Нощта срещу тринадесети [Noshtta sreshtu 13-i / On the Eve of the 13th] (Anton Marinovich, 1961)
Mar
13
Three men packed in a car. It's night and it's raining. DP: Trendafil Zahariev.
Слънцето и сянката [Slantzeto i syankata / Sun and Shadow] (Rangel Vulchanov, 1962)
Sep
18
National First Love Day
The two young lovers (Georgi Naumov and Anna Prucnal). DP: Dimo Kolarov.
First love for National First Love Day (USA).
A boy and a girl fall in love at a resort at the Black Sea. He's the son of an architect, an optimist who sees creation where possible. She's the daughter of a nuclear scientist, the future an inevitable apocalypse.
Il pleut sur Santiago [Rain over Santiago] (Helvio Soto, 1975)
Sep
11
1973
Naicho Petrov as Chilean president Salvador Allende. DP: Georges Barsky .
И дойде денят [I doyde denyat / And the Day Came] (Georgi Djulgerov, 1973)
Sep
9
1944
Mustafa (Plamen Maslarov) running. DP: Radoslav Spassov.
Басейнът [Baseynat / The Swimming Pool] (Binka Zhelyazkova, 1977)
Jul
9
Bella (Yanina Kasheva) at the pool, holding a passport. DP: Ivaylo Trenchev.
A passport or ID*
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for July is, for unknown reasons, mostly not date-related and follows some sort of vacation narrative.
Мъжки времена [Mazhki vremena / Manly Times] (Eduard Sachariev, 1977)
Dec
23
Festivus
The men with a kidnapped woman, as was a custom in the region. DP: Radoslav Spassov .
A really silly tradition for Festivus.
Привързаният балон [Privarzaniyat balon / The Tied-Up Balloon] (Binka Zhelyazkova, 1967)
Mar
17
bread
A boy and young woman (Janet Miteva) riding a donkey. The boy eats a handful while the woman faces downwards. There are several donkeys with riders behind them. DP: Emil Vagenshtain.
Иконостасът [Ikonostasat / The Icon Stand] (Christo Christov + Todor Dinov, 1969)
Feb
5
apples
A closeup of woman's hand moving an apple. The black-and-white photography is deliberately out of focus. DP: Atanas Tasev.
“It was fear that created the first gods.”
Привързаният балон [Privarzaniyat balon / The Tied-Up Balloon] (Binka Zhelyazkova, 1967)
Oct
1
Balloons Around The World Day
The balloon sails along as a young woman in white (Janet Miteva) walks with it. DP: Emil Vagenshtain.
One day, a large blimp shows up over a small Bulgarian village. The townspeople, seeing the prosperity in all that beautiful silk and then some, go after it.
– Stratius
Иконостасът [Ikonostasat / The Icon Stand] (Todor Dinov & Christo Christov, 1969)
Jan
15
World Religion Day
Icon maker Raphe (Dimitar Tashev) and Katerina (Violeta Gindeva) surrounded by the icon stand. The Holy Virgin can be seen in the background. DP: Atanas Tasev.
The cyclical story of the Christ envisioned as an icon maker, the creator of sacred images of the saints and the Holy.
When you know what to look for – the significance of bread, the judgement of the Pantocrator, the wheel that begets martyrs – Иконостасът speaks the language of the people, not of the ecclesiastic.