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FIVE FILMMAKERS ARE GOING TO TO BE HONOURED WITH THE SOFIA MUNICIPALITY AWARD

26.02.2010

“Music is a kind of magic, which can’t be described with words”, this is how soundtrack composer Bojidar Petkov describes his art and craft. Amongst his most popular work are the scores of films such as Advantage, Measure for Measure, Stolen Eyes and Voice Over. However, when Bojidar graduated from the music academy in Krakow, Poland in 1965, he had no idea that he was going to be involved in filmmaking and at the time, he was primarily interested in symphonies and so-called serious music. The turn in his creative path begins when he is introduced to director Georgi Djulgerov, who asks him to write the original music to his first film as early as 1974.

“The two of us started working well together and we made a good team. Then came the success of his film Advantage. It is very important that a film achieves some kind of recognition and is well liked because then, people start to develop an interest in the rest of us – the rest of the film crew. This is how I started getting asked to write more and more film scores until there was a big pile of film titles”, Bojidar Petkov remembers.

His biography also includes soundtracks to classics such as The Black Swallow, Starting form the Scratch, Pantelei and many others, whilst, in contemporary Bulgarian cinema Petkov has written the music for films such as A Day of Forgiveness, Fate as a Rat, A Leaf In The Wind and Farewell To Hemingway.

“Turns out that the creative process when composing the score to a film isn’t as easy as it sounds – at first the screenplay has to be discussed at length, then the filming has to be closely followed in order to get a feel for the atmosphere, the raw footage is viewed over and over again until everything piles up at a given moment and finally the key for the music is comes to you and the notes practically line themselves up.”, the composer explains.

In his long list of creative achievements we can also find many classical pieces such as the oratorio "Patriarh Evtimii" (1970), "Geometrichni Impresii", "Azbuchni Razmishlenia", Alurni Dvijenia", the symphonic suite "Baletna Palitra", the cello and orchestra concert poem "Lunno Obayanie" for a soprano and an English horn and many others.

Bojidar Petkov is a Laureate of prestigious achievements at both national and global forums. His work has been successfully recreated in countries such as Japan, Cuba, France, Germany, Russia, Luxemburg and many others.

Italian feature, documentary and opera director Giuliano Montaldo will also be honoured with the Sofia Municipality Award at this year’s edition of the Sofia International Film Festival. Born on the 22nd of February 1930 in Genoa, Montaldo began his career in cinema as a student with a role in Carlo Lizani’s film Attention! Bandits!. Following this experience he travelled to Rome where, after acting in film and theatre, he became the Assistant Director of Lizzani, Gillo Pontecorvo, Sergio Leone and Francesco Rosi. In 1960 he made his debut as a Director with Tiro Al piccione, a film about the Partisan Resistance, on competition at the 1961 Venice Film Festival. In 1964 he directed La Moglie Svedese, an episode of the film Extraconiugale. With his second film, Una Bella Grinta, Montaldo won the Special Prize of the Jury at the Berlin Film Festival in 1965, a film about a social climber in Italy during the time of the economic boom. That same year he also directed the second unit of Pontecorvo's masterpiece The Battle of Algiers.

After having filmed the heist movie Ad ogni costo (Grand Slam - 1967) for Paramount and the gangster film Gli intoccabili (Machine Gun McCain - 1969) in the US, Montaldo returned to Italy to direct Gott Mit Uns (The Fifth Day Of Peace - 1969), Sacco E Vanzetti (in competition at Cannes Film Festival, where it won Best Actor in 1971) and Giordano Bruno (1973). These films received great recognition and were widely appreciated at various film festivals around the world.

In 1980 the director took part in the production of a television series about the expeditions of Marco Polo, an international co-production with RAI, BBC and NBC. It was filmed in Italy, the Middle East, Tibet, Mongolia and China. It was shown in 76 nations, and won 4 Emmy Awards. Montaldo's experience in China reveals a turning point in his work as a director.

Other films he directed include Circuito Chiuso (in competition at the Berlinale in 1978 and in permanent exhibition at the MOMA), Il Giocattolo (1979), Gli Occhiali D'Oro (1987), Il Giorno Prima (1987), and Tempo Di Uccidere (1991) starring Nicolas Cage.

In 1999 he became president of RAI Cinema, one of the biggest film production companies in the world. In the 5 years in which he was in charge, the movies he produced became box office hits, won awards all over the world and formed the new generation of Italian directors.

In 2001 Juliano Montaldo was appointed Cavaliere di Gran Croce by the Italian President, one of the top honours of the Italian nation.

One of the most renowned Swedish directors of the 20th century, Jan Troell will also receive the Sofia Municipality award within the framework of the 14th Sofia International Film Festival this March. The legendary Troell was nominated for 5 different Oscar categories in 1973, including Best Director and Best Screenplay for his film Utvandrarna (The Emigrants) featuring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman. The film tells the story of a married couple in the 19th century, who decide to emigrate in order to fulfil their hopes of a better life and freedom. The film manages to set the high standard of quality in European cinema. From then onwards Max von Sydow becomes one of Troell’s favourite actors.

As early as 1968 Jan Troell wins the Golden Bear and another four awards at Berlinale for one of the most significant Swedish films of all time – Who Saw Him Die. The black and white film which tells the story of a liberal teacher who battles with social clichés, precedes the success of The Emigrants. Jan Troell was born in 1931 in the small Swedish town of Limhamn and his filmography includes over 20 feature-length films as a director, scriptwriter, cinematographer and editor.

His filmmaking career began in Sweden the early 60’s, when the country started getting its reputation as an open platform for artistic ideas. Both audiences and critics were once again charmed by the director in 2009 when he was nominated for the European Film Awards for his film Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moments where Troell brings the cinemascope back to the beginning of the 20th century, using the personal history of his wife’s grandmother as a foundation. Maria Larsson's Everlasting Moments, a co-production of Denmark and Sweden, is an attempt to portray the emancipation of woman who enters the brand new world of photography in the early 1900’s. The film is reminiscent of his powerful early work in the 60’s and 70’s whilst fans and audiences are currently awaiting the completion of his final film, on which Jan Troell is currently working on.

The British maestro of musical cinema Tony Palmer, who is very familiar to Bulgarian audiences, will present two of his classics – 200 Motels (possible the first film to be ever recorded on video in 1971) which was co-directed with Frank Zappa and The Mystery of Chopin at a special screening celebrating the musical genius’ 200th birthday. Palmer’s surprise visit to present his projects is going to be an unforgettable gift and experience for the audience of the Sofia International Film Festival. At the special screening legendary director will receive the Sofia Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinema and Television.

“Until you develop a manic approach towards your goals, you won’t be able to achieve them” states Sergey Solvyov, the Berlinale and Venice film festival honored director, who is also going to receive the Sofia Municipality Award.

His artistic journey started in 1969, right after his graduation from the State Institute of Cinematography, in the studios of Mosfilm. He makes his cinematic debut with the film Semeynoe schastye (Family Happiness) based on Anton Chekhov’s stories. Currently Solvyov is one of the best known Russian directors, scriptwriters, producers and a treasured national artist of Russia.

According to critics, Solvyov’s successful debut in the filmmaking world was based on the fact that his early work was heavily focused on and explored characters of the "innocent age" of 12 to 25. This blissful period of the human life is the subject of focus in his films Sto dney posle detstva (One Hundred Days After Childhood) (1975) (winner of a Golden Bear at Berlinale for Best Director), Spasatel (The Rescuer) (1980) (honoured with a diploma from the Venice Film Festival), Naslednitsa po pryamoy (Direct Heiress) (1982) and Chuzhaya belaya i ryaboy (Someone Else's White and Speckled) (1986) which won the Jury’s Grand Prize at Venice.

Since 1982 Sergei Solvyov is a lecturer in the Director’s Faculty at the State Institute of Cinematography. Solvyov writes his own scripts (at times with co-authors) and often bases them on literature’s great classics. However, he gains his biggest recognition for his films Assa (1987) (Special Award of the Jury at San Sebastian), Chyornaya roza - emblema pechali, krasnaya roza - emblema lyubvi (Black Rose Is an Emblem of Sorrow, Red Rose Is an Emblem of Love) (1989) and Dom pod zvyozdnym nebom (House under the Starry Skies) (1991).

In 2000, Sergei Solvyov shoots another one of his greatest works, the generational drama Nezhnyy Vozrast (The Gentle Age). Last year, he completed the screen adaptation of "Anna Karenina" (a two hour feature length film and a 5 episode television mini-series) as well as 2 Assa 2 (the continuation of the popular Assa).

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LESS THAN A MONTH TO SUBMIT YOUR FILMS TO SOFIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2011.

11.11.2010

The 15th Sofia International Film Festival will be held from 4 until 20 March 2011 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Deadline for film submissions: December 1, 2010