27/09/2022 - The drama set in the 1990s is the final chapter in the directors’ “newspaper clipping trilogy”, following The Lesson and Glory

Maria Bakalova and Margita Gosheva on the set of Triumph (© Boryana Simeonova)

The shoot is currently under way for Bulgarian directors Petar Valchanov and Kristina Grozeva’s Triumph, the final film in a trilogy based on articles published in the local press, on the heels of The Lesson [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Val…
interview: Margita Gosheva
film profile] and Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Petar Valchanov
interview: Petar Valchanov, Kristina G…
film profile]. Triumph is being staged by the directors’ Abraxas Film (Bulgaria), Graal Film (Greece), Five Oceans (Bulgaria) and Red Carpet (Bulgaria).

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The screenplay, inspired by a true story and written by the two directors together with Decho Taralezhkov, takes us back to the 1990s, when a task force of psychics and high-ranking army officers embarks on a top-secret military operation to dig up an elusive alien artefact that will change the course of history and make Bulgaria great again. Margita Gosheva, a regular in the directors’ filmography, plays Pirina, a power-hungry, self-proclaimed psychic who claims she is in telepathic contact with an alien race. Maria Bakalova, who is now probably the best-known Bulgarian actress worldwide after her Academy Award nomination for Borat 2, plays another important part in the film.

The movie’s budget amounts to circa €545,000. The Bulgarian National Film Center supported the project with €200,000. The Greek Film Centre, Eurimages and MEDIA are also backing Triumph. The shoot is ongoing, with Krum Rodriguez serving as the DoP. Julian Vergov, Julian Kostov, Stanislav Ganchev and Ivan Savov play supporting parts in the film.

We asked the directors how much truth there is in their screenplay. “There's a lot of truth in the film, but at the same time, we’ve also given ourselves a lot of liberty. Like our two previous films, Triumph will not be a biographical or historically accurate depiction of the events. This operation was absolutely real, but the characters are largely made up, even though we’ve used the real ones as prototypes,” Petar Valchanov explains. Kristina Grozeva tells Cineuropa, “The events are absolutely real, and there were many eyewitnesses – meaning the residents of the village of Tsarichina, where the operation took place, including myself. I vividly remember the military field camp that one day popped up in a meadow along the road to our country house, located very close to the village. There wasn’t a local get-together that went by without hot discussions about this operation, shrouded in rumours and tall tales of strange findings and supernatural phenomena. To this day, my father keeps a box full of newspaper clippings related to the case, many of which have been implemented into our script.”

Production will wrap this winter, and the directors hope the film will be delivered next year, in the summer or autumn.