04/07/2018 - A guest at the 11th Festa del cinema bulgaro in Rome, director Zornitsa Sophia Popgantcheva talks to Cineuropa about Voevoda, the film she wrote, directed and starred in

Based on a story by the Bulgarian writer, Nikolay Haitov, about the life of Rumena – a woman who abandoned her family in nineteenth-century Bulgaria in order to lead a troupe of rebels in a battle against the Ottoman invaders – Voevoda [+see also:
trailer
interview: Zornitsa Sophia Popgantcheva
film profile] is the story of a courageous mother who fights for justice in a male-dominated world. We talked to the director, screenwriter and actress, Zornitsa Sophia Popgantcheva, at the 11^th Festa del cinema bulgaro in Rome.

Cineuropa: You’ve mentioned that this was your most personal film. What do you mean by that?
Zornitsa Sophia Popgantcheva: It has to do with my being a female director. Bulgaria is a country dominated by men and making films has been an endless struggle for me, especially at the beginning. The film’s theme is the sacrifice that a woman and mother has to make in order to fight for what she believes in. Being a screenwriter, director, producer and actress in an all male cast, this film really involved me on a double level, in real life and on set. It was my first leading role in a film, and my acting coach was Tzveta Baliyska,who plays the wife of my lover in the film. Seeing that I was losing weight, was training continuously and was particularly involved in the role, she suggested I find a way to get out of the headspace of my character, but there was no way for me to commit to playing this character and also not be her at the same time. So, during the shoot, those around me – my partner, in particular, who is also an executive producer, and my daughter, who plays Rumena as a child – had to live with a somewhat unpleasant person: I remained in character in real life. But I couldn't imagine doing it any other way.

How did you prepare for such an intense role, both physically and emotionally?
A few years ago I studied acting in London, but only so that I could become a better director, to understand the actor's point of view. I trained physically every day for more than two months, I trained to learn how to use different types of weapons, including some very old ones. And we did this all while wearing period costumes, from dusk to dawn, itchy and uncomfortable clothes and natural fabrics while running through the woods with heavy swords attached to our hips. Training with Tzveta was also psychological, so that we could become a troupe, including in real life. This period of preparation was when we really understood how much we could invest in terms of emotions, drawing on each of us. We all had a moment in which we felt defeated and wanted to go home. But team work also involved encouraging each other through it. This all served to give authenticity to the whole film. As well as artistic choices: natural light, the "epidermal" make-up fee close-ups, the music performed using ancient instruments...

The screenplay is based on a short story, but, as we see indicated at the beginning of the film, also on real-life stories?
Yes, on raw and unpublished testimonies. I liked them so much that I decided to include them in the editing of the film as still images. The thing that fascinated me the most is that they are memories written just 150 years ago, when Rumena was said to have had a devil's tail, to eat raw meat and to run so fast that her knife slipped out of its scabbard. She was so different from all other women that people wrote incredible stories about her. These days, there are so many emancipated women, who work and raise their children very well, so I see her as a very contemporary subject. But 150 years ago, she would have been considered a demon, a supernatural creature.

But according to historians, she wasn't the only female warrior at the time...
More than 30 have been discovered. The film sheds light on this phenomenon, people are rediscovering this aspect of the past. Most women who went against their feminine, maternal nature were put against the wall. Rumena was raped, hung naked upside down, spat on. But those who leave their children behind to fight are more motivated to go all the way. And I think this is an interesting thing to investigate, also in relation to modern-day women, who want to do their best in their careers. During my research, a guru explained to me the difference between male and female fighters: a man fights for the cause, but also for the competition; a woman fights to protect life. Although it is a controversial choice, I believe that Rumena is a better mother for having left, rather than staying with her child and allowing him to witness her getting abused every day. She becomes an example for him and avoids putting him in danger, while also helping all other mothers to fight for justice.

(Translated from Italian)