27/06/2024 - Pavel G Vesnakov’s fiction feature attempts to speak about Bulgarian society as a whole, but from the point of view of one young man

“Kaloyan returns home to handle the sale of his late father's apartment. At the beginning, the process starts as a routine, mundane task, but soon, it transcends this and turns into a journey of self-discovery that tries to track the connection between childhood trauma, memory and the passage of time.” So goes the synopsis of Pavel G Vesnakov’s second full-length film, Windless [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pavel G Vesnakov
film profile], set to premiere in the Proxima Competition of the imminent Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (28 June-6 July).

“I want to explore the stillness of memory and the muteness of a hidden childhood trauma. Kaloyan's return to his father's flat is a pilgrimage to a shrine of memory, a confrontation with the past that is as vivid as it is elusive. The furniture remains in the same place where it was left years ago, and the photographs still hang on the walls. Yet the warmth of those objects has long faded, and now they only evoke a distant echo of familiarity,” Vesnakov elaborates.

The helmer is known for his LGBT short drama Pride (2014), which premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival, later won the Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival and was nominated for the European Film Awards. During the 2020 pandemic, his feature debut, German Lessons [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pavel G Vesnakov
film profile], celebrated its world premiere with physical screenings at the 42nd Cairo International Film Festival and won the Best Actor Award.

Windless was produced by Bulgaria’s Red Carpet and co-produced by Italy’s dispàrte. Alpha Violet is overseeing its international sales.

Check out our exclusive trailer and poster for Windless below: