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BLAGA’S LESSONS
UROTCITE NA BLAGA
STEPHAN KOMANDAREV
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BLAGA’S LESSONS
UROTCITE NA BLAGA
STEPHAN KOMANDAREV
Country
BULGARIA
language
BULGARIAN
2023 year
114 Minutes

Synopsis

When a retired, recently widowed teacher falls prey to a phone scam, she’s left robbed of her life savings and without any money for her late husband’s grave. Her life turns upside down when she realizes that there’s no way of gaining her money back, up until she receives an alluring yet suspicious offer for work. In this eerie suspense drama, Stephan Komandarev chronicles step by step the journey of a woman swirling into the vicious cycle of the dog-eat-dog reality outside her window.

Producer(s) or Production Company: Stephan Komandarev, Katya Trichkova
Screenplay: Simeon Ventsislavov, Stephan Komandarev
Director of Photography: Veselin Hristov
Editor: Nina Altaparmakova
Music: Kalina Vasileva
Sound: Johannes Doberenz
Cast: Eli Skorcheva, Gerasim Georgiev, Rozalia Abgarian, Ivan Barnev, Stefan Denolyubov

Awards - Winner: Karlovy Vary IFF (Crystal Globe - Best Film, Best Actress, Prize of the Ecumenial Jury), Festa del Cinema di Roma (Grand Prize of the Jury), Rome FF (Grand Jury Prize), IFFI Goa (Best Director)
Awards - Nominations | Screened | Official Selection: 96th Academy Awards (Bulgaria's official entry for Best International Feature at the Oscars 2024), Göteborg FF (Dragon Award - International Competition), Palm Springs IFF (FIPRESCI Prize - Best Foreign Language Film), Denver IFF (Best Feature Film)

Director's Biography
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STEPHAN KOMANDAREV

Born in 1966 in Sofia, Stephan graduated in Film & TV directing from the New Bulgarian University (1999). His works include award-winning feature and documentary films. He is a lecturer at the Film Department of the New Bulgarian University, SOFIA (SINCE 2008). He is a 2011 EAVE graduate and a member of the European Film Academy, the Bulgarian Film Directors’ Association, and the Bulgarian Film Producers’ Association.