The Fotofabrika /or Photo Factory/ Festival for documentary and art photography has been launched in Sofia and will last till October 29. Marginal Man – that is the subject that unites this year’s events – 5 exhibitions, three photography workshops and a movie forum. Each of the exhibitions brings us face to face with people that we usually don’t want to see – marginal people, who have chosen their own path in life, or have been forced to take a path. The Marginal Man exposition contains 58 photos from the archives of the Getty Images and Reuters global agencies. Those stories from around the world can be seen till September 20 along the Lovers Bridge by the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, and then till October 18 along Oborishte Street. Director of the festival Emmy Barouh explains the topic’s selection reasons:

“We showed the protesting man last year and this year we show the marginal man. I think there is a strong link between those that we want to underline – it is a provocation to our guests within the 50-day-long event. Our team found it really interesting to research who the marginal man was and to think over this collective portrait. We are convinced that those are not beggars only. These people have been thrown out of society or have somehow isolated themselves. That is where we find the relation between the protesting and the marginal person – one wants to be more active in one’s own life, protesting against the agenda that throws them off in a lack of justice. The other option is self-isolation. I would say that marginal people are persons of spirit, they are sensitive and vulnerable and we have tried to create a collective portrait of those people, often invisible to the crowd.”

The Strange Other is the sequel of the Marginal Man subject. The project includes an exhibition, video installations and screenings. In the period September 10 – 28 the multimedia project is showing interviews with refugees and meetings with some of the protesters against them. Talks with local authority representatives are recorded there as well, so we have an extramural dialogue between both groups. Emmy Barouh gives us more details on the other accents of the festival:

“We have several exhibitions, prepared at different corners of the globe”, Emmy Barouh further explains. “Great French photographer Pierre Gonnord, who has turned the Marginal Man project into a way of life, will present unique portraits at the National Art Gallery after September 15. The global premiere of Czech photographer Jindřich Štreit will take place at the Czech Cultural Centre. We also have a lecture and a workshop for photographers with these two guests of the festival. The Strange Other is the name of our most ambitious project with an installation, meeting Bulgarians and refugees. We view not the political, but the purely humane side of the issue – those people are running away from a war, from the tragedy of bombings – this could happen to anyone. If we don’t have the senses for such people, if we don’t have the humane approach – we have lost a part of our humanity.”

Within the frame of three days there will be 8 free screenings and discussions of Bulgarian documentaries at the Czech center, some of those banned during the communist era.

The program of the festival can be found at www.fotofabrika.org .

English version: Zhivko Stanchev