23/12/2024 - 53 documentary and animated films competed at the annual Bulgarian gathering while 19 other titles were shown in the parallel programme Open Horizons

(l-r) Anry Koulev after receiving the award for White Shoulder for a Black Man from Head of Bulgarian News Agency Kiril Vulchev (© Vladislav Hristov)

The 28th Golden Rhyton Festival of Bulgarian Documentary and Animated Film concluded on Thursday 19 December with a modest ceremony but in a friendly atmosphere in the cozy setting of the Lucky Cinema arthouse theatre in Plovdiv, the festival’s main venue.

For the second year in a row, the award for Best Documentary Feature went to Tonislav Hristov, this time for his latest effort, Geri’s Wish [+see also:
film review
film profile], for “the depth in unraveling the topic of the taken-away family environment as a heavy legacy,” as described by the jury. The five members – writer Radoslav Bimbalov, animation director and producer Dimitar Petrov, cinematographer and documentary filmmaker Nikolay Stefanov, art history professor Galya Lardeva, and film critic and scholar Gergana Doncheva – handed the other top award for Best Animated Film to Anry Koulev’s White Shoulder for a Black Man, emphasising its “beautiful reading of the ugly tendency to see relationships between people in black and white.”

Both Geri’s Wish and White Shoulder for a Black Man also won the Best Director and the Bulgarian Film Critics’ Guild Awards in their respective sections. Another documentary highlighted by the jury was Tzvetan Dragnev’s Balkan Black Box, which received the Special Jury Award for being an “exciting story of how one can find like-minded people while looking for one’s inner self.” The film also won the Best Cinematography prize for Delian Georgiev’s fine camera work, as well as the Best Composer award for Nikola Gruev-Kottarashky’s score, who also happens to be the film’s protagonist. Ivan Popov-Zaeka’s Family Portrait of the Black Earth also received the Special Jury Award together with the prize for Cartoon Design in the Animation section.

The two debuts that stood out are Yana Alexieva’s documentary School for Hope for “the director’s courage to enter a life she has never lived,” and Veselin Dochev’s animation The Embroidery Fairytale for the “interesting concept of bringing tradition to life in a contemporary spirit,” according to the jury.

Established documentary director Adela Peeva received an honorary Golden Rhyton for her overall contribution to the field of documentary filmmaking after opening the festival with her 1999 work The Unwanted, a co-production between Bulgaria, Turkey, and Germany.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Documentary awards

Best Feature
Geri’s Wish [+see also:
film review
film profile] – Tonislav Hristov

Special Jury Award
Balkan Black Box – Tzvetan Dragnev

Plovdiv Municipality Award
Children of Danube – Ema Konstantinova

Best Director
Tonislav Hristov – Geri’s Wish

Best Screenplay
Ema Konstantinova – Children of Danube

Best Cinematography
Delian Georgiev – Balkan Black Box

Best Composer
Nikola Gruev-Kottarashky – Balkan Black Box

Best Debut
School for Hope – Yana Alexieva

Special Mentions
Thread – Mihail Atanasov
Dear Motherland – Stanimir Trifonov

Bulgarian National Film Archive Award
I’m Not a Bad Man – Nadya Todorova

Union of the Bulgarian Filmmaker’s Award
School for Hope – Yana Alexieva

Filmautor Award for Director Under 35
Thread – Mihail Atanasov

Bulgarian Film Critics’ Guild Award
Geri’s Wish – Tonislav Hristov

Academica 21 Award
On the Other Side – Nikolay Rusakiev

Animation awards

Best Animated Film
White Shoulder for a Black Man – Anry Koulev

Special Jury Award
Family Portrait of the Black Earth – Ivan Popov-Zaeka

Plovdiv Municipality Award
A Man and a Bird – Andrey Tsvetkov

Best Director
Anry Koulev – White Shoulder for a Black Man

Best Screenplay
Assia Kovanova – The Weed’s Gardener

Cartoon Designer Award
Ivan Popov-Zaeka – Family Portrait of the Black Earth

Best Composer
Kalin Gospodinov – Tuned Off

Best Debut
The Embroidery Fairytale – Veselin Dochev

Special Mentions
Cosmonauts Like Chewing Gum – Veselina Dashinova, Aline Helmcke
Creator – Madlen Zagorska

Union of the Bulgarian Filmmaker’s Award
The Weed’s Gardener – Assia Kovanova

Filmautor Award for Director Under 35
Creator – Madlen Zagorska

Bulgarian Film Critics’ Guild Award
White Shoulder for a Black Man – Anry Koulev