After a few turbulent, pandemic-riddled years, the Sofia International Film Festival (SIFF) is seeking to give something back, as an act of gratitude to nature and, of course, to audiences. The biggest Bulgarian film gathering will take place between 16 and 31 March, with the competitions running until the 26th. The festival is, in fact, a month-long celebration of cinema, which kicked off with some repertory screenings of films by two of the most important guests, Czech director Jan Svěrák and German legend Volker Schlöndorff. Schlöndorff’s latest, the environmental essay film The Forest Maker [+leggi anche:
intervista: Volker Schlöndorff
scheda film], is set to open the festival tonight. The movie follows Australian agronomist Tony Rinaudo (winner of the so-called “Alternative Nobel”) across Africa, where he’s been reforesting enormous tracts of land in the last 30 years.

As part of his retrospective, Svěrák will receive the SIFF Special Award and present his newest, Bethlehem Light. Also amongst the esteemed guests are directors Krzysztof Zanussi and Milcho Manchevski, who, in addition to being honoured with a retrospective, will also be serving as the International Jury chair. Iconic Bulgarian filmmaker Radoslav Spasov is one of the recipients of this year’s Sofia Municipality Award. Another new addition to Sofia’s set-up is the Teen Competition for best coming-of-age story, curated by Nadejda Koseva, whose Irina [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Martina Apostolova
scheda film] was nominated for the 2019 European Film Awards.

The International Competition is made up of 12 titles, as per usual: this year, they are Nader Saeivar’s No End (Iran), Tonislav Hristov’s The Good Driver [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Finland/Bulgaria/Sweden), Ma’ayan Rypp’s The Other Widow [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Israel/France), The Art of Falling [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Bulgaria) by Orlin Milchev, Joachim Neef’s Nightwatch (Germany), Michal Chmielewski’s Roving Woman [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Poland/USA), Mexican director Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser’s Red Shoes [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Mexico/Italy), Bekir Bulbul’s Cloves & Carnations [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Turkey/Belgium), Azerbaijani filmmaker Asif Rustamov’s Cold as Marble [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] (Azerbaijan/France), György Mór Kárpáti’s Summer to Come (Hungary), Mihai Mincan’s To the North [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Mihai Mincan
scheda film] (Romania/France/Greece/Bulgaria/Czech Republic) and Greek director Vasilis Katsoupis’s Inside [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Vasilis Katsoupis
scheda film] (Greece/Germany/Belgium).

However, Sofia is saving the best for last. The 2023 edition will hand out its awards next week at the same time as hosting the regional premiere of Luka [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Jessica Woodworth
scheda film] by Jessica Woodworth, a film that was co-produced by Art Fest – namely, SIFF’s president, Stefan Kitanov, and managing director, Mira Staleva. The director, cast and crew will be in attendance, as will legendary actress Geraldine Chaplin, who stars in the film as an enigmatic general. Chaplin will be presented with the Sofia Municipality Award for her lifetime achievements in cinema and TV.

This year, the Sofia International Film Festival showcases more than 160 features and short films screened across ten venues, while a selection of movies will be available for simultaneous online viewing nationwide. The 27th edition launches today, with a green carpet and a ceremonious planting of trees expected to run throughout the festival, getting all of its famed guests involved in this year’s special eco-friendly theme.