BOGDAN DAREV
“There is a lovely, lovely film filled with universal truths and told with a disarming pure honesty. My wife is from England, a small farming community in the southwestern part of the country. She's crying now because you so moved her.”
“Bogdan has created a true piece of cinematic art and storytelling, in the form of this amazing poetic documentary. I laughed, I cried, I was moved, inspired, and transported There. A perfect film for the times we live in, to inspire and connect us, and take us There.”
I received my green card and we bought tickets to Bulgaria right away. Before departing on what would become a journey of deep healing and self-realization, I asked myself if I should film at all.
It took me about ten minutes to make the decision. A decision that has given me one of the greatest adventures of my life and a break-through film. Moreover, the philosophical undertones of the film would challenge my own beliefs and the efficiency of existing social constructs.
I started editing as I filmed to get a sense for the flow and form the film would take. In the end I chose to present the film in a chronological order so 90% of what you see follows that thread. When audiences asked me how long it took to make the film, I tell them 23 years... The technical process of filming and editing took five months.
Nothing really compares to seeing a film on the BIG SCREEN in a communal setting. From the world premiere in Seattle on November 4th, 2018 at the ever hospitable and innovative Romanian Film Festival, and in the exact movie theater I saw Scorsese's "Casino" in 1996, to a movie theater more than a 100 years old in Portland.
From the first community building erected in the USA by Bulgarian and Macedonian immigrants in 1930s Pittsburgh to the newly formed Bulgarian community in Nashville. From Manhattan in New York to the Bulgarian premiere in the village of Lilkovo in the Rhodope Mountains, the land of Orpheus.
By the end of 2019, I was overjoyed to connect to audiences face to face in 25 cities and 3 countries. THERE would be the start of a heartfelt cross-cultural-conversation through the power of film. A conversation I hope we get to continue right here, for I believe cinema and storytelling can be your guide like it has been mine.
