“Silence with Dignity” is a story about the artistic hardships of one of the most successful filmmaking duos in Bulgarian cinema – the couple Irina Aktasheva and Hristo Piskov. Some of their films were prohibited due to censure, such is the faith of the masterpiece “Monday Morning“ (1966), screened in cinemas 22 years after it was filmed.
“Silence with Dignity” is at first sight historical and brimming with memories of the past years. At its core, it explores notions of intellectual decency, artistic conscience and unwieldiness, in spite of the political abominations of the powers that be”, says Adela Peeva.
Adela Peeva aims to portray the story of the lives and works of art of the two talented Bulgarian filmmakers, beyond their most emblematic films. “Silence with Dignity” explores the mechanisms of censure in communist times and depicts the perseverance, the artistic survival and the silence, charged with dignity. The film reveals unknown details about the history of Bulgarian cinema and the relationship between the political elite and the intellectuals of that time.
“Silence with Dignity” is based on the script by Adela Peeva and Lyusiena Krumova. Antony Donchev is a co-director and the cinematographer is Emil Topuzov.
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The renowned Bulgarian filmmaker Adela Peeva was born in Razgrad. She graduated Filmmaking in the Academy for Theatre, Film, Radio, and Television in Belgrade in 1970. She worked as a director of TV productions in former Yugoslavia. After her return in Bulgaria she made over 50 films in the Studios for documentary films “Time”, among them “A House on a Rock, a House on Sand” (1998) and “Superfluous People” (1999). Her most successful film is the highly awarded “Whose Is This Song?” (2003) – a coproduction between Bulgaria, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, and Holland.
Her next films are “Divorce Albanian Style” (2007) with over 30 festival screenings and 12 awards, “The Mayor” (2010) – awarded for Best Documentary Film by the Bulgarian Film Academy, “Searching for Spisarevski” (2013), and “Long Live Bulgaria” (2017).
Adela Peeva is the only Bulgarian filmmaker to receive two nominations for the European Film Academy Award for her films “Whose Is This Song?” and “Divorce Albanian Style”.
“In art, especially in film, there is no recipe for success. There are no recipes, but there are principles, consistency, and faith in the importance of what you do. When you approach your subjects with honesty and respect, when you do not manipulate people and events, that is when real documentary film is made – important and valuable”, Adela Peeva reveals the secret for success of her films.
Adela Peeva has been awarded with the Sofia Award for his contribution to the art of cinema by Sofia Municipality in 2017 at 21st Sofia Film Fest, “Stara Planina” medal, “Saints Cyril and Methodius” medal, and “Golden Century” medal for her contribution to Bulgarian film and culture.