Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Stara Zagora host the seventh spring edition of the Master of Art Film Festival. The four Bulgarian cities will be venues for the world's best art documentaries from recent years.

The official program started on April 7 with a screening of the American documentary "Kurt Vonnegut - Timeless" by director Robert Weide, filmed over 39 years and shown for the first time in 2021.

"Recent years have shown that neither epidemics, nor wars can stop artists from creating," says festival director Nayo Titzin.

In a sign of empathy and support with the Ukrainian people, the special programme Focus Ukraine features four Ukrainian art documentaries - "Dreaming up the Past: Early Music in Ukraine" (USA, 2011, directors Sabine Gölz, Oleg Timofeyev) - a film about national musical traditions and how Ukrainian people preserve them. "Roses: Film-Cabaret" (Ukraine, 2021, dir. Irena Stetsenko), "Tales of a Toy Horse" (Ukraine-Estonia, 2021, dir. Ulyana Osovska and Denis Strashnyy) and "Infinity According to Florian" (Ukraine, 2022, dir. Oleksiy Radinsky). For the first time, the thematic programme "Italian Renaissance" will be presented at the Odeon Cinema in Sofia. Between 11 and 15 April, films dedicated to the geniuses Michelangelo, Raphael, Tintoretto, Leonardo and the Carracci brothers will be screened.

Among the highlights of the Bulgarian programme of the festival is the film "Voyev" directed by Bilyana Kirilova.

• Dimitar Voev – the captivating music rebel from the late 80’s and the beginning of transition to democracy

The other two films in the Bulgarian programme are "The Testament of Boris Hristov" (director Boris Slavchev) and "Debelyanov and the Angels" directed by Desislava Shishmanova, which is the first film to show the place where poet Dimcho Debelyanov died in 1916 on the territory of present-day Greece.

The festival continues until 30 April in Sofia, April 21 April in Plovdiv and April 28 in Varna. 

Compiled by: Vesela Krusteva

English: Elizabeth Radkova