 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| BBR Home | Send Mail |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| BBR Home | Send Mail |
Press Contact: Kiril Alexandrov 617-497-0344 Kiril@bostonbookreview.org
The Boston Book Review is proud to sponsor A Bulgarian and Macedonian Film Series at the Harvard Film Archive. Along with The Bulgarian American Cultural Exchange and the Boston Bulgarian Cultural Society, The BBR brings A Bulgarian Macedonian film series to Boston for the very first time. Quick on the heels of the recent inaugural and successful festival at New York City's Film Academy, this film series is the first ever in North America. Underrepresented in world cinema due to severe Communist restrictions, Bulgarian and Macedonian cinema is little-known in the U.S. Yet, many of these unique films have won major international awards and the movie "Before The Rain" has been nominated for an American Academy Award in 1994. These stylish Balkan films poetically capture the spirit and express the intricacies of modern life. Come see the complex Balkans explained in these fine films during a three day film series at the Harvard Film Archive on August 7,8 and 10th. The opening reception features reknowned Bulgarian actress Jana Karavainova. Press Pre-screenings are available, please call Kiril or John Gianvito at 617-496-6604. Please feel free to post or forward this information to any interested parties. Call or email for further information.
Saturday, August 7th
Opening Reception with actress Jana Karainvanova
7pm Before The Rain
9:15pm Khan Aspurach
Sunday, August 8th
4pm Patience of the Stone
7pm Emilie's
Friends
9pm Canary Season
Tuesday, August 10
7pm The Goat Horn
9pm Before The Rain
Before The Rain
color 114 minutes 1994
Winner of the Golden Lion Award, 1994 Venice Film Festival, Nominated
for an American Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, 1994.
This film has a powerful circular narrative that joins three stories
about the freedom of love and the pervasiveness of violence. "Words"
finds young Macedonian monk Kiril (Colin) distracted from his spiritual
duties by young Albanian Zamira (Mitevska), who takes refuge in his
monastery. In "Faces," pregnant photo editor Anne (Cartlidge) is torn
between her estranged husband and her lover, Aleksander, a London-based
war photographer who left his native Macedonia years before. "Pictures"
finds Aleksander returning to his old village--now torn by ethnic strife.
This film's structure resembles PULP FICTION, which debuted almost
simutaneously. The New York Times' Janet Maslin called it "One of the
Best and Most Impassioned Films at this year's Sundance Film Festival."
World Policy Journal ranked it in their top ten films of all time that
deal with ethnic strife. In Macedonian, Albanian and English with
subtitles. Director Milcho Manchevski with Katrin Cartlidge, Rade
Serbedzija, Gregoire Colin and Labina Mitevska.
Khan Asparuch
color 90 minutes 1981
A national epic screen presentation produced for the 1300th anniversary
of the founding of the Bulgarian state, the oldest in Europe. This film
has a three part structure. Phantagoria is set on the steppes of
northern Russia, the land of Great Bulgaria, from where these Bulgar
people set out under Khan Asparuch in search of a new home. Migration is
a story of the trek westward to the Danube River over the years and the
encounter and partnership with the Slavs in the area. Land Forever
features the decisive battle with the Byzantine emperor Constantine IV
Pogonatus. Shot in Eastmancolor, the epic took over a year to make,
features a cast of thousands and compares extremely well with Western
spectaculars. The battle scenes are amazing. Director: Lyudmil Staikov
from The Goat Horn
The Goat Horn
B&W 1972 96 minutes
Winner of the Silver Hugo, Chicago 1973. One of the most beloved and
controversial films in Bulgaria, it is also the biggest box-office hit in
the history of Bulgarian cinema. The popularity abroad of this film
might be best understood in the light of history: during the seventeeth
century, the Ottoman Turks made life quite miserable for Bulgarians.
This film captures the effects of Turkish persecution upon a Bulgarian
family living in the mountains. It is a story of love, lust, revenge and
madness set in the style of ancient tragedy. Director Metodi Andonov*
with Anton Gorchev, Katya Paskaleva, Kliment Denchev, Todor Kolev, Milen
Penev
Emilie's Friends
color 1996 90 minutes
Winner of the "FIPRESCI" award, Thessalonika Film Festival, Greece 1996.
This is a charming story of a group of five friends all linked by an
amazing women named Emilie. One friend can't love when it is available,
another recklessly loves too much, and another can't find any love. The
strength, and magic of Emilie is the cement linking them and throughout,
there is mirth, laughter, tears and a movie stealing party scene. This
film is an exploration and showcase of the power of love and friendship.
Director Ludmil Todorov
from Canary Season
Canary Season
color 1993 120 minutes
A gritty, dark and poignant tale of a young man's search for paternity
and identity. The narrative includes striking flashbacks of the man's
mother Lily living under the harsh, treacherous rule of communism and
it's effects on freedoms of Bulgarian families. This is a hard,
imagistic and tensely paced story of the current "lost generation" of
Bulgaria, the search for their roots under the communists and their
search for meaning without them. Director Evgeni Mihailov
The Patience of the Stone
color 1998 50 minutes
This film won the Best Documentary of the Year in Germany, 1998. It is
a documentary about the lives of the inhabitants of a small village in
the Rhodope Mountains that separate Bulgaria and Greece. Seemingly a
simple view, this film explores the effects (or lack of) of modernism and
proves the age old adage that the more that things change the more they
stay the same. Overall, a very modern, stylish, and engaging look at an
older world. Director K. Bonev.
Admission prices
Individual Admission
$6 - General Public
$5 - Students, Senior Citizens
Tickets are available only 30 minutes before show time. In the case of a
special event, please call 495-4700 for information on advanced ticket
sales. Separate admissions for each screening except where noted.
Location
The Harvard Film Archive is located at the Carpenter Center
for the Visual Arts, 24 Quincy Street, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
They are east of the Harvard Square Red Line T Stop and next to
the Fogg Art Museum. Just one block north of Massachusetts Avenue between
Broadway and Harvard Street in the Harvard University campus. Click on
www.harvardfilmarchive.org for a map.
Parking
Parking in Cambridge is difficult; most of the surrounding streets have
restricted parking for Cambridge residents only. There is metered
parking and there are parking lots in Harvard. Filmgoers are encouraged
to use public transportation, particularly the MBTA Red Line.
General Information
Films are screened in the Main Auditorium of the Carpenter Center for the
Visual Arts. Films are presented in their original language with English
subtitles unless otherwise indicated. All programs are subject to change.
Harvard Film Archive 24 Quincy Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA
02138 617-495-4700.
| BBR Home | Send Mail |