BONNIE AND LIONNIE

2020, Bulgaria, short fiction, 20 min., colour, DCP

Short Synopsis
Sofia in the present day. A boy from a well-to-do family is in love with Bonnie, a teenager from the impoverished outskirts. In order to test his love, Bonnie’s older
sister Lionnie subjects the suitor to a humiliating ordeal. Will he pass or fail? And what do failure and success mean? Even when it comes to love, the rich and the poor speak different languages.

Cast
Elena Zamyarkova, Monika Naydenova, Alexander Benev
Crew
Written by Svetla Tsotsorkova and Svetoslav Ovcharov;
Director Svetla Tsotsorkova;
DoP Vesselin Stoyanov;

Sound designer Valeria Popova;
Composer Hristo Namliev;
Producers: Svetoslav Ovcharov, Svetla Tsotsorkova;

Festivals
Bucharest ShortCut Cinefest; The Continental Film
festival Munich; IFilms International Short Film Festival;
JAHORINA Film Festival – Serbia; Short Movie Club Film
Festival ”Nefiltravanae kino” – Minsk;

OCCUPATION OR LIBERATION

Co-producer
2021, Bulgaria, documentary, 60 min, black and white, DCP

Short Synopsis
The Soviet occupation of Bulgaria from the autumn of 1944 to
the winter of 1947 caused the greatest political, financial
and moral catastrophe in the new Bulgarian history. The film
is made entirely of chronicles and documents, many of which
are shown for the first time.

Crew

Director: Svetoslav Ovcharov
Script: Evelina Kelbecheva, Svetoslav Ovcharov
Camera: Svetla Tsotsorkova
Sounddesign: Valeria Popova
Producer’s: Svetoslav Ovcharov, Svetla Tsotsorkova, Evelina Kelbecheva
Production companies: Omega films, Archives State Agency,
with the support of Ministry of Education and Science, SWU “Neofit Rilski

World sales

Omega films
Festivals & Awards
“Golden Rython” festival – Sofia 2022 – Bulgarian Filmmakers Union Award, Bulgarian National Film Archive Award; Sofia Film Fest on the Coats 2022 – Special Jury Prize; Official selection – Golden Linden IFF 2022; Kinomagia IFF 2022
* Sold to Bulgarian National TV

HERO OF OUR TIME

co-producer
2022, Bulgaria, documentary, 58 min, colour, DCP
Directors: Svetla Tsotsorkova & Svetoslav Ovcharov

Short synopsis
Georgi is a village builder contractor. He’s honest and direct. His values and moral
system often clash with contemporary society’s. Seen as crazy by some, he is a
source of endless aphorisms to others. To live your life with dignity and without
compromise in our time is heroic. 

Cast
Georgi Staykov
Trifon Staykov,
Stanka Staykova
Tsvetelina Blajeva
Miroslav Krantovski,
Stefan Nikolov

Crew
Written, directed and produced
Svetla Tsotsorkova, Svetoslav Ovcharov
DoP
Vesselin Hristov
Sound designer, final mix and musical arrangements
Valeria Popova
Music
Carl Maria von Weber
Solo
Martin Stoyanov
Colour grading and postproduction supervisor
Todor G. Todorov
Titles and Credits
Dimiter Ovtcharov

World sales: Omega films
Festivals: Thessaloniki IFF 2022


Director Statement
Bulgarian documentary films often reach for the extraordinary at the expense of the mundane. We are used to seeking examples, whether positive or negative. It could be that, as a small nation, we try to upstage our own selves, and as such we’re always attracted to heroes, to raising (or destroying) monuments. It may sometimes seem like in this strive for grandiosity, what happens around us goes unnoticed. Artists often look down on everyday problems, having left them to pundits and journalists. Media, at the same time, swamps us with bombastic stories about who was gutted, robbed, or cheated by whom…. We might say that it’s the times we live in.
But let’s ask ourselves this, how many murderers, robbers, or thieving bankers do we know personally? We personally have a hard time answering, because we don’t know a single one. Well, maybe just one. How about the other five million people? When do they ever get on our radar? When will we make sense of the times in which a second generation is already living? But let’s take a look at our hero. Gosho is one of these people who, as they say, carry the state on their shoulders. He seems to have walked straight out of an anthology of Bulgarian popular psychology: a hardworking bear of a man, a tireless toiler, a homebody, cheerful but with a sharp tongue, empathetic to the suffering of others, compassionate and cruel in one, good natured and restless, a bull in the china shop, and a first-class rascal. He´ll even say so himself: “I can’t keep my hands still. If one does something, the other wrecks it.” One could even sometimes think he’s an idiot, he’s so sincere in his acceptance of every dumb thing he ever did, that it’s hard to understand: why did he really do something that he seems to genuinely regret? His attitude isn’t conceited, there are no farfetched goals, he lives for the here and now. Whatever tomorrow brings, it’ll be tomorrow. A creature of god!

SISTER

2019, Bulgaria, Qatar, fiction 97 min, colour, DCP, 1:2,35
Director – Svetla Tsotsorkova


Short Synopsis
In a small town in Bulgaria, a mother and her two daughters are struggling to survive.
The younger daughter often invents stories to make life more interesting. Unwittingly,
she eventually gets caught in a web of her own lies.

Cast

Monika Naydenova, Svetlana Yancheva, Elena Zamyarkova, Assen Blatechki

Crew
script Svetla Tsotsorkova, Svetoslav Ovcharov,
director Svetla Tsotsorkova,
DoP Vesselin Hristov,
Sound design Valeria Popova,
Producers: Svetoslav Ovcharov & Svetla Tsotsorkova
World sales: Film Republic https://filmrepublic.biz/

Awards
“Special mention” San Sebastian IFF; Best lm at Cottbus IFF, Germany;
Best lm at CINEDAYS Norther Macedonia; Young FIPRESCI JURY AWARD at
Warsaw IFF; Best Cinematography and the Award of Bulgarian Film Union at
“Golden Rose” IFF Bulgaria; Best Film, Best Actress and Best Actor at Bosporus
IFF, Turkey;
Best Actress at Beirut IFF; Best lm at So a IFF; Special Jury Award at Lecce IFF,
Italy; Best Cinematography at “Golden Eye” FF, Bulgaria

Festivals
San Sebastian – New Directors competition (2015) – World Premiere; London IFF;
Thessaloniki IFF; Goteborg IFF; Shanghai IFF; “Cinecitta” – Netherlands; B3
Biennale – Germany; Films de Femmes de Creitel – France; KINO PAVASARIS –
Lithuania; Guada- lajara IFF – Mexico; Festival del Cinema Europeo IFF, Italy,
Wome lm festival – Levan, Bengaluru IFF – India, Black Movie IFF – Geneva;
Filmatique Talent – USA and Canada; Cork IFF – Ireland; “Made in Europe” – online edition; Festival of Bulgarian movies in Paris; PULA IFF – Croatia; Films de “Mer
Noire” Mayenne, France

Contact:

Front Film
7 Victor Grigorovic Str, ap.5 Sofia 1606, Bulgaria
Tel: +359 898 552388, +359 888 325022

SHIP IN A ROOM

Bulgaria, fiction, 107 min, colour
Director – LYUBOMIR MLADENOV

 

 

Annotation

A cameraman takes up with a woman he has just met and her brother. The mentally ill brother never leaves his room until the man comes up with an effective way of coaxing him out in this touching human drama.

Cast

TSVETAN ALEKSIEV
ELENA DIMITROVA
IVAN DIMITROV

Crew

Scriptwriter – LYUBOMIR MLADENOV
Director – LYUBOMIR MLADENOV
DoP – DIAN ZAGORCHINOV
Production Designer – VIKTOR ANDREEV
Sound – MOMCHIL BOZHKOV
Producers – NEDEJDA KOSEVA, SVETLA TSOTSORKOVA
Production – FRONT FILM
in co-production withh CHOUCHKOV BROTHERS
with the support of BULGARIAN NATIONAL FILM CENTER

FESTIVALS

TOKYO IFF  2017 – Competition – World Premiere

 

Contact:

Front Film
7 Victor Grigorovic Str, ap.5 Sofia 1606, Bulgaria
Tel: +359 898 552388, +359 888 325022

THIRST

THIRST

2015, Bulgaria, fiction, 90 min, colour, DCP, 1:2,35
Director – SVETLA TSOTSORKOVA

Annotation

The Mother, the Father and their 16-year-old son live on a hill, at the end of a village. They wash hotel sheets for a living. The water supply is inconsistent and they often find themselves without any water.  A couple of drillers – a father and his daughter – arrive, in order to solve the water supply problem. The family’s harmonious world shatters into pieces. Everyone loves and hates everyone else. The thirst for love is so great that only death could quench it.

Cast

MONIKA NAIDENOVA, ALEXANDER BENEV, SVETLANA YANCHEVA, IVAYLO HRISTOV, VASIL MIHAILOV, STEFAN MAVRODIEV, IVAN BARNEV

Crew

Director – SVETLA TSOTSORKOVA
Writers – SVETOSLAV OVCHAROV, SVETLA TSOTSORKOVA, VENTSISLAV VASILEV
DoP – VESSELIN HRISTOV
Producer – NADEJDA KOSEVA, SVETLA TSOTSORKOVA
Production – FRONT FILM
with the support of BULGARIAN NATIONAL FILM CENTER, MEDIA Programme of the European Union
Co-Producer – OMEGA FILMS

World sales:

ALPHA VIOLET

 

FESTIVALS & AWARDS

San Sebastian – New Directors competition (2015) – World Premiere
London BFI, UK – Love Section
Zurich, Switzerland – Competition
Haifa, Israel – Competition
Hamburg, Germany, KaleidosKop &Competition New Talent Award Section
CinEast, Luxembourg
Golden Rose, Bulgaria – Awarded for Best Debut Film & Best Cinematography
Warsaw, Competition 1-2
Sao Paulo, Brazil – Competition
Thessaloniki, Greece – Balkan Survey – Competition
Minsk, Listapad, Belarus- Best Cast Award, Jury Prize
Arras, France – Competition – Best Mise En Sc?ne – Direction Award
Cinedays – Skopje, Macedonia – Competition
Rotterdam, Netherlands – Bright Future
G?teborg FF, Panorama
Spirit of Fire (Khanty-Mansysk), Competition
Guadalajara, Panorama
Bergamo, Competition
Wales One World, Panorama
Sofia, Intl Competition – Best Bulgarian feature
FebioFest (Prague) – Balkan Beats
Cr?teil (France), Competition
Vilnius, New Europe – New Names- Best Film, Best Actress
Istanbul, Golden Tulip Intl Competition
Balkan Trafik (Belgium)
San Francisco IFF, New Directors Competition
Crossing Europe, Austria, Audience Award-Best fiction film
National Festival of Cinematography Art “Golden Eye” – Best Bulgarian Cinematography
Zlin, Czech Republic – Panorama
Cluj- Transilvania, Romania – Special Mention for Best Actors
Academy Award in Bulgaria – Best First Feature, Best Production Design and Best Actress Awards

Tarkovsky Festival, Russia
Treplice, Slovakia
Taipei, Taiwan
La Rochelle, France
Auckland/Wellington, New Zealand
Quito, Ecuador
Palic, Serbia
Manaki Brothers, Macedonia
Vukova, Croatia
Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico
Helsinki Love & Anarchy, Finland
Rencontre Films Femmes Mediterann?e ? Marseille, France
Inverness, UK
UMEA European festival, Sweden
Cinergia, Poland,
New Horizons FF – linked with EFA award Ceremony
Elles Tournent, Belgium
Annonay Festival 2017, France

PRESS QUOTES

Screen – Lee Marshall “fascinating” ; ” an odd western” ; “remarkable achievement” ; “there is something of Fellini’s La Strada here” ,

“This is very much a film about five lost people: and it’s a remarkable achievement, on the part of the director, the writers and the actors, that we care about every single one of them”.

Cineuropa –  Stefan Dobroiu

 “An aesthetic achievement”.

The Guardian – Samuel Goff

“Tsotsorkova traces an oblique narrative of suspicion and sexuality”.

Calvert Journal – Samuel Goff

“Remarkably assured for a feature debut”.

Variety – Jay Weissberg

“Beautifully crafted” , “subtly told story”, “subtle flair”, “memorable moments”

“Tsotsorkova’s eye for the undemonstratively poetic turns something almost commonplace into a reflection of mood”…

Contact:

Front Film
7 Victor Grigorovic Str, ap.5 Sofia 1606, Bulgaria
Tel: +359 898 552388, +359 888 325022

BUFFER ZONE

Buffer Zone

BUFFER ZONE

feature film
2014, Bulgaria, 126 min, color, Stereo 5.1, DCP / English subtitles
Director – GEORGI DJULGEROV

Annotation

The main character, Todor Cherkezov, has survived a car crash in which he lost/killed his wife. He himself was left half- blind. A man of vision, a film director, Todor Cherkezov has several dreams, which at first glance have no narrative connection. One plotline does unite them, however – the main character’s egoism.
In the first dream, he neglects his mother’s memory because of his sexual attraction towards Irina, his wife, but…

In the second dream, Todor is just about to cheat on his wife, but…
In the third dream, Todor stops his wife by force when she wants to leave him, but…
In the fourth dream, Todor manages to save his own life with his wife’s help, but…
In the fifth dream, Todor sacrifices himself for another person for the first time, but…
In the sixth dream, Todor is in the buffer zone, between life and the beyond – and is seeking forgiveness for his sins, but…
In real life, he is formally acquitted, but…

Cast

ROUSY CHANEV, STEFKA YANOROVA,  ROZALIA ABGARIAN, TIGRAN TOROSIAN, HRISTINA IVANOVA, SNEZHINA PETROVA, IVAYLO HRISTOV

Crew

Scriptwriter – GEORGI DJULGEROV
Director – GEORGI DJULGEROV
DoP – GEORGI CHELEBIEV
Music – MIRA ISKAROVA, HRISTO NAMLIEV
Producers – SVETLA TSOTSORKOVA, NADEJDA KOSEVA – FRONT FILM
Production – FRONT FILM  with the support of BULGARIAN NATIONAL FILM CENTER in co-production with NU BOYANA FILM STUDIOS, BULGARIAN NATIONAL TELEVISION, AUDIOVIDEO “ORPHEUS”

Awards

THE UNION OF BULGARIAN FILMMAKERS AWARD – GOLDEN ROSE FILM FESTIVAL, VARNA 2014

Official WebSite

http://bufernazona.com/en/

Contact:

Front Film
7 Victor Grigorovic Str, ap.5 Sofia 1606, Bulgaria
Tel: +359 898 552388, +359 888 325022

HUNTING PARK

HUNTING PARK

2009, Bulgaria, fiction, 75 min, b/w
Director – LYUBOMIR MLADENOV

Annotation

Neda and Andrei meet by accident in the city and wander around it together. Alienation finds tenderness and selfrediscovery is possible solely through meeting with the other. The setting for this meeting are the city streets.

Cast

ELENA PETROVA, HRISTO PETKOV

Crew

Writer – LYUBOMIR MLADENOV
Director – LYUBOMIR MLADENOV
DoP – Anton Bakarsky, Georgi Chelebiev
Editing – LYUBOMIR MLADENOV, NINA ALTAPARMAKOVA
Sound – MOMCHIL BOZHKOV
Producers – Nedejda Koseva, Svetla Tsotsorkova
Production – FRONT FILM in co-production with CHOUCHKOV BROTHERS

Contact:

Front Film
7 Victor Grigorovic Str, ap.5 Sofia 1606, Bulgaria
Tel: +359 898 552388, +359 888 325022

Waltzes and tangos ….

Waltzes and Tangos from the Village of Whitewater

WALTZES AND TANGOS FROM THE VILLAGE OF WHITEWATER

2007, Bulgaria, fiction, 30 min, colour, Dolby SR

director IVAN VLADIMIROV

 

Annotation

Although love is the most important thing for the characters of this movie they find it difficult to share and easy to lose.

 

Cast

DIMITAR OVCHAROV, STEFKA YANOROVA, TZVETAN ALEXIEV,

Crew

Scriptwriter – IVAN VLADIMIROV
Director – IVAN VLADIMIROV
Cinematography – GEORGI CHELEBIEV
Music – NIKOLAY MADJAROV
Production Design – VICTOR ANDREEV
Producers – NADEJDA KOSEVA & SVETLA TSOTSORKOVA

Production:

FRONT FILM
with the support of BULGARIAN NATIONAL FILM CENTRE

Festivals:

LocarnoIFF’07,
Sofia IFF’07,
CottbusIFF’07,
Romance in a Can IFF ’07,
Cinema-tout-ecran IFF ’07,
KAN Festival Poland’07,
Festival International Cinema Mediterraneen, Montpellier ’08,
MedFilm Festival Italy ‘08

Awards:

Special Jury Mention – International Cinema Mediterraneen, Montpellier ’08
Best debut feature – The Bulgarian National Film Centre ‘07
Best Actress – Stefka Yanorova – The Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers ‘07

Contact:

Front Film
7 Victor Grigorovic Str, ap.5 Sofia 1606, Bulgaria
Tel: +359 898 552388, +359 888 325022