 1988) and "Love is a Willful Bird" (Nemirnata
ptica ljubov, 1990).
Four full-length documentaries were also released this year: Henri
Koulev's "Sea in the Middle of the Earth" (More v sredata na Zemjata),
which was initially produced as TV series about the Mediterranean, "The
Doomed" (Obrechenite), "Citadel" (Citadelata) and "Tales of Assassins"
(Razkazi za ubijci).
Currently in Production. And there are several other feature films
currently in production: Dimiter Petkov's "Jehovah Ire (God Shall Decide)"
(Jehova-ire) is a period piece about the construction of the first railroad in
Bulgaria, but also about the eternal myth of the tyrant, the sin and God's
retribution set in an unknown small town. Krassimir Kroumov's "The
Forbidden Fruit" (Zabranenijat plod) is also rooted deeply in a mythological
plot of betrayal, revenge and patricide, while Kiran Kolarov's "The Golden
Chain" (Zlatnata veriga) spins a contemporary love story with an unusual
protagonist -- a sergeant from the Red berets. Ivan Nichev's "Love Dreams"
(Ljubovni synishta) is a rite of passage film based on several Stefan Zweig's
novelettes, and Georgi Djulgerov's "Magdalena" (Magdalena) attempts to
speak openly about the problems of the Gypsies' minority in Bulgaria. Two
other projects are set in the eighteenth century: Docho Bodjakov's epic
period saga "Vendetta" (Otmyshtenieto) and Nikolai Volev's remake of the
most successful Bulgarian film ever "The Goat Horn" (Kozijat rog). And
finally, Nidal Algafari's "La Donna e Mobile" about two disabled girls is a
melodrama with half-humorous, half-serious ambitions for an Oscar in the
spring of 1994.
Place on the Map. The Bulgarian producers and directors' almost
desperate and often tragicomic urge for international recognition deserves
some respect rather than taunt. This urge is not provoked by an inferiority
complex or provincial megalomania; it comes with the scary knowledge that
finding a place on the map of the world cinema is not only a question of
prestige but of survival. The economic situation in the country and the logic
of the free market mechanisms condemn to extinction films and directors
who could not gain international producers, critics, distributors and
moviegoers' interest. Paradoxically, on the other hand, such eventual
international attention would induce the home audiences to attend these new
Bulgarian films, boosting them on a rather skeptical and cynical national
market.
. Historical Context
For it is important to know not only the spatial but also the temporal
coordinates of the subject in order to project its future trajectory, at least a
simplified historical reference system should be provided. Although films
have been produced in Bulgaria since 1915, Rangel Vulchanov's "On the
Small Island" (Na malkija ostrov, 1958) may be selected as a point of
reference -- the first Bulgarian film that received international recognition.
Green Years. Ronald Holloway labels that first period of astonishing
growth as the "Green years". The Bulgarian film revival was the age of
"poetic realism" and continued until the early 70's, although it reached its
zenith in the middle 60's. The decline of that "new wave" was predetermined
by the chilling after the short "thaw" of the Khrushchev era, and initiated by
putting Binka Zhelyazkova's "The Attached Balloon" (Privyrzanijat balon,
1967) and three other films on the shelf.
The last significant film from this period was Todor Dinov and Hristo
Hristov's "Iconostasis" (Ikonostasyt, 1969). Set in the nineteenth century
during the Bulgarian Renaissance under the Turks, the film follows the
woodcarver Rafe through the same agonies of decision that charged Andrei
Tarkovsky's film biography of a Russian icon painter, "Andrei Rublev". "An
allegory on the times, the story itself sketched in broad terms the dilemma
facing the committed film artist, whose projects have to be approved by
bureaucrats committed to the staid formula of socialist realism in the
scenario." The visually strongest moment is "when the discouraged icon-
painter enters the Bachkovo Monastery to receive inspiration from the
frescoes painted on the refectory walls back in 1606," Ronald Holloway
writes, revealing his fascination.
During this first period of the Bulgarian cinema of poetics, the first
generation of directors made their debuts and often their most important
films. Their biographies can be found in the second chapter of Holloway's
book; here, just for the record, is a list of the names of a few, arguably the
most notable ones.
First Generation:
Borislav Sharaliev (1922); Zako Heskia (1922); Vulo Radev (1923);
Binka Zhelyazkova (1923); Hristo Ganev (1924); Nikola Korabov
(1926);
Hristo Hristov (1926); Hristo Piskov (1927); Rangel Vulchanov (1928)
Red years. The second period (1971-1983) can be called the "Red
years" of Bulgarian cinema, a term which is emotionally charged and yet
symbolic enough to be perceived just as a signifier outside of its contextual
definition. Holloway himself uses the term "the Pissarev years", referring to
Pavel Pissarev, who was general director of the Organization of Bulgarian
Cinematography in the 70's -- a typical bias, for this otherwise accurate
author, towards the overestimating of the role of higher socialist
aparatchiks, such as Pavel Pissarev and Lyudmila Zhivkova, in the artistic
developments of Bulgarian cinema. Strangely, it resembles the approach of
royal or party historians who interpreted national history as the personal
history of the monarchs or party leaders whom they were serving.
Unfortunately, this inclination has been literally replicated by other scholars
who did not have opportunity or personal interest for research on their own.
This period of maturity has two high points. The first one is 1972 when
Metodi Andonov completed "The Goat Horn" (Kozijat rog). The film, made
in the style of ancient tragedy, explores the problem of gender identity and
has brought one third of the whole Bulgarian population into the theaters.
Set in the eighteenth century, it is a story of a girl who, after her mother's
rape and death, is raised as a boy by her father and becomes a haiduk -- an
avenger and defender of the villagers in the mountain. However, the genuine
breakthrough of Bulgarian cinema on the world film stage occurred in 1977-
79: Binka Zhelyazkova's "The Swimming Pool" (Basejnyt) won a Gold
Medal at the Moscow Film Festival in 1977, Georgi Djulgerov's "Advantage"
(Avantazh), about a con man and pickpocket during the age of the
Personality Cult, won the Silver Bear for direction at the Berlin Film
Festival in 1978, and Rangel Vulchanov's masterpiece "The Uknown
Soldier's Patent Leather Shoes" (Lachenite obuvki na neznajnija voin), "a
lyrical poem in an autobiographical vein on a fading peasant culture and the
irretrievable past", opened the London Film Festival in 1979 and then won a
Grand Prix at New Delhi.
The last recognition of Bulgarian cinema was at the Venice festival in
1983 with Vesselin Branev's "Hotel Central" (Hotel central), about an
innocent young girl from the provinces, who is mistakenly arrested, during a
period of political paranoia after the coup d'etat in 1934, and brought to a
hotel to serve as a chambermaid -- to be used and abused as the town
prostitute for all in power. She manages, however, to survive morally and
unmask the corruption of those about her.
After that the Bulgarian cinema had been buried under the dinosaurs'
corpses of several epic mega-spectacles, produced to mark the thirteen-
hundredth anniversary of Bulgaria as a state. One of them, Lyudmil
Staikov's three-part epic extravaganza "Khan Asparukh" (Han Asparuh) -- a
shortened English version "681 A.D.--The Glory of Khan" (1984) was
released by Warner Brothers -- was memorable only because it was the
most expensive film in the national film history with its cast of thousands,
its elaborate costumes and massive scenes, and because it somehow
managed to gather eleven million viewers (!!) in a country with a total
population of nine million. Ironically, this world record in per capita
attendance put an end to the second period of Bulgarian cinema and threw
it into a decade of lingering crisis.
With the same reservations stated above, here is a list of the second
generation of film directors:
Second Generation:
Metodi Andonov (1932); Lyudmil Kirkov (1933); Ivan Terziev (1934);
Ivan Andonov (1934); Lyudmil Staikov (1937); Edward Zahariev (1938);
Georgi Stoyanov (1939); Mariana Evstatieva (1939); Nikola Rudarov;
Ivan Nichev (1940); Georgi Djulgerov (1943); Ivanka Grubcheva
(1946)
Black Years. Continuing the ritual of color codification, one may paint
the sad mask of the last decade black. "Why the bottom should have
suddenly fallen out of Bulgarian cinema at a time when it had definitely
reached maturity is solely a matter of speculation," writes Ronald Holloway.
Putting aside his somewhat naive speculations, but also refusing to go into
lengthy analyses, let it simply be proposed that the ultimate reason which
led Bulgarian cinema to its slow decadence is the same that later brought
the whole socialist system to collapse in the country, and all over Eastern
Europe, rather than some personal changes in the corridors of power.
Although "even the better films seemed 'old hat' in comparison to those
produced during the previous decade", this period is important for the
emergence of a third generation of directors. This is the first generation of
film directors who graduated from the Sofia Film and Theater Academy
(VITIS); Nikolai Volev, an internationally recognized documentarist
graduated in London, and Henri Koulev, a controversial animator graduated
in Moscow. Another is Peter Popzlatev, who graduated in Paris. All are
counted here because their major feature works were produced in the 80's.
Third Generation:
Nikolai Volev (1946); Kiran Kolarov (1946); Ivan Pavlov (1947);
Henri Koulev (1949); Evgeni Mihailov; Peter Popzlatev (1953);
Iskra Yossifova (1954); Rumyana Petkova; Lyudmil Todorov (1955);
Krassimir Kroumov (1955); Docho Bodjakov (1956)
Some of the more memorable films of the decade are the debuts or
second works of these young directors: Rumyana Petkova's "Coming Down
to Earth" (Prizemjavane, 1985) and Iskra Yossifova's "Love Therapy"
(Ljubovna terapija, 1987) -- two genuine feminist works; Chaim Cohen's
"Protect the Small Animals" (Zashtitete drebnite zhivotni, 1988); Ivan
Rossenov's "Stop for Strangers" (Spirka za nepoznati, 1989) -- an entry in
the New School Cinema in Transition Festival in New York 1993; Peter
Popzlatev's "I, The Countess" (Az, Grafinjata, 1989) -- a chronicle of a
junkie's life that won at least five international awards; Lyudmil Todorov's
"Running Dogs" (Bjagashti kucheta, 1989) and "The Love Summer of a
Schmo" (Ljubovnoto ljato na edin ljohman, 1990) -- a charming reunion film,
full of nostalgia and recollections about a missing friend who committed
suicide; Krassimir Kroumov's "Exitus" (Ekzitus, 1989) and "Waste"
(Mylchanieto, 1991) -- two somber political and moral allegories which mark
a bright new talent's rise on the Bulgarian film horizon; Docho Bodjakov's
"Thou Which Art in Heaven" (Ti, kojto si na nebeto; 1990) and "The Well"
(Kladenecyt, 1991) -- another entry in the New School Cinema in Transition
Festival, and another hot name on the list of the most significant Bulgarian
filmmakers.
These third genaration directors and some of their older colleagues --
Nikolai Volev, Georgi Djulgerov, Ivan Andonov, Rangel Vulchanov -- who
appear to be revitalized by the new challenges the Bulgarian film artist is
facing, are nourishing the hope that the "White years" are almost here.
Periods of Bulgarian cinema:
I. Green years (1958-1970)
II. Red years (1971-1983)
III. Black years (1984-?)
IV. White years ?
. Character and Soul
What are, however, the essential characteristics of the Bulgarian
cinema, which could help it get closer to, or, on the contrary, further away
from the European limelight, after decades of life in the basements and the
sterile studies of a Balkan totalitarianism? What is the "history of the
disease" which has brought the national film industry to its painful
mutations? And can the x-rays of its new body verify the existence of soul
and free will for new life?
Theatricality. Ronald Holloway refers to the Bulgarian Literary
Revival of the past century, trying to explain why "the theatrical narrative
dominates over visual expression for the Bulgarian film artist." It is not
necessary to dig so deep into the past to see that the film industry of the
country was built as a superstructure of a strong theatrical tradition.
Because of the late, in fact repeated, start of the national film production in
the fifties, the first directors, actors and writers came directly from the
theater. The same situation can be seen once again on the academic level in
the second period of the Bulgarian cinema, when the Film School was
founded and attached to the Sofia Academy of Dramatic Art in 1973. The
first graduates of the school made their debuts in the early eighties.
Several other factors contributed to this orientation of Bulgarian cinema.
Three very influential writers -- Angel Wagenstein, Valeri Petrov and
Yordan Radichkov -- put an emphasis on the narrative rather than on the
visual style of the films in that initial period. Finally, the social and political
imperatives of the day determined a greater concern with the text of the
script, which was the explicit bearer of the ideological message. From the
point of view of the ultimate film producer, the State, it was much easier to
comprehend, control and eventually censor the narrative than to deal with a
much more complex and ambiguous cinematic language. As in the
Hollywood studio system during that time, the director was not an artist,
but rather an artisan, while the producer was the quintessential author of
the final product, be it propaganda or mere entertainment.
Nowadays, in the end of the third major period of Bulgarian cinema, it
is ridiculous to insist that theatricality is one of its dominant distinctions,
though the birth-marks of a pathetic loquacity and some theatrical structural
and temporal peculiarities -- for example, a notably slower pace -- can still
be spotted now and then.
Allegorical Expressionism. Ironically, this second and most
significant attribute of the subject was developed as a reaction to the first
one and the mechanisms which stood behind it. The most talented directors
of the first generation -- Rangel Vulchanov, Binka Zhelyazkova, Hristo
Ganev and Hristo Piskov -- partially influenced by la politique des auteurs,
partially trying to create their own way of expression not easily susceptible
to censorship, defined with their early works a "cinema of poetics", a poetic
realism which was compared with Italian neo-realism, with the Polish School
of Andrzej Wajda and Andrzej Munk, and with the Hungarian films of
Zoltan Fabri. The milestones of that Bulgarian School were: On the Small
Island (1958), We Were Young (1961), Sun and Shadow (1962), The
Peach Thief (1964), The Attached Balloon (1967) and Iconostasis (1969).
Later on, in the seventies, in the age of political cynicism and
disillusionment, the language of the Bulgarian cinema of poetics deteriorated
from its lyrical stance to much a more allegorical and ironic one. The
philosophic and moral parables, political allegories and bitter satires proved
to be the most durable genre in the last two decades. The Hare Census
(1973), Cricket in the Ear (1976), Cyclops (1976), The Swimming Pool
(1977), Panteley (1978), With Love and Tenderness (1978), The Roof
(1978), Short Sun (1979), Barrier (1979), Illusion (1980), The Big Night
Bathe (1980), White Magic (1982), Last Wishes (1983), Where Are You
Going? (1986), Exitus (1989) and Thou Which Art in Heaven (1990) are
just a few examples of this steady trend, while some of the most acclaimed
works of the seventies -- The Advantage (1977) and The Unknown
Soldier's Patent Leather Shoes (1979) -- were late bloomers of the
classical poetic realism from the first period.
Ethnicity. An assiduous explorer of the Bulgarian cultural terrain
should acknowledge, however, that the most important aspect of allegorical
expressionism is its ability to determine not only the past but also the future
of the national film identity. Some critics have made the assumption that
the moral, philosophic and political allegories were just Aesopic tools for
climbing up the totalitarian censorship and, therefore, after its death they
themselves would vanish into thin air; but this assumption is a projection
which is not rooted in the specific cultural realities of the region.
"Indeed, most of Bulgarian cinema only makes sense in juxtaposition
with its vast cultural and national heritage," writes Ronald Holloway. Then
he quotes Vernon Young: "All art is a game played by ethnic rules." The
Bulgarian cinema is no exception. Its allegorical expressionism originates in
the Bulgarian ethno-psychology and folklore, national literature and arts, in
the Eastern Orthodoxy and pagan rites, and in the mythological
Weltansicht, mirrored in a language that employs one and the same word
for "story" and "history".
Some of the negative consequences of the ethnicity, as a significant
characteristic of Bulgarian cinema, were: isolation, nationalism and
provincialism. "The provincial attitudes and values of the overall cultural
atmosphere kept giving renewed support to the convention of schematism
and the mechanism of auto-censorship," wrote Liehm and Liehm two
decades ago. Hopefully, things have since changed for good.
On thematic level this attribute of Bulgarian cinema brought the series
of migration and folkways films from the seventies: A Boy Becomes a Man
(1972), Men without Work (1973), A Tree without Roots (1974), The
Last Summer (1974), Peasant on a Bicycle (1974), Villa Zone (1975),
Strong Water (1975), Matriarchate (1977) and Manly Times (1977). It
gave birth to Georgi Djulgerov's masterpiece Measure for Measure (1981),
but also to a heap of nationalistic historical epics, produced on a gargantuan
scale in the early eighties, which almost suffocated the Bulgarian cinema,
and threw it into its third period of stagnation and lingering crisis.
As a positive effect of the ethnicity of Bulgarian cinema, one could
expect some kind of fascinating artistic uniqueness with much a broader
appeal that eventually would transform the allegorical expressionism in a
trade-mark of excellence. A role model for such a positive shift may be the
Latin American magic realism.
Cosmopolitanism. "She was both a cosmopolitan and a cultural
nationalist," writes Bruce R. S. Litte about Lyudmila Zhivkova in a rather
dubious context, but the phrase is interesting because in some way it
reflects a dominant force in the Bulgarian culture and cinema respectively --
the tension between ethnicity and cosmopolitanism.
Bulgaria, as a small country, was always exposed to alien cultural
influences. In the first half of the century it was the French and German
poetry, art and philosophy, then the Russian literature, cinema and ideology,
later on the Italian neo-realism, French New Wave and the East European
Schools, and now the American blockbusters. (The American share of the
theatrical market was estimated at 95 per cent last year). "It is ironic that
theater schedules in Sofia offer a third of the repertoire to foreign
dramatists, in order to acquaint home audiences with O'Neill and Albee,"
wrote Ronald Holloway ten years ago, "yet American and English audiences
are quite ignorant of the dramas penned by Nikolai Haitov, Valeri Petrov,
and Yordan Radichkov, for the simple reason that no one has even bothered
to translate them into English."
And the next quotation may well be the most accurate observation in
the whole Ronald Holloway's book: "Bulgaria is often reffered to as 'the
Prussia of the Balkans.' It is a land of culture and traditions. As a country
on the crossroads between Europe and Asia, it tends to absorb and reflect
rather than promote or flaunt its own unique national character."
Cosmopolitanism emerges as a reaction of the frustrated Bulgarian artist
against isolationism and provincialism. At its worst, it introduces more or
less successful replicas of famous foreign film and genre samples. At its
best, it leads to unique works of more or less universal significance. This
cosmopolitan quest for eternal human values and issues also stems from the
deep roots of allegorical expressionism. Not surprisingly, most of the films
listed above as moral, philosophic or political allegories abound with
elements of well-known universal myths. Ironically, after forty years floating
in the ideological space of socialist myths, the Bulgarian film artist remains
a modern mythmaker rather than a postmodern mythoclast.
Self-reflexivity. It was well known that the significant works in East
Europe were produced by auteurs with distinguished personal style and
vision -- Tarkovsky, Jancso, Zanussi, etc. However, it seemed that the age
of perestroika with its disillusionment, apathy, double moral, distrust in the
official ideology and crisis of faith, which marked the beginning of the
economic, ecological, ethnic and ethical collapse of the socialist system, did
trigger a chain process of disintegration in the high-modernity paradigm of
socialist realism and, on the other hand, of semi-dissident visionary
authorship. In Russia, in the past few years, more and more works of post-
modern sensibility started popping up. Not in Bulgaria, though.
The author's persona remains the most significant factor determining
not only the whole production process, but also the thematic content, form
and style of the new Bulgarian cinema. This auteur figure often tends to
expose the subject of film depiction through self-reflexive projections of his
or her own existential obsessions.
A good example may be Krassimir Kroumov, one of the most promising
directors of the third generation, "a young genius of film directing who
unifies his entirely individual style with the achievements of the New
German cinema of the 60's and 70's," according to the critic Hans
Schurman from "Bonner General - Anzeiger". His last film "The Waste"
(Mylchanieto, 1991) is about a psychiatrist who recognizes in a patient's
dead body his own father, who he has thought missing since the communist
atrocities of 1949 and who he himself has confined to an asylum. In the
film there is also a Vergilian figure, the Historian, who serves as author's
alter-ego, a commentator implemented in the text that he is supposed to
comment and a false witness who gives false evidence on what he has seen.
"Wittgenstein asserted that the crisis of philosophy is a crisis of language,
and I think that our very existence up to now has been a fake. In the
beginning the Historian talks too much, and then he utters ever less words
until he reaches the final silence where he hears time. It is a trip back, to
the spring of words, to their nakedness and ultimate freedom," says the
director.
Didacticism. In Krassimir Kroumov's works "one can sense the
same spiritual intensity, the same moral ideal and almost religious passion in
the exploration of human suffering as in Tarkovsky's films." But one can
also sense a smack of another crucial and immutable characteristic of
Bulgarian cinema -- messianic didacticism; and the reference to the Russian
director Tarkovsky is not accidental at all. The roots of that didacticism,
which suited the communist ideology and propaganda so well, are much
deeper and can be traced back to the common ground of Eastern Orthodoxy
-- be it Russian, Bulgarian, Greek or Georgian -- and its unique cultural
heritage. For a longer excursion in the Bulgarian past, one can read the first
chapter "Art and History" of Ronald Holloway's "The Bulgarian Cinema", but
for the purpose of this paper it is sufficient to mention that being an artist
in the Eastern Orthodox tradition was considered similar to being a priest --
a status charged with the greatest moral responsibilities; the artist was
treated as a God's servant rather than as a traveling comedian, as a
preacher rather than as a clown. And a far-reaching consequence of it is the
indisputable assumption that art and entertainment could never be
synonymous.
How to defeat this sacred but obsolete notion as a moral imperative for
creativity? This would eventually be the Bulgarian auteurs' toughest
challenge. It is quite obvious, though, that it should be done in order to
survive, at least physically, in a pervasive reality professing a rather
converse creed.
Randomness. The last essential characteristic of Bulgarian cinema I
would like to state is the extreme difficulty one can face trying to pin down
the essential characteristics of Bulgarian cinema; and it is not a pun or a
joke. "A glance at its development shows a certain degree of randomness
and heterogeneousness," write Liehm and Liehm. This heterogeneousness
and lack of well defined thematic continuity is determined again by the
specific historical and cultural realities of the Bulgarian film industry.
First, for such a small country, it is a very expensive and comparatively
new art medium, which in its three fruitful decades was in a position of
underdog on the international arena, and even on the home scene,
competing with the traditionally very strong theatrical, literary and musical
forms for its own cultural niche. It appears that the Bulgarian film artist, so
overwhelmed with catching up with foreign vogues and trends, genre and
personal achievements, and with rapidly changing home cultural, social and
ideological needs, has simply not had enough time to develop his or her own
distinguished style, constant thematic pattern or school of followers.
Second, despite the high professionalism of the Bulgarian film artists, it
is not an industry in terms of Hollywood film production line with its stiff
regulations, staunch hierarchical structure and narrow specialization, but
rather a national cultural institution. The best Bulgarian filmmakers are
rather Renaissance figures with a broad range of cultural interests and
professional abilities, so that significant fluctuations of talents in the film
guild used to be and still are typical.
Here are just few examples, starting from the first generation: Bulgaria's
pre-eminent director Rangel Vulchanov started as an actor, established the
Bulgarian cinema of poetics with his directorial debut, experimented with
various genres from the avant-garde through film noir to the musical,
worked abroad, at one point gave up feature filmmaking to work on
documentaries, then came back and still is one of the most controversial
figures in the field; Valery Petrov, trained as a physician, recognized as a
major national poet, acclaimed as a translator of Shakespeare into Bulgarian,
who gave to the Bulgarian "new wave" the most important scripts, worked
also in the theater, then came back making distinguished contributions to
children's films.
From the second generation: Georgi Djulgerov, one of the most
internationally acclaimed Bulgarian directors, after his magnum opus
"Measure for Measure", gave up film production to work in the theater, then
made several documentaries and a musical to return finally to feature
filmmaking in the beginning of the 90's; Russi Chanev who made
Djulgerov's best films possible, both acting and collaborating as a script-
writer; Ivan Andonov, a prolific and very active director, who started his
carrier as a popular film and stage actor, also made notable and prize-
winning animated films in the 60's; Edward Zahariev who was equally
successful in his documentaries and feature films.
From the third generation: Nikolai Volev, a popular national film
director, who is best known abroad because of his documentary masterpiece
"House No 8"; Henri Koulev, arguably the most talented and controversial
author of animated films and cartoons for adults, who made several jazz
documentaries, contributed with two avant-garde features "Death of the
Hare" and "The Father of the Egg"; Radoslav Spassov, who grew up to his
script-writing and directorial debut after two decades as a cameraman; and
Krassimir Kroumov, the most promising new auteur, who comes in the film
industry as a dramatist, novelist and writer with theoretical
accomplishments.
Obscurity. As a Bulgarian, I could hope that this notorious
heterogeneousness of Bulgarian cinema is the main reason for the amazing
disinterest and ignorance to the subject in the English language critical
literature and scholarship (though it is really hard to be so naive to really
believe it). Ronald Holloway seems to be the only Bulgarian film scholar
writing in English, who at least knows the subject at first hand, while the
very few other critical attempts are either occasional film reviews or second
hand "accounts, drawn from the limited recent scholarship and reviews, of
this neglected film culture." Bruce R. S. Litte complains that "Bulgarian
films are not available to film students, to say nothing of average viewers;
nor have they become available on video", but he does not specify whether
this is the cause or the effect of this almost total disinterest to a whole
national cinema.
. Coda
The new Bulgarian cinema. What are its characteristics? Does it really
exist? Is it strong enough to survive in the post-communist environment?
Why does it remain one of the few white spots on the map of the East
European cinema?
These were some of the questions that this paper was trying to answer,
focusing on the last five years, but also tracing back the more durable
tendencies in the previous decades. It was an attempt to determine the
variables but also the constants which stand in the complex equation of
contemporary Bulgarian cinema, with a full knowledge, however, of how
little could be done in such a short form dealing with such a broad subject --
a whole national film industry.
The following are just some of the topics which have not been
mentioned at all because of length limitation: Bulgarian documentaries and
animated cartoons which, ironically, enjoy much greater international
recognition than their heavy-weight feature brothers ("Conserve-world" was
even nominated for an Oscar), Bulgarian children films, the feminist trend,
the genre movies, the national specifics of acting, cinematography and
montage as essential characteristics of Bulgarian film expressiveness (more
often than not, directing turns out to be the weakest link in many particular
film efforts), the new tendency of film professionals draining into the TV,
the political role of the filmmakers (the third generation director Evgeni
Mihailov with his documentary footage was the prime reason for the last
communist president Peter Mladenov's resignation), the theoretical, formal
and critical presumptions which stand behind Bulgarian film artists' creative
motivation, etc. Unfortunately, even those topics that have been discussed
are pointed out rather than thoroughly analyzed, but it could not be
otherwise. My main concern remains to acknowledge the mere existence of
the subject matter before approaching it phenomenologically.
"My approach to the material is journalistic, rather than academic,"
writes Ronald Holloway. This is an approach of an outsider who was on a
field trip to expand his terrain of research. My approach is that of an insider
who is for a while outside of his cultural reality in order to gain a better
perspective on it. If a Western scholar's goal is to understand and explain,
then mine is to reflect and translate. This text derives its mode of expression
directly from its subject, and as a derivative, not surprisingly, it shares all of
the attributes of its argument: self-reflexivity, heterogeneousness, loquacity,
allegorical and didactic expressiveness, mythological and folklore
Weltansicht, uniqueness and of course. The subject alone determines the
syntax in which its tale to be told -- a syntax that does not distinguish
"story" from "history".
.....................
FILMOGRAPHY
The whole PART II of Ronald Holloway's "The Bulgarian Cinema" is an
extensive filmography of Bulgarian cinema from 1915 to 1985. This list here
shoud be considered as an up-to-date appendix, though not comprehensive
by any means.
1986
All for Love - Nikolai Volev (Da obichash na inat)
A Cry for Help - Nikola Roudarov (Vik za pomosht)
Reference - Hristo Hristov (Harakteristika)
My Darling, My Darling - Edward Zahariev (Skypa moja, skypi moj)
Where Are You Going? - Rangel Vulchanov (Zakyde pytuvate)
The Transports of Death - Borislav Pounchev (Eshalonite na smyrtta)
13th Bride of the Prince - Ivanka Grubcheva (13ata godenica na princa)
Dreamers - Ivan Andonov (Mechtateli)
The Judge - Plamen Maslarov (Sydijata)
Steppe People - Yanoush Vazov (Stepni hora)
The Girls and Their Neshka (doc.) - Georgi Djulgerov (Momichetata i
tjahnata Neshka)
1987
House No 8 (doc.) - Nikolai Volev (Dom nomer 8)
Friday Night - Lyudmil Kirkov (Petyk vecher)
Coming Down to Earth - Rumyana Petkova (Prizemjavane)
Eve on the Third Floor - Ivanka Grubcheva (Eva na tretija etazh)
Someone at the Door - Milen Nikolov
Yesterday - Ivan Andonov (Vchera)
Love Therapy - Iskra Yossifova (Ljubovna terapija)
1988
1. Nights on the Roofs - Binka Zhelyazkova (Noshtem po pokrivite)
2. - 3. Time of Violence - Lyudmil Staikov (Vreme razdelno)
4. Where Do We Go - Rangel Vulchanov (A sega nakyde?)
5. Protect the Small Animals - Chaim Cohen (Zashtitete drebnite zhivotni)
6. The Neighbor - Adela Peeva (Sysedkata)
7. Uncle Godfather - Stefan Dimitrov (Chicho Krystnik)
8. Forget If You Can - Nikolai Bossilkov (Ako mozhesh zabravi)
9. The Report - Milen Nikolov (Izlozhenieto)
10. Blind Saturday - Panayot Panayotov (Sljapa sybota)
11. AcaDaMus- Georgi Djulgerov (Akatamus)
Stairway to Heaven (doc) - (Stylba kym nebeto)
The Prosecutor - Lyubomir Sharlandjiev (Prokuroryt) (1968)
The Life Flows Silently - Binka Zhelyazkova (ZHivotyt si teche tiho)
(1957)
1989
1. No Damage - Zako Heskia (Bez draskotina)
2. Stop for Strangers - Ivan Rossenov (Spirka za nepoznati)
3. Father - Detelin Benchev (Bashta)
4. Ivan and Alexandra - Ivan Nichev (Ivan i Aleksandra)
5. Running Dogs - Lyudmil Todorov (Bjagashti kucheta)
6. Fragmented Love - Ivan Cherkelov (Parcheta ljubov)
7. Adios Rio - Ivan Andonov (Adio, Rio)
8. The Threat - Milen Nikolov (Zaplahata)
9. Exitus - Krassimir Kroumov (Ekzitus)
10. Right of Choice - Emil Tsanev (Pravo na izbor)
11. Zone 2-V - Chavdar Gagov (Zona V-2)
12. Judas' Silver - Svetoslav Ovcharov (JUdino zheljazo)
13. Marital Jokes - (comp.) (Brachni shegi)
14. Divorces, Divorces - (comp.) (Razvodi, razvodi)
15. Test'88 - Hristo Hristov (Test'88)
16. Maggie - Peter Donev (Megi)
17. Margarit and Margarita - Nikolai Volev (Margarit i Margarita)
18. I, The Countess - Peter Popzlatev (Az, Grafinjata)
19. Coming Back - Yanush Vazov, Lada Boyadjieva (Zavryshtane)
1990
1. The Carnaval - Ivanka Grubcheva (Karnavalyt)
2. My Nephew is a Foreigner - Mariana Evstatieva (Plemenikyt
chuzhdenec)
3. Tale of the White Wind - Nikola Korabov (Poverie za belija vjatyr)
4. Thou Which Art in Heaven - Docho Bodjakov (Ti, kojto si na nebeto)
5. 8 % of Love - Vladimir Kraev (8% ljubov)
6. Shortage - Chaim Cohen (Deficit)
7. Mayor, Mayor - Plamen Maslarov (Kmete, kmete)
8. Musical Moment - Nikolai Bossilkov (Muzikalen moment)
9. The Camp - Georgi Djulgerov (Lageryt)
10. Cruel and Innocent - Iskra Yossifova (ZHestok i nevinen)
11. The Love Summer of a Schmo - Lyudmil Todorov (Ljubovnoto ljato na
edin ljohman)
12. Anthrax - Stanislava Kalcheva (Antraks)
The Attached Baloon - Binka Zhelyazkova (Privyrzanija balon) (1967)
13. I Still Put off Forgetting You - Stefan Gurdev (Vse otlagam da te
zabravja)
14. Walks with the Angel - Ivan Pavlov (Razxodki s angela)
15. Sofia Story - Nadya Staneva (Sofijska istorija)
16. Love is a Willful Bird - Rangel Vulchanov (Nemirnata ptica ljubov)
17. The Drummer and His Wife - Panayot Panayotov (Barabanchikyt i
negovata zhena barabanchica)
The Survivers (doc.) - Atanas Kiryakov (Ocelelite)
1991
Salvador Dali - (Spain/Bulgaria) (Salvador Dali)
1. Silence - Dimiter Petkov (Tishina)
2. The Bronze Fox - Nikola Roudarov (Bronzovata lisica)
3. Indian Games - Ivan Andonov (Indianski igri)
4. That Thing - Georgi Stoyanov (Onova neshto)
5. Nature Reserve - Edward Zahariev (Rezervat)
6. Material Evidence - Borislav Pounchev (Veshtestveno dokazatelstvo)
7. Madame Bovary form Sliven - Emil Tsanev (Madam Bovari ot Sliven)
8. O, Lord, Where Are You - Krassimir Spassov (O, Gospodi, kyde si?)
9. Tony - Dimiter Petrov (Toni)
10. The Well - Docho Bodjakov (Kladenecyt)
11. Bay Ganyo Goes to Europe - Ivan Nichev (Baj Ganjo trygva po
Evropa)
12. Gentle Killings - Lyubomir Hristov; Valentin Nedyalkov (Nezhni
ubijstva)
13. The Father of the Egg - Henri Koulev (Bashtata na jajceto)
14. Plyontek - Borislav Sharaliev (Pljontek)
15. Waste - Krassimir Kroumov (Mylchanieto)
16. I Want America - Kiran Kolarov (Iskam Amerika)
1992
1. Palpitation - Ivan Balevski (Aritmija)
2. Bullet for Paradise - Sergei Komitski (Kurshum za raja)
3. Vampires, Spooks - Ivan Andonov (Vampiri, talasymi)
4. Bad Boy - Georgi Popvassilev (Losho momche)
5. Something in the Air - Peter Popzlatev (Neshto vyv vyzduha)
Sea in the Middle of the Earth (doc.) - Henri Koulev (More v sredata na
Zemjata)
1993
The Doomed (doc.) - (Obrechenite)
1. Day of Forgiveness - Radoslav Spassov (Sirna Nedelja)
Citadel (doc.) - (Citadelata)
Tales of Assassins (doc.) - (Razkazi za ubijci)
2. Frontier - Ilian Simeonov; Hristian Nochev (Granica)
--- In production:
3. Burn, Burn Little Fire - Rumyana Petkova (Gori, gori ogynche)
4. La Donna e Mobile - Nidal Algafari
5. Jehovah Ire (God Shall Decide) - Dimiter Petkov (Jehova-ire)
6. The Alchemist's Dream - Rangel Vulchanov (Mechtata na alhimika)
7. The Forbidden Fruit - Krassimir Kroumov (Zabranenijat plod)
8. Love Dreams - Ivan Nichev (Ljubovni synishta)
9. Magdalena - Georgi Djulgerov (Magdalena)
10. The Golden Chain - Kiran Kolarov (Zlatnata veriga)
11. The Revenge - Docho Bodjakov (Otmyshtenieto)
12. The Goat Horn - Nikolai Volev (Kozijat rog)
-----------------------
THIRD GENERATION.
Since one can not find much information about these third generation
directors in scholarly or popular film literature in English, at least their
filmography is provided here:
Third Generation:
Nikolai Volev (1946): The Double (Dvojnikyt, 1980); King for a Day
(Gospodin za edin den, 1983); All for Love (Da obichash na inat, 1986);
House No 8 (doc.) (Dom nomer 8, 1987); Margarit and Margarita
(Margarit i Margarita, 1989); The Goat Horn (Kozijat rog, 1993) (in
production)
Kiran Kolarov (1946): Status: Orderly (Sluzhebno polozhenie: ordinarec,
1978); The Airman (Vyzdushnijat chovek, 1980); Case No. 205/1913 (Delo
#205/1913 g., 1985); I Want America (Iskam Amerika, 1991); The
Golden Chain (Zlatnata veriga, 1993) (in production)
Ivan Pavlov (1947): Mass Miracle (Masovo chudo, 1981); Black and
White (TV) (Cherno i bjalo, 1983); Walks with the Angel (Razxodki s
angela, 1990)
Henri Koulev (1949): Death of the Hare (Smyrtta na zaeka, 1981); The
Father of the Egg (Bashtata na jajceto, 1991); Sea in the Middle of the
Earth (TV doc.) (More v sredata na Zemjata, 1992)
Evgeni Mihailov: Home for Lonely Souls (Dom za samotni dushi,
1981); Death Can Wait a While (Smyrtta mozhe da pochaka; 1985)
Peter Popzlatev (1953): I, The Countess (Az, Grafinjata, 1989);
Something in the Air (Neshto vyv vyzduha, 1992)
Iskra Yossifova (1954): Love Therapy (Ljubovna terapija, 1987); Cruel
and Innocent (ZHestok i nevinen, 1990)
Rumyana Petkova: Reflections (Otrazhenija, 1982); Coming Down to
Earth (Prizemjavane, 1985); Burn, Burn Little Flame (Gori, gori
ogynche,1993)
Lyudmil Todorov (1955): Running Dogs (Bjagashti kucheta, 1989); The
Love Summer of a Schmo (Ljubovnoto ljato na edin ljohman, 1990)
Dimiter Petkov: Silence (Tishina, 1991); Jehovah Ire (God Shall
Decide) (Jehova-ire, 1993) (in production)
Krassimir Kroumov (1955): Exitus (Ekzitus, 1989); Waste
(Mylchanieto, 1991); The Forbidden Fruit (Zabranenijat plod, 1993) (in
production)
Docho Bodjakov (1956): Memory (Pamet, 1985); Thou Which Art in
Heaven (Ti, kojto si na nebeto; 1990); The Well (Kladenecyt, 1991);
Vendetta (Otmyshtenieto, 1993) (in production)
-----------------
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Holloway, Ronald. The Bulgarian Cinema. Rutherford, N.J.: Fairleigh
Dickinson University Press, 1986
Holloway, Ronald. "Bulgaria: The Cinema of Poetics." Post New Wave
Cinema in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Edited by Daniel J.
Goulding. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988
Bruce R. S, Litte. "Bulgaria." Handbook of Soviet and East European
Films and Filmmakers. Edited by Thomas J. Slater. N.Y.: Greenwood
Press, 1992
Liehm, Mira, and Antonin J. Liehm. The Most Important Art: Soviet
and East European Film After 1945. Berkeley: University of California,
1977
Stoil, Michael Jon. Cinema Beyond Danube. Metuchen, N.J.:
Scarecrow, 1974
Stoyanovich, Ivan, "Bulgaria." Annually in International Film Guide.
Edited by Peter Cowie, 1965-1991
Jorn Rossing Jensen. "Bulgaria." Moving Pictures. Cannes 19 may
1993
Katharine F. Cornell. "After the Wall." Cineaste, Vol.XIX #4, March
1993
.....
spisanie Kino, organ na Syjuza na bylgarskite filmovi dejci. 1992-1993
Bylgarsko kino, bjuletin na Nacionalnija filmov centyr. 1992-1993
Kino - maj/92 - "Kurshum za raja" 16 str.; "Aritmija" 52 str.; NFC 41
str.; Media'92 38 str.
Kino - dek/92 - "Vampiri, talasymi" 10 str.; " Privyrzanija balon" 50 str.
Kino - 1/93 - NFC 10 str.; "Granica" 14 str.; E. Zaharaiev 42 str.
Kino - 2/93 - "Sirna nedelja" 23 str.; TV antena 50 str.
Kino 3/93 - G. Djulgerov - dok. 3 str.; B. ZHeljazkova 21 str.;
Ungarija 32 str.
Pari 21/5/93 - "Hramyt na izkustvata pustee"
Bylgarsko kino -dek/92 - Analiz 92