site.bta Independent Films Become Important Element of Bulgarian Cinema Landscape

Independent Films Become Important Element of Bulgarian Cinema Landscape

Sofia, January 3 (BTA) - In 2014, independent film productions
definitively established themselves as an important element of
the cinema landscape in Bulgaria and experienced considerable
growth, says film critic Prof. Alexander Yanakiev of the
Institute of Art Studies with the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

According to Yanakiev, 2014 was an important year which created
good prospects for Bulgarian cinema in the coming years. The
euphoria about the major breakthrough in the contact with the
Bulgarian audience five years ago has settled down, but the
momentum is still there and the direction seems to be the right
one, he said.

It is now absolutely clear that films can be made without
government support, provided that there is a strong desire and
there are enthusiasts devoted to the art. Fears that such films
would be of low standard and would be designed for a
non-demanding audience were totally dispelled. This simply did
not happen, Prof. Yanakiev observes.

The expert predicts that independent films will remain an
important contribution to Bulgarian cinema, but they will never
oust subsidized productions. Subsidized films should form the
backbone of the film process in the country, he says.

Yanakiev notes that the most successful Bulgarian films released
in theatres in 2014 were made without government subsidies.
These included "Living Legends," directed by Niki Iliev, "Rapid
Response Corps 2: Nuclear Threat," directed by Stanislav
Donchev, and "Balgar: The Movie," directed by Nedelcho Bogdanov.
Collectively, they sold over 155,000 tickets.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian National Film Centre organized the
first bidding session for relatively low-budget feature films
worth up to 400,000 leva each and the results are expected in
2015, when five new titles will hopefully be released. Added to
these are generously subsidized works supported by more than one
million leva each in public money, Yanakiev says.

At the 2014 Golden Rose Bulgarian Feature Film Festival, the
most intriguing entry was "The Lesson," directed by Kristina
Grozeva and Petar Valchanov - again, an independent production.
In recent months "The Lesson" has earned significant
international awards in San Sebastian, Warsaw, Tokyo,
Thessaloniki, and Cuenca, Yanakiev says.

He believes that the Film Industry Act should have been
overhauled long ago. According to EU standards, the people who
select the projects that are to be subsidized should vote
directly in their personal capacity, and not represented by some
dummy organizations struggling for membership quotas in the
commissions. There should be a proper balance between the
generations and the professions (critics, screenwriters,
directors, cinematographers, animators and so on), Yanakiev
argues. He calls for the building of a national register of
experts in the audiovisual arts, with clear criteria set for
them.