The Steep Path

The action takes place at the beginning of the 20th century in the provincial Bulgarian town, Turnovo. A rich young doctor suffers because of his love to his housemaid. Meanwhile the First World War is beginning.

Two novels united by common characters and a never-settled problem: the clash between sincerity of children and the heartless pragmatism and ambitions of grown-ups.

Bulgaria in the 1950's. The agriculture in the country goes after the communist model. In one village, there is a man who refuses to join the cooperative and opposes the despotic local leader.

Shooting of a picture: to those, familiar with only from the screen, it is a entertainment. So, in a quiet Sofia street, a shooting crew starts their work. Bypassing begin to throng, curious people are looking out of the windows of the surrounding buildings. A scene is being shot of s short dialogue between the protagonists. It goes wrong all the time and is never complete. The mess gets beyond the comical, the true relations between the members of grew show and they do not look that excellent. At long last, the final scene is shot and the street is quiet again.

The action takes place at the end of WWII. It is 1944 on the Yugoslav front, where the Bulgarian Army is fighting bloody battles against the retreating Nazi units. Several lorries loaded with Bulgarian soldiers make a detour so as to deliver ammunitions to an army unit. They are people with different convictions sharing a common goal - to come out victorious and to return to their peaceful everyday life. Among them are people who believe in the triumph of the new system and for whom the difficult crusade is a confirmation of their ideals. They are also uncertain people. For the youngest this is the first trial in life. A young Yugoslav woman helps them find the road through the dangerous front line. Her romance with the one of Bulgarian soldiers symbolizes solidarity in the struggle against the common enemy. After a series of difficulties and mishaps, the soldiers manage to deliver the ammunitions to their comrades.

A truck driver falls in love with the woman he nearly hit.

Dr Ganevski leaves his wife Maria and his grown-up children Rositza and Chavdar for Dr Troyanovska, who has been widowed by the war. Her son, Angel, a school dropout, is in love with Rositza. Rositza renounces her father. Up to a point, Chavdar can understand Ganevski's decision. Hoping to live in affluence, the boy moves in with his father's new family. Dr Ganevski cannot bring himself to visit his daughter who is ill with the pneumonia. On his birthday, which he celebrates at his father's, Chavdar feels terribly lonely and leaves him.

Heroes of Shipka was the first solo effort for Soviet director Sergei Vasilyev, who had previously collaborated with his late brother Georgi. The film is set in 1887 during the pivotal battle between the Russians and the Turks at the Shipka Pass. Stressing the solidarity of the Soviet states, tribute is paid to the courageous Bulgarian volunteers who helped the Russians fend off their mutual enemy.