“Documentary cinema in search of justice” – this was the title of one of the discussions at the biggest film event in Bulgaria – Sofia Film Fest. Bulgarian-born Svetla Turnin who has been living in Montreal for 12 years was a member of the international jury. In Montreal she is co-founder and executive director of Cinema Politica – a network that screens independent documentaries.

“The Cinema Politica films come from all over the world", Svetla Turnin said for Radio Bulgaria. The focus is on social and political documentaries that cover a very broad range – from refugee and war zone problems to the entire array of human rights issues, the environment, pollution, ore and mineral mining, labour disputes etc. Much of this cinema is low-budget. The films take a look at the lives of marginalized groups, of people living in difficult situations who have somehow fallen into systems of oppression, racial or class discrimination etc.”

Most of the network’s branches are at universities in Canada and Europe. The screenings are free of charge and are organized by volunteer curators – mostly film experts. The aim is to bring the works to a broad audience from all walks of life. It is important that viewers see films of high aesthetic quality focusing on the problems of the day. And to then join discussions with film directors, university professors, writers, journalists, experts, activists.

“Documentary cinema has undergone quite a few transformations in the past 10-15 years,” Svetla Turnin says. “It is now much more accessible to the broad public, and is much less dogmatic, employing devices otherwise used by feature films. This helps it reach out to more people. Most of the film makers look for and find unique human interest stories which are so intriguing and fascinating that they invariably bring in a larger audience. On the other hand documentary film distribution is still a difficult thing. In many countries TV networks are the principal platform for such films, as well as film festivals – like Sofia Film Fest. Of course, there are specialized documentary film festivals as well – the two leading such festivals are in Amsterdam and in Toronto.”

Svetla Turnin has graduated the American College in Sofia, then spent several years at the American University in Madrid, later transferring to Montreal Concordia University where she did media and communications. She says Montreal is a city with an exceptional culture.

“A city with a very high degree of civic awareness and a very active population. To my knowledge it is one of the cities of North America with the greatest number of university students per capita of the population which has made it such a prolific generator of ideas and activism. Because university students are invariably the trailblazers in any campaign or movement for social change.”

As a matter of fact Cinema Politica came into being as a students’ club, which was then transformed into a non-profit organization for the distribution of independent films at other universities in Canada and elsewhere. “This year is the first joint project we are having with Sofia Film Fest. And with a modicum of effort and a lot of creativity we could quickly bring these films to the audiences in Sofia.”

English version: milena Daynova