Veselka Kiryakova

Silent Observers

With the population in decline, a traditional way of life is ending in a remote, rundown Bulgarian village. This poetic and at times tragicomic film follows the last remaining inhabitants from the perspective of several domesticated animals. There’s a great deal of attention given to sound, light and movement: an overflowing bucket, sunlight dancing in rustling foliage, the ticking sound of ants on the move, and a cowbell clanging in the wind.

Tarika

The film centres on a young girl living with her father and her grandmother in a small hut near the border far away from the local village. Marked by her “butterfly wings”, a rare bone condition she inherited from her mother, the girl has been the source of the community’s superstition forever. When the local cattle are struck down by a mysterious disease, fear starts spreading among the villagers.

Across the Naked Hills

Zhana, a quiet young woman, lives with her controlling foster father Danail in the remote countryside. Amid her tedious routine, Zhana secretly visits a dog tied to an empty barrel in an abandoned quarry. Soon, Danail discovers her secret.

Windless

Kaloyan returns home to handle the sale of his late father's apartment. At the beginning the process starts as a routine mundane task, but soon transcends into a journey of self-discovery that tries to track the connection between childhood trauma, memory and the passage of time.

Medium

16-year-old Eleftheria, a stranger in a strange world, meets mysterious neighbor Angelos who invites her into his fascinating grown up world. Roaming the streets of the scorching hot August city on his bike, she will embark on a journey to discover herself through the ferocity of first love

Stray Bodies

Robin is pregnant but doesn't want to be a mother. Katerina and Gaia are single but want a child. Kiki suffers from an incurable disease and wants her life to end with dignity. The procedures they hope to get access to – abortion, IVF and euthanasia – are only available and legal in other countries. Therefore, they resort to so-called medical tourism.

Arcadia

Neurologist Katerina and former doctor Yannis are heading off to a deserted seaside resort. Silence descends on the car as they travel across dunes in a windy autumn, matching the less-than-pleasant occasion: Yannis has been called to identify the victim of a tragic accident at the hospital of the small town. When the local policeman informs them that the victim’s vehicle had plunged over the parapet of a stone bridge and leads them to the morgue, Katerina sees her worst suspicions confirmed. Together with Yannis, but also on her own nightly excursions to a mysterious, rustic beach bar called Arcadia, they begin to put the pieces of the puzzle together, revealing a haunting story of love, loss, acceptance and letting go.

The Reeds

Set in a village in Anatolia at the foothills of the mountains, portraying the story of the resistance of a young man, Ali, against the domination of landlords and local gangs, striving to win back his wife’s love and affection.

Rootless

Nikolay and Delya live all alone in a farm near the city, when one day their daughter Kalina visits them with her new family.

Ága

In a yurt on the snow-covered fields of the North, Nanook and Sedna live following the traditions of their ancestors. Alone in the wilderness, they look like the last people on Earth. Nanook and Sedna's traditional way of life starts changing - slowly, but inevitably. Hunting becomes more and more difficult, the animals around them die from inexplicable deaths and the ice has been melting earlier every year. Chena, who visits them regularly, is their only connection to the outside world - and to their daughter Ága, who has left the icy tundra a long time ago due to family feud. When Sedna's health deteriorates, Nanook decides to fulfill her wish. He embarks on a long journey in order to find Ága.