One of the great ladies of Bulgarian cinema and theater art, Tatiana Lolova, already has her film portrait. She has impersonated multiple characters in theater, film and television, it is not without reason that she has been often called a fury, a natural element, an unknown flying object, a gigantic actress, a titan. The documentary of filmmakers Emma Konstantinova and Georgi Toshev reveals the actress from a close distance – with her candor, vulnerability, strength and wisdom in her 80th birthday. The premiere of Portrait of a Lady was in London, during the Festival of Bulgarian Culture there, and in Sofia at the autumn edition of the Cinemania Film Festival.
"Tatyana Lolova is a great actress - comic and dramatic, but my personal discovery, spending several months in her company and in the company of her wonderful husband Slavi, I realized something very important. The word "aging" with Tatyana Lolova is not a shameful word because she is really getting older in a way which reflects her whole life. This is a life full of emotions and many disappointments. But the stronger part in it is sharing, sharing with others behind which lies love. So this is my declaration of love to Tatyana Lolova after I have been watching all her appearances since I was 6 years old. I thank her," said Georgi Toshev at the Sofia premiere of the documentary.
The film was shot in Bulgaria, in Paris where her brother lived with his family, in London where the husband of the actress presented his exhibition. Tatyana Lolova tells about her life - with a sense of humor but also through tears. And her emotions are transmitted to viewers - they laugh and cry. In her childhood years she was very bashful. “I am the same now, but it is not so obvious”, admits the actress who believes that we should be open to accept that others wish only the best for us. Curious, poignant and funny is the story about rearing her brother - nearly 10 years younger than her. Tatiana took motherly care of him and he, at the age of three years, learned the alphabet and shortly afterwards - librettos and melodies of the operas to which she took him. The two of them have a very strong connection until this day.
They were left early without a father. Their mother asked Tatyana to leave school in order to help the family. But the parent-teacher association in high school gathered and judged that she has artistic talent and should develop it. "And I am still developing it for their sake," she said today.
The film also presents a meeting of the actress with the famous Bulgarian singer Svetla Vassileva in the National Opera of Paris, where the soprano impersonates the title role in Madame Butterfly. Tatyana Lolova cried at her success conquered in the hall. However, Lolova played the role of a blind opera singer in the movie Barter directed by Atanas Kiriakov which the Bulgarian audience expects next year.
English Rossitsa Petcova
