site.btaDocumentary about King Boris III Premieres at National Gallery in Sofia

The documentary The Unifier, dedicated to the 130th birth anniversary of King Boris III, was presented at the National Art Gallery in Sofia on Thursday. Authored by historian Malvina Gospodinova, the film is part of the series The Rulers of the Third Bulgarian Kingdom, which includes Queen Clementine: Bulgaria's Aristocratic Benefactor (2015), The Monarch (2016) about King Ferdinand I, and The King (2017) about Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Among the attendees of the screening were Gospodinova,  Patriarch Daniil, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the President's advisor on culture, Plamen Slavov, and diplomats.

Gospodinova said that the main reason for this project was to recall what Bulgaria was like and "what it could be if we all make the necessary efforts". A divided kingdom and a divided home where each part is against the other, cannot withstand, she argued. "It is high time we found those things that unite us," she added. Among them are Bulgaria's thousand-year-old history, the people who have contributed greatly to there being a Bulgaria today, and all those human traditions who bring people together.

Slavov read out an address by President Rumen Radev. "With the effort you put into the film, you show that the responsibility towards the future is based on the memory of the past. And with the reports of scientists, local historians, clergymen, with the stories of the heirs of King Boris III, with archival documents and footage, the film The Unifier contributes precisely to the preservation of historical truth. The documentary not only takes viewers back in time, thanks to valuable facts that are even little-known to the general public. But it is a kind of lesson in statesmanship," the address reads. In the President's words, King Boris III's strive to head the country led by the Bulgarians' interests in order to unite them, preserve peace in the country and protect his people, is important today because "we ever more need an act of political maturity, courage, and responsibility to society".

Bulgarian Patriach Daniil said that King Boris III loved his people and enjoyed its love in a way that few Bulgarian rulers had the privilege of being loved. The Patriarch called "indisputable, irrefutable and universally acknowledged" King Boris III's contributions to the Orthodox Bulgarian people, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Bulgarian statehood. "It is gratifying to see and to know that the memory of the unifier king continues to be alive, that his image continues to inspire new reflections on his work, on the way he ruled our country in one of the most difficult periods of its new history," he went on to say.

Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, son of King Boris III and prime minister of Bulgaria from 2001 to 2005, said he was excited to be in this building [once the Palace] where he was born, and to see that time always heals and helps. In his words, it is important to value our history, namely the past, with which we can look to the future with greater conviction and courage.

Boris III was born on January 30, 1894. He was King of Bulgaria from October 3, 1918 until his death on August 28, 1943. He was son of King Ferdinand I, who abdicated after Bulgaria's defeat in World War I.