Many Bulgarians believe that life in their home country is a punishment, because it is accompanied by multiple problems. That is why it feels good when you find someone who thinks different and outside the clichés and restrictions which enslaved our tired minds. Martin Grahovski lived in the USA, Canada and the Netherlands. However, he feels happy every time he visits Bulgaria. Martin believes that Bulgaria is an unexplored paradise and that foreigners are eager to learn more about this country. That is why he decided to shoot in Bulgaria short films dedicated to the country’s nature, culture and traditions, although he has visited many other countries, including Japan, Nepal and Cambodia. His film series are named 3 Minute Bulgaria. Martin told Radio Bulgaria how it all began:

“I returned to Bulgaria when I was sixteen and decided to shoot a documentary named Welcome to Sevlievo. The main idea of that documentary was to show interviews with people, relatives and friends. It was 90 minutes long, although it had to be a twenty minute film. Then, I came up with the idea to make a longer journey across the country. So far I uploaded 27 short movies from the western, southern, eastern and northern parts of Bulgaria. This project is linked with culture, cities and nature. It covers places and areas that attracted my interest and that may be interesting to the foreigners as well. I shot short films about Musala and Vihren mounts, about Bulgarian caves, etc. I don’t want to make that project commercial and I am not planning to make money out of it. I finance that project on my own, because I want to be independent and choose my destinations myself.”

Martin shoots three minute videos, because he shows them in the social networks only. In his view, they are long enough to stir the interest of the users and make them experience something new and different. That is why his Facebook page has been gaining popularity recently. It has over 24, 000 followers who discover in the short films new and unknown corners of Bulgaria every day. Martin continues to travel across Bulgaria and is planning to end the project with a series of trips in Central Bulgaria. He said he left that region last, because his childhood memories and memories of the summers spent in Sevlievo district have not faded away and he knows that part of Bulgaria best. Martin’s Bulgarian is excellent, because he spent some time with his relatives in Bulgaria. The young Bulgarian is proud with his friends from India, France and the Netherlands who fell in love with Bulgaria after their first trip to this country. They all say they did not expect to visit such a wonderful place and they would definitely come to Bulgaria again. Martin has been developing his project without state financing and does not seek any profit. He does it, because he believes that Bulgaria is a great source of inspiration. “All people can take inspiration from Bulgaria. Thus, they would improve their lives, Martin says. Let us wish Martin good luck and hope that other young Bulgarians who want to make Bulgaria a better and more attractive place would follow his example.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov