Review
As part of On Difference 2 project InterSpace Media Art Center have organized a series of events eyeballing the cultural and socio-political situation in Bulgaria, which artistic activity is by assumption dozed off in the country. The OD2 initiatives in Sofia included a call for video works, a one day workshop for instructional video, production of short films and a screening of these works during a thematic seminar. The local events aimed to further develop the main activity of the project – the exhibition in Stuttgart, to explore the very actual issues of the project and provoke the local artistic community, especially the youngest generation, to respond to these topics.
InterSpace chose the format of interpreting the idea of the general project On Difference 2 in Bulgaria to be through production of short movies as something that is easy to be done also having in mind the big number of young and very motivated filmmakers we have met with during Cinemasports film challenge we organized twice in Sofia.
Local artists, under the age of 35, were invited to produce a short film addressing the cultural and socio-political situation in Bulgaria. The call for participation launched in February received 28 applications by film making teams in which are involved 62 people.
On 4th of March 2006 we held a workshop on which we brought together the participants to present the idea and the format of On Difference 2, Sofia BG – in terms of 20 days to create a short film that should deal with some specific social, political and cultural issues in the format of instructional / How-to video. The format of instructional video was chosen because of it specifics to be easily understandable by large audience, to give knowledge and in this case a clear message of the artists in at the same time humorous, and serious way.
The announced competition among the teams strengthen their motivation and efforts to make a movie in which to raise questions for some very hot issues in the country, and to present their position toward the reality they live in. As a result we received 18 short films as 13 of them have reached to the final phase of the project – a public presentation and discussion.
The screening on 1st of April in Goethe Institut Sofia attracted more then 160 people and the hall turned out to be small for all the people willing to see the short films produced in terms of the project. The participants dealt very interestingly with the task of the project - not only to reflect the reality but also to give their meaning to it, which immediately made a feedback with the audience. All the films have very strong ideas, message and good communication approach. Surely these were no very professional productions but is difficult to do it for only 20 days with almost no budget. Rather the willing effect was in direction of original message given in an incredibly fresh and exciting cinematic way. Distinguishing for most of the films was the very good sense of humor and a positive view in interpreting some very serious problems. That naturally created very nice atmosphere of 2-hours screening and it could be seen on the audience's faces all the time...
The specially compiled jury of 5 young members – Yana Kostova (curator), Vladia Mihailova (cultural scientist), Mariana Hristova (film critic), Missues (journalist and host/director/author of a cultural TV show), and Galia Dimitrova (curator and organizer of the project) met great difficulties while choosing the five winning films. After very long discussions they decided to award six, instead of the originally planned five movies, which are:
Bulgaria - A Country of Unlimited Impossibilities by Art Group Haide
Crossover by UFO and Kontrabanda
Early Spring Time by Ivo Ivanov
Tunning by Panaiot Alexiev and Borislav Milotinov
Living on Wheels by Triple
How to Cross a Street in BG? by Victor Petkov, George Krastev, Neno Belchev
All these films that will be further distributed and shown on various events and festivals in Bulgaria and abroad.
The discussion following the screening could not keep the good spirit of the event and revealed some typical for the geographical location of the country temperament. The initial idea to discuss the participants approach and generally the topics of the project turn out in a topical dispute, which issue is important and which is not and why the teams have chosen this way to present it. Obviously is much easier to present one's view on the reality in a film then in a talk... or we still need time and learn to be tolerant to listen and understand other's opinion.
Galia Dimitrova
Curator and organizer of the project
The project On Difference 2 is one of those initiatives, which provokes the torpid by assumption Bulgarian socio/cultural activity. And it's not strange that it comes with foreign trade mark. It's idea is simple and well pointed – to make the young artists not only to reflect their social environment, but also to give meaning to it. And all this aims at the interaction or said in other words – feedback. To make it happen in local conditions, Galina Dimitrova, who is one of the co-curators in On Difference #2: Grenzwertig exhibition in Wurttembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, lead one day workshop for the participants, in which the form and the principals of the instructional video are presented as the best mean of visual expression for this case. After that, in 20 days period, 27 short movies are made, 13 of which manage to climb over the pare-selection and to take part in the final phase of the project including public screening and discussion.
Of course there were no masterpieces, but that was not the task. The desired effect was aimed at giving clear socio/political message and I feel that all the teams managed to reach it. Most of the authors have chosen the documentary style for their movies, some of them gave the feeling of role playing plot, even more – few of them had pressed the “instructional video” task. It could be seen from the titles. The most typical example from the third group is „How to protect from a bird flu“ by Diana Andreeva / Emil Stefanov / Todor Velev, who, sticking closely to the TV joke, burlesques simultaneously with the commercials to the „WS Teleshop“ type and with the media grown psychosis about the spreading of the bird flu. Close to it, by the „How To“ form are the attempts of Bozhana Nesheva / Boris Krastev „Parallel parking“ which didn't surprise with it's uniqueness, „Ultrafuturo“'s „How to swallow the history“, which most interesting part was the title and the movie „How to cross a street in BG“ by Viktor Petkov / Neno Belchev / Georgi Krastev. The last took half an award, because it was the only one of the 13 finalists, which uses the metaphor as a mean of expression to enrich it's message. „How to... Stay Here” by Petio Budakov is also strictly instructional but it follows the reporting style and reminds of the Bulgarian TV series „Telescope“. Also reporting is „Living on Wheels” by Triple, which provokes with it's theme about the bad fortune of the disabled persons in Bulgaria. Equal to their ideas and director's decisions, but not to quality of making are the movies by the Decadent Art Studio - „How to become an European“ and the one by Art group Haide - „Bulgaria – country of the unlimited impossibilities“. As the first one doesn't aim at escaping from the cliche of the local social distress, the second gets wrapped up straight in the built stereotypes about the existence of the typical Bulgarian, overwhelming it with good sense of humor and inoffensive irony. It isn't strange that this movie was the jury's favorite.
The movie that caught the audience attention at first sight was the agitation movie by UFO – „Crossover”, which gained the cheers not only with it's breakneck vision and professional montage, but also thankfully to the fact that the event in the movie (a protest against the polluted air in Sofia) was organized especially for the shooting. Another eye catching piece was „Violeta 25“ by Borislav Stioanov / Violeta Vitanova. But the clip effect didn't manage to replace the absence of a clear idea. The same problem experienced the movie „Pieces peace“ by Goll:Boss, where the romantic side of the black and white vision couldn't help us to answer the question: „What the author meant by this?“
In my opinion, most interesting were the two movies which had selected the most traditional, but not easy subject way to illustrate the author's idea. In „Tunning“ Borislav Milotinov and Panaiot Aleksiev anecdotically interprets not so grown up, but typical local issue. The other one - „Early Spring time“ by Ivo Ivanov interweaves a couple of narrative lines, playing with the effects of weeding out, horror and the melodrama genres.
The following discussion couldn't manage to keep the good manners all the time but it succeeded in showing our Balkans temper. Maybe the most important is that despite our „living from hand to mouth“ and „to be careless about the place we live in“, we showed initiative in this „European consciousness“ project that desires an award.
Mariana Hristova
Film critic
