The father (BASHTATA)

Director: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov –
Scenario: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov, Decho Taralezhkov –
Director of photography: Krum Rodriguez –
Editing: Petar Valchanov –
Decor: Vanina Geleva –
Intep. : Ivan Barnev, Ivan Savov –
Producer: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov, Konstantina Stavrianou, Irini Vougioukalou –
Production: Abraxas Film, Graal S.A.

Vasil has just lost his long-time partner in life, his wife Ivanka. When a woman at her funeral proclaims that the dead woman called her cellphone, Vasil seeks out the help of a well-known psychic in order to contact his wife. His son Pavel tries to bring him to his senses, but Vasil stubbornly insists on doing things his own way.

Kristina Grozeva was born in 1976 in Sofia. She graduated from Sofia University and started work as a TV journalist. In 2005 she completed the speciality of film and TV directing at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in the class of Georgi Dyulgerov. Her short films have won several awards at international student film festivals. She won the «Jameson» award for best Bulgarian short film for FAMILY THERAPY at the Sofia International Film Festival (SIFF), 2008. Since then, she has worked in tandem with her husband, the director Peter Valchanov: PARABAL OF LIFE – documentary (2009), EMERGENCY LANDING (2010), JUMP (2012). THE LESSON (2014) is their first feature film, of which Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov are writers and producers. The film’s world premiere was held at the Toronto Film Festival as part of the Contemporary World Cinema program. The awards won by the film at festivals in San Sebastian, Warsaw, Tokyo, Thessaloniki, Angers and Gothenburg made it the most awarded film in new Bulgarian cinema. GLORY (2016) co-director Petar Valchanov receives the Special Mention for International Film Companies at the Locarno International Film Festival 2016.