Bulgarians on Long Island

NY – Bulgarian Film Festival will open for a Fifth time on Friday, March 30, 7 PM in the Scandinavian House ( 58 Park Avenue @ 38 Street) in Manhattan .

Join us for a slate of the most recent, award winning movies from Bulgaria!
Enjoy the presence of our special quests for the opening weekend from Bulgaria:

Diana Dobreva – Winner of the Best Actress Award , VARNA IFF, 2006 – Monkeys in Winter, The Warden of the Dead
Deian Slavchev – DEO – The lead of the “Rebbelion of L”
Dimitar Gochev – Cinematographer, Producer – The Warden of the Dead
Vlado Shishkov – Producer, Designer – My Friends Call Me Old Chap
Bulgarian National Television crew

Q+A with the Bulgarian guests will follow the screenings.

Tickets: $ 10
For more information and reservations:
Call: 212 879 9779; 914 433 2938
E-mail: bace99@prodigy.net
www.ny-bgfilmfest.com

Opening weekend schedule:

FRIDAY, MARCH 30
7 PM
MONKEYS IN WINTER
(Maimyni prez zimata)
BULGARIA/GERMANY, 2006, 111 MIN.
Director: Milena Andonova
Cinematographer: Rali Ralchev
Cast: Bonka Boneva – Boni, Diana Dobreva, Angelina Savova, Asen Blatechki, Stefan Mavrodiev, Filip Trifonov

9 PM
HELL IN HEAVEN
(Ad v raia)
BULGARIA, 2006, 90 MIN
Director: Atanas Kiriakov
Cinematographer: Anton Bakarski
A documentary about the life of the Bulgarian born writer and journalist Stephane Groueff

SATURDAY, MARCH 31
6 PM
MY FRIENDS CALL ME OLD CHAP
(Priatelite me narichat Chicho)
BULGARIA, 2006, 85 MIN
Director: Ivaylo Hristov
Cinematographer: Emil Hristov
Cast: Velko Kunev, Vasil Mihailov, Bogdan Glishev, Boyka Velkova, Naum
Shopov

8 PM
CHRISTMASS TREE UPSIDE DOWN
(Oburnata elha)
BULGARIA/GERMANY, 2006, 127 MIN
Director: Ivan Cherkelov, Vasil Zhivkov
Cinematography: Rali Ralchev
Cast: Alexandra Vasileva, Anton Radichev, Slava Doycheva, Dragomir Sholev,
Krasimir Dokov

SUNDAY, APRIL 1
5 PM
THE REBBELION OF L
(Bynta na L)
BULGARIA, 2006, 115 MIN
Director: Kiran Kolarov
Cinematographer: Krasimir Kostov
Cast: Deyan Slavchev – Deo, Fanny Kolarova, Hristo Garbov, Dicho Hristov, Valentin Tanev

7 PM
THE WARDEN OF THE DEAD
(Pazachut na murtvite)
BULGARIA, 2006, 105 MIN
Director: Ilian Simeonov
Cinematographer: Dimitar Gochev
Cast: Diana Dobreva, Vladko Georgie, Itzhak Finzii

This year’s Festival is organized under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Georgy Parvanov, by Bulgaria-America Cultural Exchange, by the State Culture Institute at the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, by the Bulgarian National Film Center and the Bulgarian National Television and the Consul General of Bulgaria in New York.

The film selection includes 11 of the most recent features and documentaries, produced by the National Film Center , Bulgarian National Television and the independent producers for the past two years.
Most of the pictures are already awarded at major International Festivals including such high prizes as the Special Jury Award at the Karlovy Vary IFF, 2006 for “Christmas Tree Upside Down” and the Best Picture Award in the “East of West” section of the same Festival for “Monkeys in Winter”. Also included are the winner at the box office in Bulgaria for 2006 – “The Rebellion of L” and the Sundance pick for 2006 – “Georgy and the Butterflies” along with the best films produced for the past two years.

This year’s Fest has the honor to represent Bulgaria as the newest EU member in the program of the EU Delegation to USA for celebrating Fifty years of the creation of the European Union with the Treaty of Rome . For a first time Bulgarian film production will be recognized as official part of the European cultural spectrum, thus contributing to the broader recognition of the new European identity in USA .

Bulgaria’s first-ever reelected president has indeed secured his post with a smashing advance on his opponent, the ballots counted so far show. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)

Bulgaria’s first-ever reelected president has indeed secured his post with a smashing advance on his opponent, the ballots counted so far show.

With 99% of the ballots already checked, Georgi Parvanov has garnered 75.736%, while nationalist Volen Siderov has convinced some 24.264% of the voters to join him.

Parvanov’s lowest count comes from the eastern city of Stara Zagora, where all ballots have been counted and he has only gathered 69% of the votes, as announced by the Central Election Committee.

Siderov’s biggest loss seems to be among the Bulgarians abroad, where he has only gathered 5.24% with 79.17% of the ballots counted.

Within the borders of Bulgaria Parvanov’s most impressive victory was noted in the predominantly Turks-populated region of Kurdzhali, where he garnered the whooping 91.2%.

A total of 2,674,586 of the 6,430,117 who were eligible to vote, have cast a ballot in the run-off. Parvanov won over 2,000,030 people, while Siderov settled for 643,876.

Hamptons Restaurant Week is an annual event on the East End of Long Island. The week long promotion features a special prix fixe dinner offered by all restaurant participants. As well, the promotion includes discounts at lodging properties, retail outlets, transportation and local wine. The Fourth Annual “Hamptons Restaurant Week” is scheduled to launch from Sunday, March 26th through Sunday, April 2nd, 2006.

An exhibition of contemporary Bulgarian art will be presented at the European Parliament in Strasbourg March 14 to 16.

The exhibition aims to present works of Bulgarian artists from Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Veliko Tarnovov, the cities of the Bulgarian observers in the European Parliament, Maria Kapon, an observer in the EP, announced.

Paintings of Bulgarian artists Nedko Itinov, Svilen Russev, Stanimir Videv, Snezhana Slavova, Greddy Assa and the sculpturers Rada Dicheva, Bozhidar Bonchev and Yana Yunakova.

Our aim is to present to the MEPs the real life of the Bulgarians, before they vote whether to take us in the EU, Kapon underlined.

Let have some fun today :-)