Known as an actor and lately also as a novelist, Valeri Yordanov is sharing his feelings on the rough teenagers’ life in a Roma ghetto in the emotional plot of Shakespeare Like a Street Dog. ”This is a very personal story as I grew up in an exotic, but dangerous place to live. I dedicated it to a man called Chavo (a nickname coming from the Gipsy word ‘chave’, meaning ‘kid’), who was in prison for 12 years but knew texts from Shakespeare by heart. He taught me how to play the guitar, he made me read books, he found me a job, in brief he raised me. ‘To be or not to be’ was his favourite quote, before passing away at the age of 45”, Valeri Yordanov told FNE.
By following the lives of three main characters and in particular one of them called Danko, the film shows his talents and flaws, his impossible love and struggle for justice. “Danko and the others are young, wild, talented, always a step away from victory or failure,” Yordanov added.
Zahari Baharov plays Chavo together with Vladislav Stoimenov, Vasil Iliev, Eleonora Ivanova and numerous authentic extras. “Some friends of mine encouraged me to play myself. However, I invited Baharov because of his “cruel” intuition thanks to which he made a great role”,Yordanov also said.
DoP Boris Slavkov shot the film in a “dirty” style, in long takes and without unnecessary colours. The shooting took place in the autumn of 2019 mainly in the poor suburbs around Sofia.
The editing process was rather long, involving Yordanov himself and three different editors.
The film was produced by Chouchkov Brothers with a support of 480,000 EUR from the Bulgarian National Film Center. The script was developed in the frames of ScripTeast.
Valery Yordanov’s latest book, Rodents, will be presented during the 40th Golden Rose National FF.
The theatrical distribution of Shakespeare Like a Street Dog is due to start in 2023.
Production Information:
Producer:
Chouchkov Brothers (Bulgaria)
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Credits:
Director: Valeri Yordanov
Scriptwriter: Valeri Yordanov
DoP: Boris Slavkov
Music: Kalin Nikolov
Cast: Vladislav Stoimenov, Zahari Baharov, Vasil Iliev, Eleonora Ivanova
