Bulgaria has selected Ivaylo Hristov’s Fear (Страх) as its official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. Set in a Bulgarian village close to the Turkish border, Fear centers on a widow (Svetlana Yancheva) who encounters an African migrant (Michael Fleming) while hunting in the woods. She takes him in while he plots the remainder of his journey to Germany. The drama with comedic elements examines themes of inherent prejudice and simmering bigotry as the entire village, bracing for a wave of Afghani migrants, turns against the woman, demanding that the man leave. (Watch the trailer below.)
Hristov, who was one of the top Bulgarian theater and film actors of the 1990s before venturing into filmmaking, wrote and directed Fear. The movie won the top Golden Rose Award for Best Film at the 38th Golden Rose Bulgarian Film Festival where it also won for Best...
Hristov, who was one of the top Bulgarian theater and film actors of the 1990s before venturing into filmmaking, wrote and directed Fear. The movie won the top Golden Rose Award for Best Film at the 38th Golden Rose Bulgarian Film Festival where it also won for Best...
- 10/12/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
The film set in the 1890s shows that the Russian influence on the region has not changed in the last 130 years. Bulgarian director Svetoslav Ovcharov, who has made a name for himself by directing both period dramas and historical documentaries, as well as by writing recent Bulgarian successes such as Thirst, Sister and Irina, is currently in early post-production with the period drama The Bet. The project is being staged by Bulgaria’s Omega Films, represented by producer Svetla Tsotsorkova, and by Romanian outfit Avva Mmix Studio, represented by Andreea Dumitrescu. The screenplay, written by Ovcharov, is set in Sofia in the 1890s. The story centres on the power struggle between the Bulgarian prime minister (Zachary Baharov) and a major (Assen Blatechki), who conspires with Russian forces against the Pm. The major gets a Romanian woman (Romanian actress Ofelia Popii) involved in this conspiracy, a lady whom both he and.
Five features (plus a scattering of documentaries) into his career, leading Bulgarian writer-director Stephan Komandarev has resisted cultivating a clear thematic or stylistic throughline to his oeuvre. Yet his latest, the overnight police patchwork “Rounds,” feels surprisingly close to quintessential, pulling as it does plot points, structural models and tonal switches from his previous films into one stacked crowdpleaser. Alternately wry and solemn as it follows three pairs of police officers through an eventful night’s patrol in central Sofia, “Rounds” unites several splintered mini-narratives about human trafficking, euthanasia and institutional corruption — among other hot-button topics — more cohesively and engrossingly than you might expect in its 106-minute runtime, though there’s as much soap as there is grit in the final mix.
A palpable hit with audiences upon its premiere at the Sarajevo Film Festival — where it scooped the Cineuropa Award, as well as the Best Actress jury prize for...
A palpable hit with audiences upon its premiere at the Sarajevo Film Festival — where it scooped the Cineuropa Award, as well as the Best Actress jury prize for...
- 8/23/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
A Good Wife won best film in the Balkan competition, while the best pitch prize went to The Witch Hunters, but the festival faces an uncertain future.
Kosovo’s Pristina Film Festival (April 22-29) has revealed the winners for its 8th edition, after bouncing back from last year’s government funding cuts, which saw the festival held in exile in Albania.
The jury overseeing the festival’s Balkan competition, dubbed the Honey & Blood program, awarded its best film prize to A Good Wife (Dobra Zena), which Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović wrote, directed and also starred in.
Snezana Penev [pictured right] produced the film, which was a Serbia-Bosnia-Croatia co-production and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
The competition’s jury, comprised of Pluto Film’s Jana Wolff, Belgian actor Jehon Gorani and Swiss producer Dario Schoch, awarded best director to Turkish film-maker Kaan Müjdeci [pictured top] for his feature debut Sivas, while best actor went to Assen Blatechki for Bulgarian...
Kosovo’s Pristina Film Festival (April 22-29) has revealed the winners for its 8th edition, after bouncing back from last year’s government funding cuts, which saw the festival held in exile in Albania.
The jury overseeing the festival’s Balkan competition, dubbed the Honey & Blood program, awarded its best film prize to A Good Wife (Dobra Zena), which Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović wrote, directed and also starred in.
Snezana Penev [pictured right] produced the film, which was a Serbia-Bosnia-Croatia co-production and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
The competition’s jury, comprised of Pluto Film’s Jana Wolff, Belgian actor Jehon Gorani and Swiss producer Dario Schoch, awarded best director to Turkish film-maker Kaan Müjdeci [pictured top] for his feature debut Sivas, while best actor went to Assen Blatechki for Bulgarian...
- 5/3/2016
- ScreenDaily
A Good Wife won best film in the Balkan competition, while the best pitch prize went to The Witch Hunters, but the festival faces an uncertain future.
Kosovo’s Pristina Film Festival (April 22-29) has revealed the winners for its 8th edition, after bouncing back from last year’s government funding cuts, which saw the festival held in exile in Albania.
The jury overseeing the festival’s Balkan competition, dubbed the Honey & Blood program, awarded its best film prize to A Good Wife (Dobra Zena), which Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović wrote, directed and also starred in.
Snezana Penev [pictured right] produced the film, which was a Serbia-Bosnia-Croatia co-production and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
The competition’s jury, comprised of Pluto Film’s Jana Wolff, Belgian actor Jehon Gorani and Swiss producer Dario Schoch, awarded best director to Turkish film-maker Kaan Müjdeci [pictured top] for his feature debut Sivas, while best actor went to Assen Blatechki for Bulgarian...
Kosovo’s Pristina Film Festival (April 22-29) has revealed the winners for its 8th edition, after bouncing back from last year’s government funding cuts, which saw the festival held in exile in Albania.
The jury overseeing the festival’s Balkan competition, dubbed the Honey & Blood program, awarded its best film prize to A Good Wife (Dobra Zena), which Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović wrote, directed and also starred in.
Snezana Penev [pictured right] produced the film, which was a Serbia-Bosnia-Croatia co-production and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
The competition’s jury, comprised of Pluto Film’s Jana Wolff, Belgian actor Jehon Gorani and Swiss producer Dario Schoch, awarded best director to Turkish film-maker Kaan Müjdeci [pictured top] for his feature debut Sivas, while best actor went to Assen Blatechki for Bulgarian...
- 5/3/2016
- ScreenDaily
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has unveiled its 2015 line-up which includes films representing 54 countries, 23 world premieres and 53 U.S. premieres. The U.S. premiere of Niki Caro’s McFarland USA will close out the 30th fest. Based on the 1987 true story and starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello, the film follows novice runners from McFarland, an economically challenged town in California’s farm-rich Central Valley, as they give their all to build a cross-country team under the direction of Coach Jim White (Costner), a newcomer to their predominantly Latino high school. The unlikely band of runners overcomes the odds to forge not only a championship cross-country team but an enduring legacy as well.
The festival runs from January 27-February 7.
Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.
World Premieres
A Better You, USA
Directed by Matt Walsh
Cast: Brian Huskey,...
The festival runs from January 27-February 7.
Below is the list of World and U.S. Premiere films followed by the list of titles by sidebar categories.
World Premieres
A Better You, USA
Directed by Matt Walsh
Cast: Brian Huskey,...
- 1/8/2015
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline
A self-acknowledged "showcase for Academy Award frontrunners," the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is often overlooked for the actual films that earn it festival status. An amalgamation of international discoveries and ’merica’s circuit highlights, the Sbiff curates a week of best-of-the-best to pair with their star-praising. The 2015 edition offers another expansive selection, bookended by two films that aren’t on any radars just yet. Sbiff will open with "Desert Dancer," producer Richard Raymond’s directorial debut. Starring Reece Ritchie and Frieda Pinto, the drama follows a group of friends who wave off the harsh political climate of Iran’s 2009 presidential election in favor of forming a dance team, picking up moves from Michael Jackson, Gene Kelly and Rudolf Nureyev thanks to the magic of YouTube. The festival will close with "McFarland, USA," starring Kevin Costner and Maria Bello. Telling the 1987 true story of a Latino high school’s underdog cross-country team,...
- 1/8/2015
- by Matt Patches
- Hitfix
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