On October 22 in Sofia the sixth edition of Sofia Independent Film Festival opens. It includes new independent American movies. The festival has its roots in New York. Years ago a Bulgarian film festival, called New Independent started there. Recently the 11th edition of the festival was opened by Bulgarian President Rossen Plevneliev. Actress Zhana Karaivanova is founder and head of both festivals. This year partner of the Sofia Independent Film Festival is the National Palace of Culture.

“For the first time, together with Sofia Municipality and the National Palace of Culture we are to give the Independent Spirit of Sofia Prize in the ‘Best Feature’ and ‘Best Documentary’ categories,” Jana Karaivanova says. “The winner will be selected by the viewers but next year the festival is going to have its own jury. The award sculpture is the work by Bulgarian artist Stefan Nikolaev, who lives and works in Paris. This year the festival focuses on Bulgarians who make movies in America. It turns out that there are several Bulgarian filmmakers there. One of them is producer Izabella Tsenkova, who won the documentary competition at the Sundance Independent Film Festival in 2015 for her film ‘The Wolfpack.’ Izabella will fly from New York especially for the premiere of the film during the festival. For the first time at the backdrop of restored diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba we will show contemporary Cuban cinema. This is very interesting for us. We look forward to meet Prof. Jerry Carlson from New York University, who is an expert in Latin American cinema and who will present these films in Sofia."

Over the years, film exchange between Sofia and New York has been growing. Therefore, recently an American-Bulgarian advisory board to the festival has been established in New York. Among the Bulgarian participants in it are renowned director Yavor Gardev and writer Zachary Karabashliev. The board is open to anyone who would like to help.

We will recall that at the end of the past year Sofia was approved by UNESCO for bearing the label “Creative City of Film.” One of the reasons for this is that the city is host to a number of different film festivals. Here's what Todor Chobanov, Deputy Mayor responsible for Culture in the Municipality of Sofia said:

"Cinema plays a huge role in the cultural diversity of the city, which combines the energy of artists from around the world. So Independent has its special place in the cultural life and that is why the support of Sofia Municipality to this festival has been growing. This is because of the clear focus towards non-commercial cinema and young artists."

For the first time in So Independent the premiere of a Bulgarian film will take place. This is "Family Relics," directed by Ivan Cherkelov. Recently it received the Special Prize of the city of Varna in this year's "Golden Rose" Festival of Bulgarian feature films, as well as the prize of the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers.

English: Alexander Markov