site.bta21st International Red Cross, Health Films Festival Opens in Varna

The 21st International Red Cross and Health Films Festival opened in Varna on Thursday. 

Over 225 titles from 63 countries have been selected to be presented during the festival, which will take place until June 20, Bilyana Raeva from the organizers pointed out at a press conference, which was also attended by the Festival Director Iliya Raev, Artistic Director Prof. Bozhidar Manov and jury members Kamen Balkanski and Dimitar Dereliev, as well as Ivanka Dineva, Director of the Medical Supervision Executive Agency.

This year marks the 60th anniversary since the establishment of the festival, with special attention paid to organ donation, volunteering and philanthropy. "This festival is a special, unique phenomenon in the world and a source of pride for Varna", Dereliev emphasized, recalling that the festival was of category A, similar to the festivals in Cannes, Venice and Berlin.

Manov assessed that the selection of films at the festival is magnificent and emphasized that there are remarkable works among the titles with awards and nominations from the Berlinale and the festival at Venice. 

The International Red Cross and Health Films Festival in Varna has partnered with the initiative I Believe and Help, which purchases medical equipment, ambulances and mobile blood donation stations. The organizer of the initiative, Vladislav Nikolov, shared that the idea for the mobile stations, which operate in Varna Region, was borrowed from Turkiye, where there is a very responsible attitude towards blood donation. Nikolov stressed that thanks to the initiative, the number of people willing to donate blood voluntarily in Bulgaria has increased by 20%.