The 30th Anniversary of Sofia International Film Festival is one of the highlights in the programme of the Bulgarian Feature Film Festival "Golden Rose" in Varna this year
The 44th "Golden Rose" Bulgarian Feature Film Festival opened yesterday in Varna. Until September 24, the Festival and Congress Centre in Bulgaria’s seaside capital will host screenings, discussions, workshops, book presentations, while also marking significant anniversaries related to Bulgarian filmmakers and events.
The 30th anniversary of the Sofia International Film Festival was celebrated at the official opening. The creator, director and producer of the festival Stefan Kitanov - Kita and his team were honored with a special award, presented by the director of the National Film Center Peter Todorov "for outstanding and long-term contribution to Bulgarian film culture, the development of the professional environment and uncompromising dedication to quality Bulgarian and world cinema. For three decades, Sofia Film Festival has been the main international film forum in Bulgaria. With enviable dedication the festival team and its creator Stefan Kitanov - Kita, put Bulgarian cinema on the world map, build and protect bridges between Europe and Bulgaria and defend the high artistic mastery and healthy development of the Bulgarian film industry."
To mark the occasion, the festival programme features a screening of the iconic film "The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner". Produced by Kitanov and directed by Stephan Komandarev, with cinematography by Emil Hristov, the film is based on the novel by Iliya Troyanov and stars Miki Manojlović, Carlo Ljubek, Hristo Mutafchiev, and Ana Papadopulu.
Filmed in 2008 and based on Iliya Troyanov’s autobiographical novel, the film remains the only Bulgarian work to date to have made the shortlist for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film; it has also garnered over 20 awards at film festivals worldwide. It follows the journey of Alex, who loses his memory after a severe car accident and - with his grandfather’s help - embarks on a path back to his memories and roots, ultimately rediscovering himself.
"The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner" is a co-production involving Bulgaria, Germany, Slovenia, Hungary, and Serbia; its release highlighted the importance of international co-productions as a model for achieving creative scale in Bulgarian cinema. At the same time, the film points to one of the most recognizable narrative motifs in our cinema over recent decades: the return home. It is no coincidence that the thematic framework for this year’s "Golden Rose" festival is "Returns," and that the event’s official visual identity - designed by Nikolay Tonkov - is based on a still from "The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner", according to a press release from the Bulgarian National Film Center.
The thematic line "Returns" also extends to the co-production between Canada, Bulgaria, Belgium, and Italy - "Nina Rosa" by director Geneviève Dulude-De Celles, which opened the 2026 "Golden Rose" Festival. The film won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlin Film Festival and the Audience Award at the 30th Sofia International Film Festival; it was presented in Varna by the lead actor Galin Stoev and Bulgarian co-producers Nikolay Mutafchiev and Lyuba Piperova.
Stefan Kitanov will present the digitally restored version of the "The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner", created with the support of Doli Media Studio today, September 18, at 5:00 PM in the Europe Hall of the Festival and Congress Centre. At 7:00 PM, Kitanov will present another film he co-produced that is part of the Golden Rose program: "It All Ends Here" by the legendary Croatian director Rajko Grlić.
