The Premiere

A film pioneer, Binka Zhelyazkova was at the forefront of political cinema under Bulgaria's Communist dictatorship. Though she remained faithful to the communist ideals she became an avid critic of the regime and brought upon herself the wrath of its censorship. As a result four of her nine films were shelved and released to the public only after the fall of the regime in 1989, and Binka Zhelyazkova became known as the bad girl of Bulgarian cinema. A provocative portrait that reveals the pressures and complexities that arise when art is made under totalitarianism.

In a small provincial town, the only traffic light is stuck on red. An intercity bus driver refuses to continue until the light turns green. This provokes a series of misunderstandings with the nervous passengers and the local law enforcement, in a world where following the rules is a misunderstanding in itself.

Svetla, a widow who lost her job recently is living next to the Bulgarian-Turkish border. There are many cases of refugees in her village due to its location. One day she meets a refugee from Africa and this changes her life.

An honest, hard-working schoolteacher in a small Bulgarian town is driven to desperate measures to avoid financial ruin.

The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia: Two ambitious lawyers face each other in the trial of Milorad Krstić, who’s accused of committing war crimes as a commander in the Bosnian war. The defender, Mikhail Finn, has managed to refute all the accusations against his client. Convinced of Krstic´s guilt, Catherine Lagrange, the prosecutor, summons a young man with incriminating evidence against Krstić. He claims to have been abandoned by his parents as a child and to have been one of Krstić’s soldiers. Defender Finn starts to investigate in order to verify the witness’ testimony – and soon encounters the young man’s family. Inspired by a true story.

When Mrs. Stanka Atanasova, an elderly and sick woman, enters her block of flats, she discovers that the elevator is out of order. Stanka must use the stairs to get to the ninth floor, and what for most of us is a simple task, becomes a challenge for her.