site.btaAmerican Actress Geraldine Chaplin Arrives in Sofia for Film Festival

American actress Geraldine Chaplin arrived in Bulgaria on Thursday for the ongoing 27th Sofia International Film Festival. Festival Manager Stefan Kitanov welcomed Charlie Chaplin's daughter at Sofia Airport.

This is Geraldine Chaplin's first visit to Bulgaria. During the festival, she will receive City Hall's Sofia Award. "It means a lot to me," she told Bulgarian media.

The actress will present one of her latest films, Luka, to the Bulgarian audience. She said her character in the movie was initially intended as a male one, but eventually it came to be played by her.

Luka was directed by Jessica Woodworth. In addition to Chaplin, the cast includes Jonas Smulders, Jan Bijvoet, Samvel Tadevossian, Django Schrevens and Bruno Georis. One of the key roles is played by Bulgaria's Valentin Ganev. The drama was shot in black-and-white by cinematographer Virginie Surdej. The music is by Teho Teardo.

The Bulgarian participation also involves Sabina Christova, who was in charge of the production design, and Eka Bichinashvili, responsible for the costume design. On the Bulgarian side, the film was co-produced by Art Fest (Mira Staleva, Stefan Kitanov). Funding was provided by the Bulgarian National Film Centre.

Geraldine Chaplin is the first of film legend Charlie Chaplin's eight children with his fourth wife Oona O'Neill, and granddaughter of Nobel Prize winning playwright Eugene O'Neill. She was born in Santa Monica, California in 1944.

During her 12-year relationship with Spanish film director Carlos Saura, Chaplin played in some of the most successful films in her career such as Peppermint Frappe (1967), Anna and the Wolves (1973) and Elisa, My Life (1977). She earned worldwide fame for her part in Raise Ravens (1976).