The documentary “OCCUPATION OR LIBERATION” presented at the European Film Festival in Romania
A screening of the Bulgarian documentary Occupation or Liberation (2021) took place on 5 May at the Eforie Cinema in Bucharest. It was presented in the program of the XXVI European Film Festival in Romania by the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Bucharest and with the assistance of the State Institute for Culture at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The EFF is organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute, with the support of the European Commission's Representation in Romania and EUNIC Romania, in partnership with European cultural embassies, centers, and institutes.
In solidarity with the situation in Ukraine, this year’s edition of the EFF puts on focus three main topics in the selection of films: war, peace, and freedom. More information about the Festival can be found HERE.
The documentary story of Prof. Evelina Kelbecheva and the film director Prof. Svetoslav Ovcharov examines on the basis of archival documents a period of the new Bulgarian history - from the autumn of 1944 to the winter of 1947, related to the Soviet occupation of Bulgaria. The archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have been studied, in which information from the correspondence with the Allied Commission on the efforts of the Bulgarian diplomacy to achieve a just peace is concentrated. In these archives there are also documents about the occupation behavior of the Soviet troops, which has become an important line in the film story. The consultant of the film is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mihail Gruev, Chairman of the State Archives Agency.
The film has its premieres and awards of the film guild at several Bulgarian festivals. Its broadcast on BNT in early March 2022 provoked lively discussions. The film is now freely available to the public on the YouTube channel of the producer.