"PHOTOGRAPHY AND CINEMA" will remind us of some of the greatest stars of Bulgarian and world cinema, presenting two exhibition projects - "Stars of Bulgarian Cinema" from the archives of the Bulgarian National Film Library and "Portraits from the Lobby: 25 Years of Sofia Film Fest" by Boryana Pandova. Lecture meetings on the theme "Let's talk about photography and cinema" with prominent Bulgarian researchers will thematically complement the entire festival program. 

The official opening is Friday, October 14, 6 pm. Exhibition programme period: 14 - 31 October, 2022. Location. Gallery, 25, "Kapana" Gallery, 25, "Raiko Daskalov", Plovdiv.

All events are free admission, special guests at the opening will be Stefan Kitanov - founder and director of Sofia Film Fest and Rosen Spasov - film expert at the Bulgarian National Film Library.

The event is financially supported by the Municipality of Plovdiv, as part of the Cultural Calendar and is in partnership with the Synthesis Gallery, Photosynthesis, the Bulgarian National Film Library, Sofia International Film Festival and the City Gallery of Fine Arts - Plovdiv.

                SYNTHESIS Photography Gallery, established in 2013, is part of PhotoSynthesis. The place for photography, people and ideas is the first gallery in Sofia where the art of photography finds its permanent art scene. It has shown exhibitions of both world-renowned names and young talented Bulgarian photographers.

The exhibitions are part of the thematic module "Cinema and Photography" of the gallery "Synthesis", curated by Nadezhda Pavlova, Nikola Mihov and Kalin Rujchev, which presents the relationship between cinema and photography. So far in the module - "CAMERA! WORKS - A Place of Filming - Sofia''; MOVING STILLS - Films for Photography by Tricia Ziff; ,,Stars of Bulgarian Cinema'' and "Portraits from the Lobby: 25 Years of Sofia Film Fest''. They are a continuation of the creative collaboration between the Plovdiv Photography Centre with its artistic director Prof. Dr. Nikola Lautliev and the Synthesis Gallery. In 2022, the exhibitions from the IFS programme - "Atos" by Stratos Kalafatis and "Traces" by Vladimir Vassilev - were shown at the Synthesis Gallery. 

PROGRAM

"Stars of Bulgarian Cinema 

Selection, digitization and photo editing.

The exhibition presents specially selected portraits of Bulgarian actors from the photographic negatives of film productions stored in the archive of the Bulgarian National Film Library. The collection includes more than 60 portraits of actors beloved by the public, such as Apostol Karamitev, Ginka Stancheva, Georgi Kaloyanchev, Stefan Danailov, Nevena Kokanova, Petar Slabakov, Katya Paskaleva, Grigor Vachkov, Georgi Georgiev-Gets, Dorothea Toncheva, etc. They were filmed in the period 1956 - 1972, which was particularly fruitful for Bulgarian cinema, and our cinematography of that time created real "stars". 

Until the advent of digital technology, the only evidence of the filming process of Bulgarian films are photographs of working moments, which are a valuable part of the archive of the Bulgarian National Film Archive. In the course of working on a film production, the film crew and the photographer in the field mainly focused on portraits of the actors. 

About the Bulgarian National Film Library

BNF is a state cultural institute of national importance, responsible for the preservation, restoration and public access to Bulgarian film heritage. Its collection includes over 15,000 titles, the BNF has an extensive non-film collection, which consists of a library of over 10,000 volumes of books and magazines, 27,000 original posters, 118,000 photographs and other documents and materials. 

"Portraits from the lobby: 25 years of Sofia Film Fest"

Exhibition of Boryana Pandova

Curator - Nadezhda Pavlova

The exhibition presents the work of Boryana Pandova as the official photographer of the festival with a collection of portraits of more than 30 personalities from the world of cinema who have been guests of the festival over the last five years. The exhibition will reunite us with famous directors and actors such as Terry Gilliam, Bella Tarr, Wim Wenders, Krzysztof Zanussi, Ted Kochev, Georgi Dyulgerov, Rusi Chanev and Stefan Mavrodiev.

The beginning of this exhibition dates back to 1985, when Terry Gilliam's cult film Brazil was released, and 2016 is the year he came to Bulgaria as a special guest of the SFF. 

"At that time I had been documenting the festival events for two years," says Boryana. When I found out that Terry Gilliam would be a special guest, I couldn't believe that I would see him live, with a camera, and only take protocol photos. I knew I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't come up with something special. In the end, I was able to convince the festival team that it was important to leave a brighter mark for generations to come. Thus was born the tradition of taking special portraits of special guests. Because of the intense schedule, guests have limited time and the only photo opportunity is a few minutes in the lobby of the cinema or hotel before an event. We set up a makeshift studio, pretending to be as prepared as possible with the idea and the light. ...and amidst all the commotion around us, we try to conjure up the great portrait of a person we're meeting for the first time. One shot. No time for talk, no time for correction. We rely on broad smiles. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's not. Just like in life, just like in the movies."

About the author. She graduated in photography at NATFA "Krastyo Sarafov" and the master's program in photography at the National Academy of Arts. 

Since 2014 he is an official photographer of Sofia Film Fest. 

Her interests are related to literature, music and performing arts. She works in long-term partnership with Meteor Association, director Anna Dankova, violinist Bilyana Vuchkova, composer Todor Karastoyanov and others. 

ACCOMPANYING PROGRAM

"Let's talk about photography and cinema"

LECTURE MEETINGS.

Location. "25 Raiko Daskalov St., Plovdiv

"Photography and Cinema" 

Prof. Dr. Krasimir Andonov

Prof. Dr. Krassimir Andonov is the head and lecturer of the bachelor and master program of Photography at NATFA.

Besides teaching, Krassimir Andonov also works as a film cameraman and photographer. He has shot five feature films and dozens of documentaries. He has won the Bulgarian Film Academy Award for Best Cinematography for the film "The Trial" (2015), the Best Cinematography Award at the SEE Film Festival, Los Angeles (2015) for "Mouse Poison", the Special Award at the Golden Eye Festival in Popovo (2002).

As a photographer, Krasimir Andonov has participated in group exhibitions in Canada (Ottawa), China (Kunming) , Senegal (Dakar), France (Paris). He has won many awards in photography competitions in Bulgaria and abroad.

"Contemporary Bulgarian Cinema" 

Dr. Krasimir Kastelov

Dr. Krassimir Kastelov is a senior assistant professor at the Department of Dramaturgy and Film Studies of NATFA. He teaches "History of Bulgarian Cinema", as well as "Introduction to Film History" and "Practical Text Editing". Since 2009 he has been a lecturer in Culture and Media at the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication at Sofia University. She is a professor of Mass Media and Mass Communication at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of St. Charles. He is a professor at the Faculty of Mass Media and Mass Communication at the University of St. Ohridski.

Dr. Kastelov is the founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of the website "The Other Cinema", which is dedicated to the history of cinema and, in particular, to the personalities who created the masterpieces that today make the seventh art proud.