site.btaDocumentary Explores Life of Bulgarian Communities in North America

A new Bulgarian film tells of the lives of Bulgarian communities in North America and explores how language, culture and memory are preserved among people living far from their homeland.

The documentary Bulgarians in North America in the 21st Century will have its premiere on Thursday, September 3, at Vlaikova Cinema in Sofia, the film's co-screenwriter Irina Kushleva, deputy director of the Zora Bulgarian Educational and Cultural Centre in Richmond, Virginia, told BTA's BG World section.

The film focuses on children and young people from the Bulgarian community in North America – a generation growing up between two cultures and two identities. It raises questions about what it means to be Bulgarian when one is born and raised in another country, how Bulgarian language and culture are preserved, and what keeps younger generations connected to Bulgaria.

The documentary also examines the role of families, schools and Bulgarian communities in maintaining that connection. According to Kushleva, the link with Bulgaria cannot be taken for granted by young people growing up abroad, but has to be built and maintained through language, education, culture, community and personal memory.

The film was made with the support of Bulgaria's Ministry of Education and Science under the Untold Stories of Bulgarians programme.

Director and screenwriter is Nikolay "Toma" Tomov, a Bulgarian emigrant in France and the author of a number of television documentaries that have been presented and broadcast in Europe and North America.