The Black Swallow

A retelling of a crucial story of Bulgaria's troubled times based on the memoirs of Zahariy Stoyanov

A story about a writer and a young poetess

The film goes beyond the traditional facade of sport's battle for medals and explores the ethical dimensions of the efforts of the trainer and her modern and rhythmic gymnastics competitors, the price of success, the meaning of hard labor and Golgotha's vocation.The film reveals the hardships of the daily training routine of a rhythmic gymnastics group, repeating their moves over and over again while working towards perfection. There are short interviews with Neshka Robeva and Lilly Ignatova. We can see ambition and envy, the secret workings of being a referee at the European Championship in Wien, the impact of politics in sports completions favoring the USSR... The three girls on the winner's podium - Aneliya Ralenkova, Dilyana Georgieva and Lilly Ignatova, are seen at the end holding hands.

A young journalist comes across interesting report material: talented marine engineer Maria died while on duty. Her story turns out to be quite a puzzle though - people who knew her are not willing to share much. Trying to make them speak, the journalist presents himself as her son. He hopes to dig up the truth about her and spares no effort, ending up at the bureau for investigation. The report he's writing never gets published but his belief system certainly gets challenged.

This is a film about the fate of a group of students and their wondering to find their true place in life. Of course each of them tries to find his own way.

In this earnest movie from Bulgaria, the minds of the young people attending a Young Pioneer (communist youth) camp in the 1950s are shown to be easily molded into a conformist vein. Later, at a "voluntary labor" camp in the 1960s, the final touches are put on their education as proper young communists.

A young couple dream of having a wardrobe. When they buy it the wardrobe begins to totally manipulate their life - it orders their deeds, sets their taste, enslaves them.

Early 20th century. This is an era of seething passions, aspirations for freedom and national self-identification. Uprising are incited, blood is shed. The picture features national leaders who become heroes as early as in their lifetime. The protagonist is rank-and-file Macedonian who is unwittingly swept by the events. Later, it was his conscious choice. He was a witness of changes, crucial for the nation. He comes across legendary personalities. He gets enchanted and disappointed. He is seeking for the right answers, rethinks what he saw and experienced to tell his story in his simple, but candid and wise words of his own.

Two eternal opposing theses - play is our life or life is our play - are the base of music, dance and verse which fit together in this film.

A young partisan faces the moral questions of the Revolution

The action takes place during the socialist period in Bulgaria. The central character, nicknamed the Cock is an artistic personality, a man of strong character known as the king of the pickpockets. His keen sense of personal freedom comes up against the universally accepted norms of behavior. The Cock likes a game, adventure and danger, while socialist society needs obedience. The Cock makes a stand against this order; he does not want to play his games according to rules. He is telling his story of two decades: his imprisonment and his love affairs.

Petro is a modest farmhand living in an impoverished village in some unspecified long-ago era. He wants to marry the lovely Pidorka, but her stern father won't hear of it. The mischievous demon Basavriuk, offers a deal, enticing Petro into crime for the sake of fortune.

The beginning of the 20th century. A village in the mountain. The young barrel maker Liyu is to be examined by the local craftsmen. They approve the barrel he has made, blindfold. They give him "the craftsman's belt". At the beginning, nobody considers him a master.

The film's motto is: "The world of the elderly is a world that is constantly shrinking. Little things become big. Few people are important to us, but they are very important." Federico Fellini.

A tragic comedy about an orphan girl who knows nothing better than the animal way but at the end comes to realize her only chance - to be human.

The trumpet player, Jonah, moves into the remains of his grandfather's house near where the treasure is hidden. In a tunnel under the house he finds a stone with a bird engraved on it and a map with an inscription in Arabic: "To have a house of gold, fall onto the sky and find the twin!" A copy of the same map brings Rumba and Emma to the same place. Rumba is Bulgarian and a passionate treasure-hunter. His wife is American and studies Bulgarian folklore as a way to fight globalization. Rumba wants to buy Jonah's property so he can find the treasure.