28/07/2025 - The Bulgarian helmer’s seventh feature once again delivers a social drama that portrays the exploited while reflecting on aggressive capitalism

After digging into the harsh mundanity of Bulgarian taxi drivers and policemen in Directions [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stephan Komandarev
film profile] and Rounds [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stephan Komandarev
film profile] respectively, Stephan Komandarev now has another professional clique in sight, namely that of seamstresses. His latest feature, Made in EU, edges on the social mystery drama focusing on the unsung layers of the COVID pandemic and will be presented together with seven other titles within the Spotlight selection of the upcoming Venice Film Festival, which replaces the Horizons Extra strand. 

When developing the script, Komandarev and his regular screenwriter, Simeon Ventsislavov, closely followed the Bulgarian clothing industry, which is largely made up of small factories located in areas with high unemployment, where seamstresses face extreme workplace exploitation for minimal pay. They came up with a plot centering on Iva, played by Gergana Pletnyova, who works in a clothing factory in rural Bulgaria, battling a persistent yet mysterious illness. When it is revealed that she is the first case of COVID in her small town, the news spirals into an endless j’accuse – first from the factory owners eager to shift responsibility, then from her fellow co-workers, her son, and eventually her entire community. With Iva's public demonisation escalating as the first victims of the virus emerge, she is quickly turned into a social outcast. 

The story was inspired by true events that took place in March 2020 in the Miziya clothing factory in the Bulgarian town of Pleven. It was the first cluster of coronavirus cases in Bulgaria, and all the blame was placed on a single seamstress, who was labeled “patient zero."

“Made in EU is a film about exploitation within the textile industry, which reaches far beyond the borders of the 'third' and 'civilized' worlds”, points out Komandarev in his Director’s Notes. “This is a global story set in a local, intimate and specific setting, in one of the poorest regions in Bulgaria; a film about two epidemics – an economic and a health one,” he states.

His fellow producer, Katya Trichkova, adds: “I was deeply moved by the human dimension of this story and the urgency of its themes. Made in EU sheds light on labour exploitation in Europe's own backyard through an intimate and emotional journey. I believe this film has the power not only to resonate with audiences but also to provoke a much-needed conversation about where we are heading as a society today.”

The production was filmed around the southern Bulgarian towns of Rudozem, Madan, Dimitrovgrad and Haskovo. With an approximate overall budget of €1,100,000, Made in EU is a co-production between Bulgaria’s Argo Film, owned by Komandarev himself, Germany’s 42film GmbH, and the Czech Republic’s Negativ Film Productions, in co-production with Turkey’s Ikinci Yeni Film and Istos Film, and Bulgaria’s Contrast Films, plus the Bulgarian National Television, ZDF/ARTE, and TRT Sinema. The film is also supported by the Bulgarian National Film Center, MDM, and the Czech Film Fund.