Eastern Plays

We follow the life of a man at eight, eighteen and eighty-two years old: in his village, outside the village, in the heat of the sun and the icy snow. The course of his monotonous life seems to be written in advance and meaningless. And yet an invisible force exists in him and in a mysterious way pushes him forward, towards death.

Thirteen European directors explore the theme of Sarajevo; what this city has represented in European history over the past hundred years, and what Sarajevo stands for today in Europe. These eminent filmmakers of different generations and origins offer exceptional singular styles and visions.

Samy is a Frenchman accused of smuggling counterfeit money from Bulgaria to France. To avoid jail, he becomes an informer for the French police, joining under cover a Bulgarian channel for human trafficking. Gradually, he falls in love with Elka, an underage gypsy prostitute. Torn by the pressure from all sides, he almost turns into an unscrupulous pimp. His feelings for the girl will help him keep the last thing he has – his dignity.

A crowd of people gathered in a room, apparently petrified by something invisible - Will it ever set them free?

In Paris, Sophie and Daneel make a solid couple. Nothing, it seems, can separate them - until the day when Sophie tells her partner she has organised a surprise trip to Bulgaria. Daneel refuses to go, but Sophie insists and soon discovers just why her soul mate was so reluctant to set foot in the country...

Eight-year-old Judith was plucked from everyday life to act in a film that was made in Paris. After returning home from the experience, she finds that her parents' marriage is on the rocks. She makes her way back to Paris with her friend Nora, and the two of them do what they can to survive.

Bojeka is an eccentric man with a strong sense of his own dignity. When the local oligarch starts a dangerous for the people project for a nuclear waste repository near the town, Bojeka turns out to be the only one who can and dares to oppose him.

Long, bright day. Rabbit on the road. You try to avoid it. You crash. Two parallel worlds.

Today, as a skipper for bulgarian tourists, Nikolay recalls the dream he accomplished in 1985 : going around the world by himself. In crossing the iron curtain, he has shown the way to freedom to an entire generation of young Bulgarians.