site.btaThe Garden of Good Is about People with Special Needs, Their Dedication to Gardening, Film's Team Tells BTA

The Garden of Good is a film that draws back the curtain on the world of young people with intellectual and physical disabilities who have been given a chance at employment, BTA learned from the film's director and screenwriter, Silviya Pesheva and Milena Ilieva. The film premieres at Sofia's Cinema House on Friday evening. 

The Garden of Good traces the beginning and development of Milena Boeva's project, which created a place called the Inspiration Garden in Bozhurishte (near Sofia). It is a Sheltered Employment Centre where 15 disadvantaged people have dedicated themselves to gardening. In this way they feel useful, offering ecologically clean fruits and vegetables. 

The project is supported by the National Culture Fund under a socially engaged arts programme.

A story of inspiration and support

The film is not a heartbreaking story because it has laughter and a lot of mood, said Pesheva. It shows smiling and relaxed people who go willingly to the garden where they work, she added. "Apart from the garden, we also filmed in the indoor part, where different gifts are made for Christmas, Valentine's Day, March 1, and other occasions," Pesheva noted. 

She said the film aims to show that the Inspiration Garden is a working model for supporting people with disabilities and that such a centre should be supported not for a certain period of time but long term. Pesheva stressed that through their employment and with the support of therapists, people with disabilities can develop their fine motor skills to gain greater independence, for example to dress and feed themselves. In addition, they get resources for the work they do, and this makes them useful, the film director also commented. Pesheva highlighted the opportunity for parents to have free time while their children are at the centre. 

Pesheva shared her admiration for the garden's creator, Milena Boeva. She is an engine of ideas, she just doesn't stop looking for solutions that are useful for people, Pesheva further noted. 

This was confirmed by Ilieva. In her words, Boeva inspires disadvantaged people to have their own employment. She motivates them to manage on their own in life, to learn new things, the screenwriter told BTA. Boeva is a fighter who "tooth and nail tries to provide the people in the garden with the necessities they need." Ilieva said the centre follows a Spanish model that sees employees working outside, in nature, and then preserving the produce from the garden. 

Ilieva explained that the time when there is no agricultural work is used for creative activities that complement the therapy of disadvantaged people. "The story of the garden in Bozhurishte inspired me because its creator Milena does not lament her fate, does not blame others, but shows a fighting spirit," Ilieva noted. 

It is very important for the film's team to show that disadvantaged people are part of society, Ilieva also commented. The focus of The Garden of Good is that these citizens remain isolated at home after coming of age because they don't have jobs that engage them and bring them together with people. The film crew announced that the money raised from ticket sales will be donated to Milena Boeva's garden.

A grain of love and kindness

The film shows that disadvantaged people are not scary, they are good-natured, smiling and radiant, said Boeva. "We can only learn from them. That is why I named the garden Inspiration," she added.

Boeva believes that when things are done with heart and soul, good things are sure to sprout. Her inspiration for creating the garden is her son Yavor, who has special needs. "I saw in him potential and a thirst for life, he is very inquisitive," said Boeva. She specified that her son prompted her to think about how she could be helpful to him and others like him. Boeva noted that she had realized the need for her son to become more independent and less dependent on her care, and for her to have time for herself. "For parents of disadvantaged children, this is important - to preserve ourselves mentally and physically so that we can be there for them longer, the Inspiration Garden founder noted.

Boeva created the garden under a project of the Agency for People with Disabilities and, with the support of the Municipality of Bozhurishte, she managed to develop her idea on a plot of land that proved suitable for growing fruit and vegetables. "We have five greenhouses with vegetables, fruit trees, we also grow herbs and spices. We employ 15 people on a 4-hour contract in the position of gardener; the staff is about five people," Boeva also noted. "We are currently building a kitchen where we will be able to prepare the produce for storage and sale, and also do some cooking," she said. Boeva stressed that contact with the land and gardening is beneficial for people with disabilities, and the creative workshops at the centre help develop their creativity.

Pesheva, Ilieva, and Boeva hope that the work of the Inspiration Garden will continue so that it can support those who, in a safe environment close to that of their peers, are able to work and feel significant and noticed.