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Festival 2002

6. Sofia International Film Festival Official Website


	ProgrammeAdvisors' Board Stefan Sofianski Prof. Bozhidar Abrashev Hristo Drumev Stefan Kitanov Short History Parallel Events Eurojazz 2002			ProgrammeAdvisors' Board Stefan Kitanov - Head of the Board (festival director and producer, Bulgaria) Yanko Terziev - deputy head of the Board (film critic, Bulgaria) (in alphabetical order) Alexander Donev (film critic, Bulgaria) Alexander Yanakiev (film critic, Bulgaria) Andronika Martonova (film critic, Bulgaria) Barrie Ellis-Jones (scriptwriter, UK) Bojidar Manov (film critic, deputy chairman of FIPRESCI, Bulgaria) Borislav Kolev (film critic, Bulgaria) Dimiter Dereliev (director, National Film Centre, Bulgaria) Emir Kusturica (film director, Yugoslavia) Evgeny Michailov (executive director of Boyana Film Studio, Bulgaria) Genoveva Dimitrova (film critic, Bulgaria) Georgy Djulgerov (film director, Bulgaria) Hermina Azarjan (National Palace of Culture, Bulgaria) Kalina Wagenstein (film critic, Bulgaria) Kakha Kikabidze (film director, Georgia) Krzisztof Zanussi (film director, Poland) Lech Kowalski (film director, USA) Lone Scherfig (film director, Denmark) Ludmila Cvikova (festival programmer, The Netherlands) Miroljub Vuckovic (festival director, Yugoslavia) Nigel Cross (film critic, UK) Rod Stoneman (producer, Ireland) Teddy Moskov (director, Bulgaria) Terry Jones (film director, UK) Tony Palmer (film director, UK) Veit Helmer (film director, Germany) Wim Wenders (film director, Germany) Top
				Stefan Sofianski Patron of the festival Mayor of Sofia Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a real pleasure and honour for me to be a patron of the sixth Sofia International Film Festival. In the space of six years, this festival has become part of the cultural life of the capital city and place where Bulgarian cinema fans can meet. As the mayor of Sofia I admire the efforts and the desires of the organisers to present almost 100 films from all over the world to the Bulgarian public. Many of these films will be shown only during the film marathon. I am pleased that the emphasis in the programme has been placed on new Bulgarian films. I hope that home-grown cinema shown shoulder to shoulder with internationally renown productions is a positive sign of change. A sign that Bulgarian cinema has overcome its difficulties and once again will take its place on the international stage. To the guests of the festival I wish many happy, sunny days in our city. I am convinced that this exceptional film event will fill you with many new ideas about the cinema and create many new friendships. Top
				Prof. Bozhidar Abrashev Minister of Culture Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a pleasure for me, as Minister of Culture, to wish success to the 6th Sofia International Film Festival. This is an event which has won itself a deserved place in our cultural world. For the next two weeks we will once again have the pleasure of witnessing the best of world cinema. I am particularly pleased that this year Bulgarian cinema will take its proud place. As a musician I cannot hide my pleasure that the film festival this year will be accompanied by a musical event - the Euro Jazz Sofia. Music and cinema - this will be a real two-week celebration for everyone who loves art. I wish success to the entire festival team and much pleasure and pleasant moments during the 6th Sofia International Film Festival. Good Luck! Top
				Hristo Drumev General Director National Palace of Culture Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and patrons of the Sofia Film Festival 2002! It is a great pleasure for me to be able to welcome you back to the National Palace of Culture! For the sixth time this unique building will be the home and centre for this festival which has captivated us with its youth, enthusiasm and untiring optimism. It is an artistic festival, diverse in its content, breathless in its pace and radiant in the eyes of its organisers and guests. We believe that during the two weeks of the cinema festival you will be able to enjoy some of the best examples of European and World cinema! We believe that your encounters with the guests of the Festival will leave lasting emotional and aesthetic impressions in your hearts and minds. We believe that this year you too will be amongst the fans of the "film party" - Sofia Film Festival. Top
				Stefan Kitanov Director and producer Welcome to the 6th Sofia International Film Festival! This year we are more ambitious than ever and we hope that our extensive programme will reach an even wider audience of cinema lovers in Bulgaria. This year we are paying particular attention to our youngest viewers and I hope that Sofia Film Festival will unlock the world of "different cinema" which you will come to love and anticipate. I hope also that it will provide you with a new alternative to your normal forms of entertainment. Once captivated with its meaning and emotional charge, you will become "addicted" to cinema and you will want more and more of it. It is our joy, aim and mission and will stimulate us to develop towards the future. The programme includes 91 films. Of these 82 are premieres, 65 have been sent especially for the festival and will not be commercially distributed in Bulgaria. For the time being at least. However, we are convinced that some of the films we present will encourage the Bulgarian distributors to include them in their future plans. The programme has been divided into thematic areas for ease of selection. The emphasis of the festival is traditionally on European cinema. This year's focus is on new films from France, the UK, Germany, the Czech Republic and Russia. The most important new element in the programme for us, however, will be the panorama of new cinema from the Balkans and Bulgaria. "Balkan Film Showcase" is a special event which will present to you the most important films made in the region over the last two years and with the majority of the film makers. Sofia Film Festival 2002 will put special emphasis on new Bulgarian feature films made in 2001 and 2002. Our aim is to present the newest films to specially invited representatives of prestigious international festivals and in this way to facilitate the development of Bulgarian cinema in the international market place. The Bulgarian gala night of the festival will be the premiere of Petar Popzlatev's film, "Touched by God". This year the festival has expanded its geographical territory and the "World Screen" event will present films from Brazil, Israel, Iran, China, Korea and Japan. We hope that the more exotic element of the programme will slowly become one of the main accents in future festivals. Sofia Film Festival will pay its respects to a number of world renown film makers who shall be the subject for retrospectives. It is an honour for us to welcome the great Greek director, Theo Angelopoulos to Sofia where we shall show a panorama of 8 films. The other important retrospective will be that of the Iranian film maker, Mohsen Makhmalbaf. You will be able to see 11 films by one of the most spoken about directors of modern cinema. We shall also present small portraits of Woody Allen and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. One of the main aims of the festival will be to bring the Bulgarian public and the media face to face with the makers of the films included in the programme. This year we have invited the following directors to Sofia: Theo Angelopoulos (Greece), Jafar Panahi (Iran), Pavel Lungin (Russia), Ljubisha Samardjic, Goran Markovic and Radivoe Andric (Yugoslavia), Erick Zonca (France), Pawel Pawlikowski and Dom Rotheroe (United Kingdom), Andreas Pantzis (Cyprus), Arpad Sopsits (Hungary), Dejan Acimovic (Croatia). We have invited the following actors : Klara Issova (Czech Republic), Nikolina Kujaca and Vlado Yovanovski (Macedonia), Zoran Cvijanovic (Yugoslavia), Alexandru Papadopol (Rumania). We are also waiting for confirmation from Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Iran), Otar Ioseliani (Georgia - France), Dito Tzintzsadze (Georgia - Germany), Nilufar Pazira (Canada), Martin Srebotnyak (Slovenia), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey) and others. All Bulgarian films will be presented by their directors. I would like to extend my warmest gratitude to all those who helped in the organisation of the festival, our sponsors, supporters and friends without whose assistance we would not have been able to organise this long awaited event. I'll see you in the cinema! Top Short History The festival began in 1997 as the continuation of the two rock film festivals which took place in the Cinema Centre in 1993 and 1994 with the assistance of the British Council. The 1997 and 1998 events were entitled Music Film Festival and included mainly musical films as well as live rock and jazz music. Since 1999 the film programme has not had any thematic concept and includes carefully selected examples of world cinema, as merits any major international film festival. Since 2001 the musical programme has had its own independent three-day international jazz festival, Euro-Jazz Sofia. Over the past five years more than 500 feature and documentary films have been shown. More than 100 famous faces who would have been worthy guests of any prestigious international even have been to Bulgaria. Top Parallel Events There will be two parallel events to the Sofia Film Festival. One of these will be devoted to Balkan Cinema - opportunities for partnership in cinema production, distribution and promotion of Balkan films. The other is dedicated to New Bulgarian Cinema. Bulgarian directors and producers will present films produced over the past three years to directors and programme organisers of European Film Festivals in the aims of facilitating their future participation in festivals. During the days of the festival, there will be an academic conference entitled, "Bulgarian Cinema and World Film Processes", organised by the "Cinema and Television" Department of the Institute of Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Science. During the days of the festival there will also be a parallel music programme in the following clubs, "Swinging Hall", "Backstage" and presentation of new Bulgarian rock music in "O, Shipka"!. The programme will be co-ordinated jointly with the music director of the festival, Ivailo Kraichovski. Top Eurojazz 2002 The tradition continues… At the end of March, Sofia will once more be host to the festival of European jazz stars - Eurojazz, 2002. This ambitious musical event will take place with the kind assistance of the cultural centres of the European countries represented in Bulgaria: Goethe Institute Polish Cultural Centre Austrian Embassy Hungarian Cultural Institute Czech Cultural Institute The Bulgarian organisers include: Ivan Vazov National Theatre Sofia Music Enterprises Art Fest Jazz FM Radio On the 29th and the 30th March the prestigious auditorium of the National Theatre will present: FisFuz, German ethno-music formation Poland's No.1 guitarist, Yarez Smeitana and his trio Pull My Daisy - Austria Aladar Pege - double bass and doyen of the Hungarian jazz scene Karel Ruzhicka (piano) and Rudolf Dasek (guitar) Czech jazz veterans who need no introduction. It is beyond doubt that the 2nd Eurojazz festival will be the jazz event of the spring and will be welcomed by an excited public. Top

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