email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

PRODUCTION Bulgaria

Kristina Grozeva in development with The Father

by 

- The project was selected in the Biennale College – Cinema

Kristina Grozeva in development with The Father
Kristina Grozeva

Following the success of The Lesson [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Val…
interview: Margita Gosheva
film profile
]
, which won the New Directors competition at San Sebastián and was selected in the main competition at Thessaloniki and Tokyo, Kristina Grozeva is developing her second feature, The Father. Described as a “post-communist tragicomedy-road movie”, the project was selected at the most recent edition of the Biennale College – Cinema.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Although she co-directed The Lesson with Petar Valchanov and is writing The Father with him, Grozeva will be the movie's sole director. It will be produced by Abraxas Film, with Valchanov serving as producer. The title's budget amounts to €150,000, which makes it a perfect project for the Biennale College – Cinema, a programme that promotes micro-budget films.

“The story is very personal, and it's based on real events in our lives, but it's reflected through a lot of humour. We intend to create very strong and dramatic characters, and to put them in absurd and comic situations,” Grozeva told Cineuropa.

The film tells the story of Vasil, a man who has just lost his wife, Ivanka. At her funeral, the mourners are shocked to learn that Ivanka has contacted one of the attendees on his mobile phone, which persuades Vasil to travel to a famous psychic to find out what Ivanka is trying to tell him from beyond the grave. Together with his son Pavel, who tries to convince him it is only a mobile communications glitch, Vasil embarks upon a crazy journey with a surprising resolution.

Ivan Savov and Ivan Barnev, who played the father and the husband of the lead character in The Lesson, will take on the roles of Vasil and Pavel, respectively. If the project wins the Biennale's support, shooting will take place for three weeks next spring, in the countryside near Sofia.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy