site.btaBulgaria Picks Milko Lazarov's "The Herd" for Oscar Race

Milko Lazarov's The Herd (worldwide title: Tarika) is Bulgaria's Oscar entry, the National Film Center said on Friday. A five-member panel selected Lazarov's third film to represent Bulgaria in Oscars' International Feature Category.

The panel is chaired by Mira Staleva, executive director of Sofia International Film Festival (IFF), Sofia Meetings director and member of the European Film Academy Board. The panel's members are Stefan Komandarev (director, producer and screenwriter); Jacqueline Wagenstein (producer, book publisher and Cinelibri IFF director); Martichka Bozhilova (producer, creator and Sofia DocuMental film festival organizer); and Savina Petkova, film critic and FIPRESCI jury member.

The Herd had its world premiere in the official selection of the 68th BFI London Film Festival. Following numerous international and domestic selections, it won the Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award, the top award at the Kolkata International Film Festival, which goes to the Best Film in the international competition category, and the FIPRESCI Award, the National Film Center said.

The Herd tells of the timeless struggle between good and evil through Tarika, a gifted girl in a remote borderland where diverse ethnic groups seem to live in harmony. Her quiet life with her father, Ali, is disrupted when livestock in the area begin to die under mysterious circumstances. Fear and superstition take hold, and the villagers blame Tarika for their misfortunes, ultimately deciding to kill her.

The cast includes Vesela Valcheva, Zachary Baharov, Ivan Savov, Ivan Barnev, Valeria Varbanova and Christos Stergioglou. The screenplay is by Ekaterina Churilova, Simeon Ventsislavov and Milko Lazarov, with cinematography by Kaloyan Bozhilov. The production design is by Ivaylo Petrov, costumes by Kiril Naumov and soundtrack by Penka Kouneva.

The film is produced by Veselka Kiryakova (Red Carpet, Bulgaria), with ZDF/ARTE, 42film (Germany) and AMOUR FOU Luxembourg as co-producers. It is funded by the Bulgarian National Film Center, Eurimages, Mitteldeutsche Medienforderung, Film Fund Luxembourg and Creative Europe Media. World sales are handled by Films Boutique, with Purple Rain distributing in Bulgaria.