SOFIA: Respected Bulgarian screenwriter and playwright Georgi Danailov passed away at the age of 81. He was one of the most loved Bulgarian writers for cinema.
SOFIA: The 14th edition of the Sofia Meetings coproduction market will host 25 project of first, second and third films. The event is set to take place within the 21st Sofia International Film Fest, from 16 to 19 March 2017.
SOFIA: Twelve debut and sophomore features were selected for the international competition of the 21st Sofia International Film Fest. Six of them were initiated by writers and film directors from Balkan countries, including three Bulgarians. The festival will take place in Sofia from 9 to 19 March 2017 and in some of the biggest Bulgarian cities from 19 to 31 March 2017.
The year 2016 was relatively stable until 14 November, when suddenly, after the defeat of his party’s nominee in the presidential elections, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov resigned. The event was followed by long administrative procedures that failed to lead to a stable government. Eventually, it became clear that the newly elected president, General Rumen Radev, should appoint a caretaker government in 2017.
SOFIA: The German/Bulgarian TV series project Hausen will participate in the third edition of the CoPro Series pitching forum, the prestigious networking event of the Drama Series Days, which for the first time this year will be taking place at the Zoo Palast cinema in Berlin.
SOFIA: Rashko Mladenov has been approved Minister of Culture in the caretaker government of Ognyan Gerdzhikov, appointed by the country’s newly elected president Rumen Radev on 26 January 2017. Mladenov will serve until the parliamentary elections in 26 March 2017.
SOFIA: Admissions and box office for domestic films increased in Bulgaria in 2016 for the first time in the last six years. Admissions to domestic films increased by 94.72 percent while the box office increased by 248 percent.
SOFIA: Bulgaria’s National Film Center is celebrating the 13th National Cinema Day on 13 January 2017. The official celebration will be performed in close collaboration with the National Palace of Culture.
SOFIA: Acclaimed director, scriptwriter and producer Stephan Komandarev completed the shooting of his low budget feature film Directions aka Compatibility on 5 December 2016. The film is a Bulgarian /German/ Macedonian coproduction, whose financing took less than a year.
SOFIA: Paul Solet’s American thriller Unchained, starring Adrien Brody, John Malkovich and Antonio Banderas, started shooting in Bulgaria at the end of November 2016. Nu Boyana Film Studios is servicing.