Dimitar Shishmanov's legacy is little known in Bulgaria. He was a lawyer, diplomat, writer and humanist. In fact his father Prof. Ivan Shishmanov who was a leading literary critic and folklorist, champion of the pan-European idea and statesman involved in the creation of a range of cultural institutions, is much better known today. A few years ago Prof. Elena Mihaylovska released a biography about Prof. Shishmanov's son entitled Created We Were for Meditation. Just recently a documentary about him was screened in Sofia for the first time that has won the prize of the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers at the Golden Rhyton festival. Screenplay writers of the film are Prof. Mihaylovska and Konstantina Gulyashka.
Dimitar Shishmanovwas lucky: he was born to a family of leading brain-workers. His mother was the daughter of a famous Ukrainian professor. Young Shishmanovwas fluent in several languages. It is curious that while he was reading law in Switzerland, he was writing letters to his parents in either French or German. He later wrote novellas, short stories, novels and plays.
"In the years between the two world wars Dimitar Shishmanov was quite popular”, the film's producer Pavlina Zheleva explains. “Later however, because of his job at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and following a successful diplomatic career, life turned sour for him. He was tried by the communistPeople's Court and shot by a firing squad. During totalitarianism his name went into utter oblivion. Strangely enough, even after the democratic changes in 1989, his life and work have notbeen properly revisited either.”
During World War 2 Dimitar Shishmanovwas Foreign Minister of Bulgaria for just a couple of months. Although he adamantly defended the national interests, the new pro-Soviet regime issued a death sentence to him. February 1 marks his 70th death anniversary.
The film's director Ralitsa Dimitrova has presented Dimitar Shishmanov's biography by including a few reconstructions in which Dimitar Shishmanov is acted out by famous Bulgarian actor Atanas Atanasov:
"I think that in the genre of the portrait this is a great success of the film, as it seeks to span bridges to the past” says Pavlina Zheleva. “The film urges the audience to mediate and empathize. The title of Prof. Mihaylovska's book is Created We Were for Meditation and therefore this film is a noble alternative to the other kind of cinema - made to entertain alone.”
English Daniela Konstantinova
The University of Gothenburg is perhaps the only university in the world where classical Old Bulgarian is a separate discipline . This is reported by the newspaper "Az-Buki" in its latest issue. Classical Old Bulgarian is studied neither within..
After online voting, French film "Eternal Playground" by Pablo Cotten and Joseph Rozé received the audience award at the ninth edition of the Burgas International Film Festival, which took place at various locations in the seaside..
For yet another year the residents and guests of Bansko will be transported into the world of mountaineering, extreme and adventure cinema , BTA reports. This year's edition of the "Summer Movie Mania Under the Stars" will take place over..
The National Earth and People Museum in Sofia is marking today the Day of Mercy, established to remind us of the victims of nuclear bombings, terrorism and..
The festival of the modern young urban person "My Sofia. Youth with Causes" will be held for the third time on August 9 and 10 (Friday and..
This summer the Ministry of Culture is allocating funds for field archaeological excavations at 58 sites , BTA reported. More than 150 sites have applied..
+359 2 9336 661