site.btaSofia Film Fest's 30th Edition Opens

Caretaker Culture Minister Nayden Todorov attended the opening ceremony of the 30th edition of Sofia Film Fest (SFF) in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture on Thursday. "In the time we live in, all of us have a profound need for forums of high art. We have a profound need for forums such as Sofia Film Fest," he said.

"Thirty years - that is a generation, that is an era. Today this festival is a meeting place for professionalism, for auteur cinema, a meeting of ideas," Minister Todorov said. He stressed that "cinema creates the future, but cinema is also a memory of the past."

SFF Director Stefan Kitanov noted that it is "somewhat strange" to talk about the art of cinema in a world shaken by military conflicts across the globe. "For the fourth consecutive year and without interruption we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, but this year we also add all peoples who are fighting the evil of international terrorism," he added.

"Our hopes are that the weapons will fall silent and that a new era will begin, in which the new world we are rearranging will have a place for free people who, alongside their everyday lives, will find the time and opportunity to engage with the art called cinema," Kitanov also said.

The Executive Director of the National Film Centre, Peter Todorov, thanked Stefan Kitanov and his team for showing the best of Bulgarian and world cinema for 30 years and for cultivating good taste. "Within the framework of the festival, the three films with Bulgarian participation that were screened in Berlin in February this year will be shown. They are truly good, and if you watch them, you will not regret it," Todorov said.