One of the most interesting and valuable campaigns over the last year was related to the 100^th anniversary of Bulgarian cinema. The first public screening of the “Balgaran e Galant” comedy took place in January 1915 downtown Sofia. Vasil Gendov was the screenwriter, the director and performed the part of the protagonist. The man also established what’s now the National Movie Archive and the Union of Bulgarian Film Makers. A new documentary, named Vasil Gendov – Myth and Reality presents the life of the pioneer a century after that screening. The movie is only a part of the numerous events, related to the anniversary. Here is what movie expert Prof. Bozhidar Manov says in an interview for Radio Bulgaria:

“The whole year was marked by the centennial of the Bulgarian cinema and a series of cultural institutions joined its coverage. The film academy placed a special jubilee accent when it handed its awards. The National TV had a couple of very successful formats: The Patent Leather Shoes of the Bulgarian Cinema – with the rankings of 100 feature movies and The Patent Leather Shoes of the Documentaries, still going on and screening the best 20 documentaries. Thus the public was informed about the major cultural jubilee. I must underline here that it was the centennial of the feature movies, as the initial documentaries were created 5 – 6 years earlier – in the period 1909 – 1910.”

The jubilee got together the film making niche. The Home of Cinema hosted a Discussion Club with an Autograph, presenting favorite Bulgarian movies and their authors. The audience, mainly young people had the chance to get acquainted with unknown facts on the making of the movies and to listen to the analyses of renowned critics. The Golden Rose and Love is Folly major film festivals were accompanied by lots of discussions. The biggest event – Sofia Film Fest showed a couple of selections. The first one contained classic Bulgarian movies, created till the 1989 transition changes and the other one had titles from the period after 1990.

“The Bulgarian National Movie Archive had at the Odeon cinema downtown Sofia a cycle of screenings of both premiers and old archive titles. More than 2 – 3,000 professionals joined all the events of that kind, or this is the entire cinematographic community. Doubtlessly the modern Bulgarian cinema is one of the pillars of our contemporary society and that is why I am really happy that this centennial threw additional light on the efforts of nowadays’ cinema activists to continue the deed of Vasil Gendov and the other pioneers.”

The Kino /Cinema/ magazine of the Union of Bulgarian Film Makers covered the jubilee over the entire year with powerful texts – historical, analytical and critical. At the same time the National Academy for Theatre and Film Art hosted the large-scale conference, named The Bulgarian Cinema – 100 Years After the Start. The reports from the conference are published in a collection, Prof. Manov says.

“We are happy that right through this year two of our movies: Karatsi /Misfortune Men/ and Potavaneto na Sozopol /The Sinking of Sozopol/ of Ivaylo Hristov and Kostadin Bonev had their really successful international distribution and renowned festival awards. I hope that the state will continue to uphold financially the processes of film making and distribution over this and the coming years, the way it did over the past one. Because this is not simply the private interest of a professional community that marks its centennial in a dignified manner, but it is a part of the entire contemporary Bulgarian society’s cultural horizon,” Prof. Bozhidar Manov says in conclusion.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev