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13 SOFIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
21.03. - 14:00,
Lucky Cinema - Plovdiv

Director:  Javor Gardev
Cinematography:  Emil Hristov
Music:  Kalin Nikolov
Producers:  Georgi Dimitrov, Iliyan Djevelekov and Matey Elenkov
Screenplay:  Vladislav Todorov, based on his novel
Cast:  Zachary Baharov , Tanya Ilieva , Vladimir Penev , Mikhail Mutafov
Production:  MIRAMAR FILM in association with NFC & BNTV
Zift
Äçèôò
Zift
Bulgaria , 2008, 92 min, black & white, color
Awards:  Moscow 2008 - "Silver St. George" for best direction; 6 awards at “Golden Rose” (Varna) – for best film, actor to Mikhail Mutafov, cinematography, editing, producers and Critics Prize

Zift is a genre mixture of neo-noir and sots-art. The film materializes an attractive journey back in time to a now scattered totalitarian reality according to the genre laws of film noir. The story unfolds in one night. The main character, Moth is freed on parole after serving time in prison on wrongful conviction of murder. He was thrown in jail shortly before the Bulgarian communist coup of 1944, and now finds himself in a new and alien world – the totalitarian Sofia of the 60s. All hell breaks loose as soon as he walks out of jail. Moth tricks the bloodhounds of the communist state. The main character spends his first night of freedom in a breathtaking chase with time, trying to avoid fate, as he gets closer and closer to his ultimate demise. His frantic flight draws the map of a diabolical totalitarian city – decaying neighborhoods and gloomy streets, the bathhouse, the city canal, the hospital, the cathedral, the pompous works of communist architecture centered around the Mausoleum, smoky joints, bars, and finally – the graveyard. In the pursuit of truth, Moth runs into a bizarre parade of characters – agents, medics, barflies, outcasts, gravediggers and other species of the asphalt jungle. The action thickens through avalanching variety of twists and turns, sudden revelations, flashbacks, lies laid bare, hallucinations, and sensual encounters with the former love. Finally, the story ends inside the gravediggers’ trailer where the secrets are revealed.

Javor Gardev
Bulgarian director, born in 1972 in Sofia. He holds a degree in Philosophy from Sofia University and in Drama Theater Directing from the National Academy for Theater and Film Arts. Next come postgraduate courses in the area of directing, stage arts and cultural policies in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States. He has made total of twenty-three plays as a director part of which are co-produced and played in theaters and at festivals in all Europe. He won numerous national and international awards for his theatrical work and interdisciplinary projects. He debuted in cinema in 1998 with the short film Der Solitudebolero oder Raskolnikowbesessenheit, which was followed by two other shorts: Bedspotting (2000) and Oh Sweet Home of Mine / Discovery Channel Redone (2002). Zift is his debut full-length feature film.
1998  Der Solitudebolero oder Raskolnikowbesessenheit – short
2000  Bedspotting – short
2002  Oh Sweet Home of Mine / Discovery Channel Redone – short
2008  Äçèôò
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