Bulgaria 2011 Country Profile

SOFIA: Despite severe cutbacks in funding, Bulgarian films had another strong year, attracting international attention and domestic audiences. The film services industry was bolstered by the largest-ever international production, and Bulgarian broadcasters premiered locally-produced series that were hits at home and were sold internationally. The year ended with the announcement of the first government grants for film production in over a year, although limited in number and size.

Box Office: 2011

Bulgarian films scored big at the domestic box office for the second consecutive year. Three debuts had especially strong results: Ilian Djevelekov's Love.net produced by Miarmar Film (www.miramarfilm.com) a romantic comedy dedicated to IT obsessions: the eccentric comedy produced by Sofia based C&R Production Operation Shmenti Capelli (www.shmentikapeli.com), written and acted by popular actor Vladislav Karamfilov-Vargala  and directed by Ivan Mitov; and Viktor Chouchkov Jr.'s Tilt produced by Chouchkov Brothers Productins (www.ch-bros.com),which was Bulgaria's official selection for the Academy Awards. Love.net attracted 205,000 spectators and 702,000 EURbox office, Operation Shmenti Capelli had 253,000 spectators and 528,000 EURbox office, and Tilt had143,000 spectators and 477,000 EUR box office.

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FNE at DISCOP Budapest 2011: Bulgaria 

Not long ago, Bulgarian programming consisted primarily of imported programmes from Brazil, the U.S., or Turkey. Within the last few years, however, international formats have become a significant part of programming for Bulgaria's TV stations, with commercial channels like Nova TV (www.novatv.bg) and bTV (www.btv.bg) leading the way. State broadcaster Bulgarian National TV (www.bnt.bg) has made an impact with its own new fomats as well. Now Bulgarian channels are turning toward domestic content, a trend which took hold in 2010 with the premieres of original productions on all the leading channels. And commercial channels are breaking new ground with the sales of original programming to foreign territories.

While the sale of domestic original formats is still in the early stages, Bulgaria's TV market remains open to international TV formats. Commercial channel Nova TV (www.novatv.bg), launched in 1994 and purchased by Sweden's Modern Times Group (www.mtg.se) in 2008, was among the first to adapt reality shows. The Bulgarian versions of Big Brother, Star Academy, Deal or No Deal and most of all Who Wants to Be a Millionaire were immediate hits. Gospodari na Efira, the domestic version of the Italian entertainment show Striscia la notizia, also reached high ratings at Nova TV, before moving to the bTV Media Group's leading channel bTV, owned by Central European Media Enterprises (www.cetv-net.com), where it continues a successful run.

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 FNE 2010 Year in Review: Bulgaria's Contradictory Year for Film

For the Bulgarian film industry 2010 was a year of high optimism and bitter disappointment at the same time. Optimism and pride in the industry's accomplishments hit the wall of the national economic crisis, and a drop in funding just when it could have the most impact.

Out of ten films produced in 2010, three Bulgarian films were selected in the competitions of three "A" rated international film festivals.

The emotional love/emigration story of a young man from the communist era Footsteps in the Sand (www.imdb-bg.net) by Ivailo Hristov was shown in Moscow; the "impressively confident and accomplished feature debut" showing present-day young generations Shelter by Dragomir Sholev screened in San Sebastian; and the "secret police files" drama Voice Over by Svetoslav Ovcharov was presented in Cairo. Actor Ivan Barnev, famous for his over 120 roles in theatre and film, was memorable both in Footsteps in the Sand and in Voice Over.

Footsteps in the Sand also received the recognition of the audience at the 29th "Golden Rose" Varna National Film Festival for the strong "emotion of its tone." Because of the credibility in showing "pain in life" Shelter was chosen in Varna for the best Bulgarian debut. In March Voice Over opened the 2010 Sofia Film Fest and in December grabbed the "best director" and the FIPRESCI (www.fipresci.org) awards at the 34th Cairo International Film Festival (www.cairofilmfest.org). The president of the international jury Arturo Ripstein from Mexico said, "The film shows the strong devotion of its author to the dramatic lives and fates of the characters - he knows them well, he identifies with them and suffers with them. The film also impresses with its original structure - very precise and filled with surprises at the same time. I would call it a reflection of reflections with the present painfully reflecting on the past where the characters are tragically entangled in the narrow space of a psychological dead-lock".

In early spring Dimitar Mitovski's Mission London (www.mission-london.com) became the 2010 national box office topper with over 400,000 admissions. Spectators of all ages adored the bitterly ironical episodes taken from the contemporary political reality in Bulgaria.

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