Soul Food Stories

Ivan, 58, is a seagull, a Bulgarian ladies’ man hooking up with female tourists at a Sunny Beach resort. He has done this for forty years, ever since the Communist times. Ivan wants to settle down, but that’s not so easy for an old Seagull. He’s got no savings and the pandemic makes things even more difficult: there are no tourists. Ivan supports himself by washing cars and windows. He tries to connect to Russian ladies to help them get visas to the EU and buy property in Bulgaria. He soon understands that he’s not really credible as a serious male companion. Ivan’s real wound is an adult son in Ukraine who refuses to talk to him. Maybe now, in spring 2022, would be the right time to reconnect.

Love & Engineering is for everyone who has experienced uncertainty, had a crush on someone or been on a date. The film asks what are our so-called “feelings” and can we can control them or not. Challenges of the dating world are approached through the perspective of male engineers: how to encounter people in the real world? The film reveals that falling in love happens in three phases and that charming your date could be just a matter of adept hacking skills!

In a small Bulgarian village troubled by the ongoing refugee crisis, a local postman runs for mayor—and learns that even minor deeds can outweigh good intentions.

The world's hardest - and weirdest - heavy metal band Impaled Rektum is serving their sentence in Norway's nicest prison. They receive word that guitarist Lotvonen's parents' reindeer herding farm is about to come under the hammer. It will take a big gig and big money to save the farm. A breakout ensues and a trip to the world's biggest heavy festival, Wacken in northern Germany begins. The higher the target, the bigger the obstacles. This is what the boys will experience on their epic journey to the main stage of Wacken - every metalhead's heaven.

Haunted by childhood traumas, Veera is trying to become more independent through live-action role-playing. As she guides herself and her mentally challenged brother through worlds of multiple roles and identities, witches and wizards, she finds the courage to face the demons of her own past and her abusive father’s legacy.

Ivan, a Bulgarian taxi driver living at the Golden Sands tourist resort, is saving money in order to go back to Finland to meet his ex-wife and son, and to make amends for his past mistakes. But money is tight, and eventually Ivan will resort to extreme measures.

A Finnish documentary follows four young men who have one year to find new love in Helsinki.

Geri, 18, is a Bulgarian girl living in an orphanage in the city of Vratza. She's a senior at local high school. She's dreaming of entering university. The final exams are approaching, and this has even bigger meaning for her than to many others, because after the graduation she is obliged to move out from the orphanage. Geri starts to go through her past with her stepbrother; the domestic violence behind the breakup of the family. She would love to know why her mother abandoned her and why she was not given to a foster family but had to grow up at the orphanage. She hesitates should she invite the mother to her prom. Geri also had a boyfriend who wanted her to quit the school and emigrate to Germany. He returns for the prom. The prom night is wonderful, full of hope and joy, but there are new twists of fate looming around the corner. Can Geri overcome her past or repeat the family's old mistakes in different form?

An investigation into the functioning of fake news in pre-election Bulgaria reveals the people behind its creation and dissemination, while also highlighting those who are trying to remove it from public discourse. The documentary follows two opposing protagonists. An experienced investigative journalist, with twenty years of experience, whose life has been repeatedly threatened, and whose car has been set on fire twice, has long been highlighting the dangers of disinformation to the Bulgarian public. In contrast to her efforts is a young man entering politics to fight against “gender ideology,” immigrants, vaccinations, and Western influences, who actively buys Russian trolls, and spreads propaganda through social networks.