National Film Center Executive Director: Bulgarian Cinema Needs More Comedies

Diana Dukovska, BTA correspondent Valentina Dobrincheva

National Film Center Executive Director Peter Todorov, Varna, September 20, 2025 (BTA Photo/Krasimir Krastev)

Varna, on the Black Sea,

20.09.2025 20:06

(BTA)

Peter Todorov, Executive Director of the National Film Center, said Bulgarian cinema needs more comedies and a refreshing of memory. He attended a presentation of the September issue of the LIK magazine dedicated to the 100th anniversaries of iconic Bulgarian actors Georgi Partsalev (1925-1989) and Georgi Kaloyanchev (1925-2012).

The LIK issue, titled "The Kings of Laughter at 100", was presented in Varna on Saturday during the Golden Rose Bulgarian Feature Film Festival.

Todorov stressed contemporary audiences need to broaden their understanding of comedy as an art form to appreciate its thematic richness. Among the 17 feature films in this year's 43rd Golden Rose competition, only two contained elements of comedy, and pure comedy was almost nonexistent, he said.

He recalled that brilliant actors like Kaloyanchev and Partsalev appeared in numerous films in a wide variety of roles and enjoyed the audiences' immense love. According to Todorov, the new LIK issue offers a deeper appreciation of their legacy and may inspire more Bulgarian directors to take on the challenging genre of comedy.

Todorov also thanked the Bulgarian News Agency for making the presentation of the LIK magazine a Golden Rose festival tradition.

Guests at the event included film critic Bojidar Manov, Commander Nikolay Danailov, a former commanding officer of the Bulgarian Navy Research/Survey Vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii, and ARMENPRESS News Agency Director Narine Nazaryan.

/DD/