East of the West - Special Event 2007 / A dnes nakade / Bulgaria 2007
The 26 novice actors from the previous cult film Which Way Now? (1988) meet up and look back at the last twenty years of their lives. Together with their director, they examine what has become of their former illusions and ideals, and the complex circumstances which influenced their faith and their art. This night of emotive confession passes by in a tide of euphoria and nostalgia.
In the once cult film Where Do We Go From Here?, twenty-six novice actors are left to the mercy of an invisible examining board. An anonymous power grinds them down with intrusive questions and objectionable demands. The humiliated idealists are then faced with an agonising and interminable wait to discover if they are to be given their big chance in life. Twenty years on, they all meet up for a banquet organised by a colleague posing as a sponsor. Only a few of them have remained faithful to their impoverished Muse, both in their native Bulgaria and abroad, where some have travelled in search of creative freedom. Together with their director, they examine what remains of their ideals and illusions, what has influenced their careers, often far removed from the delusive world of art. They compare their former hopes with their present aspirations, and their powerful recollections of youth with their now routine existence. This night of emotive confession and confrontation passes by in a tide of euphoria and nostalgia. Even the old director gazes with bitterness into his own past…
90 min / Color, 35 mm
World premiere
Director Rangel Valchanov
/ Screenplay Georgij Danailov / Georgi Danailov, Rangel Valčanov / Rangel Valchanov
/ Dir. of Photography Radoslav Spassov
/ Music Kiril Dončev / Kiril Donchev
/ Editor Marija Handžijeva / Maria Handjieva
/ Producer Stefan Kitanov
/ Production Art Fest Ltd.
/ Cast Albena Stavreva, Annie Valčanova / Annie Valchanova, Antoaneta Stančeva / Antoaneta Stancheva, Genadi Nikolov, Georgij Enčev / Georgi Enchev, Georgi Staykov
Rangel Valchanov (b. 1928, Krivina, Bulgaria) initially studied the dramatic arts (1952) and subsequently assumed a leading position in Bulgarian cinematography with the following films, among others: On a Small Island (Na malkiyat ostrov, 1957), Sun and Shadow (Slantseto i syankata, 1961), The She-Wolf (Valchitsata, 1965), With Love and Tenderness (S lyubov i nezhnosta, 1978) and The Unknown Soldier’s Shoes (Lachenite obuvki na nezniyat voin, 1979). After his coproduction film Aesop (1968) he chose Barrandov Studios to make the films Face under Mask and Chance (both 1970). He was featured in Karlovy Vary most recently with the film Where Do We Go From Here? (A sega nakade?, 1988), the follow-up to which is his new film Which Way Today.
Stefan Kitanov
Producer
Rangel Valchanov
Film Director, Film Director
Gergana Dakovska
Film Institution Rep.
Ani Valchanova
Actress, Actress
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