Sofia’s Cinelibri sees panellists discussing film shoots in Bulgaria and co-production opportunities
- The session touched upon Bulgaria’s untapped potential and the success of Nebojša Slijepčević's Palme d’Or-winning short The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
Day One of this year’s Based-on-Books Cinema Forum (26-27 October), organised by Sofia’s Cinelibri, hosted a panel discussion centred around the opportunities Bulgaria can offer to local and foreign filmmakers. Moderated by Stanislava Ivy and held at the Grand Millennium Hotel, the session involved Cinelibri director Jacqueline Wagenstein, Deputy Mayor Sofia Yana Genova, National Film Centre of Bulgaria representative Stefan Prohorov, and producer Katya Trichkova.
First of all, Wagenstein explained how her international book-to-film festival was created “by accident, ten years ago, and has turned out to be one of the most loved, attended, and successful festivals in Bulgaria to date. […] We’re the only festival in the world dedicated to the relationship between films and books. It seems obvious, but when cinema was created over a century ago, the first films were connected to or adapted from books. […] We only screen adaptations or films related to books, including biopics, documentaries, and films relating to writers. This year, we screened 70 titles, and 90% of these were national and international premieres.” The festival runs in Sofia and six other cities simultaneously, with Cinelibri also serving as a producer, distributor, and book publisher nationwide.
Genova expressed her pride in supporting Cinelibri and her belief in Sofia as “a welcoming destination for international professionals. […] We can be hospitable hosts. Sofia is pretty well-positioned in the Balkans. […] I remember it was 2005 when the Berlinale and the Frankfurt Book Fair signed a co-operation agreement for the first time, and the more conservative contingent in the book business wondered what on earth ‘film people’ were doing in their biggest forum. But now it’s customary to see film and book industry representatives together.”
Genova also highlighted Sofia’s wealth of hidden gems and its “mishmash” of cultural traditions merging ancient, Ottoman, interwar, socialist, and post-socialist history. “Sofia has its own film commission which facilitates and provides logistical support for productions and co-productions, mostly non-commercial projects. Producers can access tax relief, support for transportation, and parking spaces,” she added, noting that local producers—mostly working for small and mid-sized firms—bring a wealth of experience and “are incredibly flexible. […] Being a relatively small country, our unofficial networks still work very well. We’re all familiar with the rule of three degrees of separation; here, it’s just two,” she joked.
The literary scene is also vibrant, with 8-9,000 new titles published each year. Film is the city’s second-fastest-growing industry after IT and gaming.
Next, the mic was handed to Prohorov. “It’s vital to say that Bulgaria is on a very steady course in terms of our film industry, though not politically. As an institution, we’ve finally managed to become ‘predictable.’ We’re a subsidiary agency of our Ministry of Culture. In terms of co-productions, we support features and shorts, as well as TV series. We’ve got a working cash rebate in place and we’re part of all the major networks, including Creative Europe and Eurimages.”
“Over the past few years, we’ve managed to achieve this [aforementioned] ‘predictability.’ When you think of institutions, you need to know how they work, and although disruptions might occur from time to time, it’s true that the number of projects has grown significantly over time. […] The centre’s film budget is €26 million, which is very stable and compares favourably with the rest of the region. We have multiple [funding] calls open throughout the year, which allows a certain degree of flexibility,” he continued.
“As a region, we need to be better at standing together and supporting each other,” Prohorov added. To date, 29 projects have completed their cash rebate reporting. Bulgaria offers a 25% rate, worth up to €1 million, which Prohorov described as “an adequate amount” with “increasing numbers of different-sized productions benefiting from it.” He also announced the launch of a new dedicated platform connecting professionals in the coming months.
Finally, the floor was given to Trichkova, who co-produced Nebojša Slijepčević’s 2024 Palme d’Or-winning short The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (Croatia/France/Bulgaria/Slovenia). Set in 1993 in Strpci, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the film is based on a true story and follows a passenger train from Belgrade to Bar which is stopped by paramilitary forces in an ethnic cleansing operation. As they haul off innocent civilians, only one man out of 500 passengers dares to stand up to them.
Her work on the project began in January 2022 when Trichkova received an email from producer Danijel Pek while going through a particularly difficult time in her personal life. After a few weeks, she read the script that Pek sent her and decided to embark upon the project.
Trichkova delved into the tortuous path she walked in terms of production. Initially, they aimed to start production in early 2023, with some Croatian backing secured in 2021, but they suffered two rejections from both Bulgarian and Danish funders. In December 2022, the project was listed in first place by the new artistic committee deciding on Bulgarian funding, after they reapplied for it in September. In December, the CNC declined to grant funding to the project. Ultimately, the team managed to assemble a €120,000 budget, shooting the picture in Zagreb over four days (from 30 January to 2 February 2024) and subsequently sending it to the Cannes Film Festival. It was only after receiving an invitation to the Croisette in April, where the short premiered on 25 May, that Slovenia came on board.
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