The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner

Colour, 35 mm
Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, 2008, 105 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

The eventful life of Alexander – Alex – begins with his birthday. A few years later his parents decide to emigrate and he leaves Bulgaria for good. After a distressing passage though Yugoslavia and Italy, the family finally settles in Germany. When the political climate changes, they decide to visit their old country once more, but they are involved in a car accident and only Alex survives. His grandfather Vasil goes over to see the young man, now suffering from memory loss, and when he sees that the pills prescribed for him by the German doctors aren’t working, he opts for his own course of therapy. He takes the self-assured young man home, to a picturesque Bulgarian town, where the latter starts remembering snippets of his childhood. However, grandpa realises that he has no right to take control of his grandson’s life. The adventures in this peculiar story (based on the autobiographical novel by Iliya Troyanov) are told with ironic hyperbole and its Balkan charm is masterfully conveyed via the actors, guided by stage director Stefan Komandarev.

About the director

Stephan Komandarev (b. 1966) studied film and television direction at the New Bulgarian University, graduating in 1998. After his successful feature debut Dog’s Home (Pansion za kucheta, 2000), which won him the Golden Rose for a debut film at the Varna FF (also screened at the IFFs in Berlin and Montreal), he turned to documentary filmmaking. For his film The Way of Harmony (Patyat na kharmoniata, 2001) he won the Silver Award at the 45th Tokyo IFF; Bread over the Fence (Chlyab nad ogradata, 2002) was awarded Best East European Documentary Film at the 45th Leipzig IFF; and Alphabet of Hope (Azbuka na nadezhdata, 2003) won Best Bulgarian Documentary Film in Plovdiv. In 2008 he directed Bulgaria’s most ambitious feature project to date, The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner.