Political Thriller "Bet" Will Open This Year's Edition of Sofia Film Fest

Strong presence of Bulgarian cinema in the 29th edition of Sofia Film Fest

Around 60 Bulgarian films will be featured at this year's festival. Special guest will be Oscar-winning director Dany Stanovich, while the Sofia Municipality Award will be presented to legendary Croatian filmmaker Rajko Grlić.

"Sofia Film Fest starts on March 13 with the premiere of the new Bulgarian film "Zalog" (Bet) by director Svetoslav Ovcharov. The film is a political thriller.

Svetoslav Ovcharov, screenwriter and director of "Bet": "We have tried to capture the spirit of the time in question. Because the spirit of this time is very close to the time we live in. The social contradictions we face are the same, the dilemmas that the country is facing are the same."

Stefan Kitanov, director and producer of the Sofia Film Fest: "Of these around 60 films, nearly 50 are premieres. This has never happened before. But it is important to view Bulgarian cinema in context. This is very important because it allows us to make comparisons, both to compare Bulgarian films with each other and to compare them with the international films featured at the festival."