Albena Pavlova

Time of Violence

In the 17th century, a Bulgarian Christian region is selected by the Ottoman rulers to serve as an example of conversion to Islam. A Janissary who was kidnapped from the village as a boy is sent to force the reluctant inhabitants to convert. The Turkish governor seeks a peaceful solution, but ultimately torture, violence, and rebellion break out.

Sofia Residents in Excess

Petya of My Petya

The film was named after the short story “Petya of My Petya” written by the exceptional young poet Petya Dubarova. The director Alexander Kossev and the writers Valentina Angelova and Nelly Dimitrova lift the vail of the past to present Petya Dubarova and her talent to today’s young generations.

Blind Saturday

In a small village where nothing has changed in the last few decades, a film crew arrives to shoot a historical drama. So, along with actors, producers, makeup artists and all the rest from the crew, a lot of hustle and bustle rushes into the sleepy village. It turns into a historical battle field itself. Everybody gets involved in the action - the young and the old alike get dressed into period costumes and armed with fake swords, suffer deadly wounds. The script also features an episode of ritualistic sacrifice and the offering is to be the village farmers' pride, a bull called Julius Caesar. The armies of defenders and enemies of the ritualistic animal clash at such an epic scale that it does feel like a massacre took place. As they say, blind Saturday is upon us and people do lose their minds...