Best Bulgarian drama movies

A fast-talking lawyer transforms his body and takes a vow of silence, not to be broken until he finds out who killed his wife and daughter and has his revenge.

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 try to contact his wife. His son Pavel tries to bring him to his senses, but Vasil stubbornly insists on doing things his own way… Following the internationally successful The Lesson and Glory, Grozeva and Valchanov return with an intimate family drama about the difficulties of connecting with those close to us. As the picture slowly gathers momentum, its story unfolds many of the carefully arranged absurd or comic situations typical for the Bulgarian filmmaking duo.

A nurse traffics the ID cards of demented patients on the black market of identity theft. Driven by easy cash, and an addiction to morphine, she struggles to keep tabs on her emotional void, and a growing fear of punishment.

Ellesmere Island, northern Canada, 1908. Josephine, a brave but naive woman, embarks on a dangerous journey through inhospitable regions in search of her husband, the explorer Robert Peary, who tries to find a route to the North Pole.

The film is based on the second book from the Adventures of Erast Petrovich Fandorin series of novels written by the Russian author Boris Akunin. The film takes place in 1877 during the Russian-Turkish war. Erast Fandorin has just escaped from Turkish prison and is trying to get on the Russian side as soon as possible to give important information about the upcoming attack of the enemy. On his way he meets Varvara Suvorova, a young lady who is going to see her fiancée - a soldier of the Russian army. Erast also knows that there is a spy somewhere in the Russian army, everyone is under suspicion.

When Tsanko Petrov, a railroad worker, finds millions of lev on the train tracks, he decides to turn the entire amount over to the police. Grateful, the state rewards him with a new wristwatch… which soon stops working. Meanwhile, Julia Staikova, the head of PR for the Ministry of Transport, loses his old watch. Here starts Petrov’s desperate struggle to get back not only his old watch, but his dignity.

The story of Alex, who, with the help of his charismatic grandfather, embarks on a journey in search of his real self.

Moth is freed on parole after spending time in prison on wrongful conviction of murder. Jailed shortly before the Bulgarian communist coup of 1944, he now finds himself in a new and alien world - the totalitarian Sofia of the 60s. His first night of freedom draws the map of a diabolical city full of decaying neighborhoods, gloomy streets and a bizarre parade of characters.

The great Bulgarian football player Georgi Asparuhov and his greatest love - his wife Lita go through a number of trials of life, football and the political system.

An honest, hard-working schoolteacher in a small Bulgarian town is driven to desperate measures to avoid financial ruin.

Vasil is a Bulgarian immigrant who lives on the street in Spain. Intelligent and charismatic, he has an amazing talent for chess and bridge, so much so, in fact, that despite being homeless, he manages to make a name for himself in an exclusive and prestigious club in the city.

June 1946: Stalin invites Russian emigres to return to the motherland. It's a trap: when a ship-load from France arrives in Odessa, only a physician and his family are spared execution or prison. He and his French wife (her passport ripped up) are sent to Kiev. She wants to return to France immediately; he knows that they are captives and must watch every step.

Heat, iron, dust and the smell of oil. A typical workday of maximum security inmates will prove to be fateful for all of them. They find something extraordinary inside one of the machines, and an unexpected wave of compassion makes the prisoners take hostages and block the entrance to the workshop and risk their lives, because sometimes the desire to be human is stronger than the survival instinct.

Two estranged brothers are brought together when they have opposite roles in a racist beating: while Georgi who's recently joined a neo-nazi group participates in the violence, Hristo witnesses and rescues a Turkish family. Only by reuniting will the two brothers be able to assess what they really want from life.

A road movie set in present day Bulgaria, a country remains optimistic, mainly because all the realists and pessimists have left. At a meeting with his banker, a small business owner, who drives a cab to make ends meet, discovers the bribe he will have to pay to get a loan has doubled. The ethics board that reviewed his complaint about extortion now wants its share of the action. At his wit's end, he shoots the banker and then himself. The incident sparks national debate on talk radio about how despair has taken over civil society. Meanwhile, six taxi drivers and their passengers move through the night, each in hope of finding a brighter way forward.

The real story of the journalist Vesela Toteva (in the role is her daughter -Valentina Karoleva) searching for her own happiness during the dynamic and uncertain 90's in Bulgaria. A tale about drugs, fall, fear and redemption.

Follows the parallel stories of a number of characters who are trying to change their lives via the Internet or are simply having fun online.

Ilie, a small-town police chief, wants to build a modest comfortable life for himself, but ends up making the wrong choices. Middle-aged and alienated, he feels the need to be a part of something - to build an orchard, even a home. Although dubious things happen in the village, Ilie only sees what suits him. The moment he gets involved in the village marks the beginning of his collapse. In a vacuum of solutions, he tries to be what he has never been before: the justice seeker who arrests everyone guilty.

May 22nd, 1963. Unhappy with the existing social and political situation in Turkey, a group of military officers has planned a coup d’état to take down the government in Ankara. Meanwhile in Istanbul, their conspirators have undertaken the vital mission of taking over the National Radio station and making a formal announcement about the coup. But nothing goes to plan. Faced with a number of obstacles, including a sudden rainstorm, the absence of the radio station technician, a betrayal, the lack of feedback from Ankara and their very own inefficiency, the conspirators scramble to keep their plan on track and announce the success of the coup – that is, if the coup in the capital has taken place at all.

One of the most ambitious Bulgarian projects in recent years, Heights is an adaptation of Milen Ruskov's novel of the same name, published in 2011. The film explores the Bulgarian realities of the 1870s a few years before the war, that would liberate the country from the Ottoman occupation. Directed by Victor Bojinov and adapted by Neli Dimitrova, the story follows Gicho a young man in a revolutionary group led by Dimitar Obshti, a real-life revolutionary fighting against the Turks. After a successful train robbery Obshti entrust Gicho with a special mission: to deliver a letter to Vasil Levski, the country's most famous freedom fighter, now considered hero and dubbed The Apostle of Freedom.

TILT is a love story set against the backdrop of the changing political and social environment in Europe in the late 80's and early 90's. Can this love survive the challenges of emigration, a violent homeland and immoral social atmosphere thanks to a gang of adventurous friends?

In a yurt on the snow-covered fields of the North, Nanook and Sedna live following the traditions of their ancestors. Alone in the wilderness, they look like the last people on Earth. Nanook and Sedna's traditional way of life starts changing - slowly, but inevitably. Hunting becomes more and more difficult, the animals around them die from inexplicable deaths and the ice has been melting earlier every year. Chena, who visits them regularly, is their only connection to the outside world - and to their daughter Ága, who has left the icy tundra a long time ago due to family feud. When Sedna's health deteriorates, Nanook decides to fulfill her wish. He embarks on a long journey in order to find Ága.

The story of Omnipresent is centered around Emil, writer and owner of advertising agency who gradually becomes obsessed with spying on his family, friends and employees via hidden spy cameras. What starts as an innocent hobby ends up as a total disaster, as in the process he abuses his new power and eventually comes to realize that some secrets should be left uncovered.

While hitchhiking from Sofia to Ruse, Kamen meets Avé, a 17-year-old runaway girl. With each ride they hitch, Avé invents new identities for them, and her compulsive lies get Kamen deeper and deeper into trouble. Reluctantly drawn into this adventure, Kamen begins to fall in love with the fleeting Avé.

The members of a music band that separated 30 years ago are forced to reunite.

In the 17th century, a Bulgarian Christian region is selected by the Ottoman rulers to serve as an example of conversion to Islam. A Janissary who was kidnapped from the village as a boy is sent to force the reluctant inhabitants to convert. The Turkish governor seeks a peaceful solution, but ultimately torture, violence, and rebellion break out.

XVII century, Bulgaria is under Ottoman rule. Four men break into the house of the shepherd Karaivan, raping and killing his wife in full view of their child, Maria. To protect his daughter and to enact revenge, he raises Maria as a son, teaching her to fight and kill. But as Maria grows up, she longs for a different life.

XI "A" follows the story of Lina - a former dancer, who goes in for her dream job, namely to become a literature teacher.

Victor Perez was a Jewish boxer who became world flyweight champion in 1931 and 1932, but was transported to Auschwitz concentration camp when Paris fell to the Nazi s in 1943. While there he was forced into slave labour and made to participate in violent boxing matches for the amusement of the Nazi guards. Surviving Auschwitz tells Victors astonishing, harrowing, brutal and incredibly moving true story.

The true story of the legendary German Shepherd who was found by American pilot Lee Duncun in France during World War I, and later became the most famous animal star in Hollywood history.

The film was named after the short story “Petya of My Petya” written by the exceptional young poet Petya Dubarova. The director Alexander Kossev and the writers Valentina Angelova and Nelly Dimitrova lift the vail of the past to present Petya Dubarova and her talent to today’s young generations.

Neli, a bright, young Bulgarian woman, engaged to a well-off American panics and runs back home. She reunites with her drifter friends and the wild life of her past. Among stray dogs and strip clubs, Neli falls in love with her passionate but alcoholic best friend. When her fiance arrives unexpectedly, Neli must make a choice between two opposing futures.

At the airport, Slavi tells his life's story to a young customs officer. As children, Nelly promises Slavi to marry him. The two teenagers are passionately in love with each other but after some time Nelly falls in love with another guy. Slavi takes up drinking and gets into trouble with the Bulgarian militia (police) because of his family background. This is when he decides to defect to the West. After staying at a refugee camp in Austria and another desperate love, he sets out to the United States. There Slavi makes some new friends who help him buy a truck. He hits the roads of America, where he comes across an Indian who sells him an arrow. The vender tells him this amulet will bring his love back. Eventually, Slavi comes back to Bulgaria, where communism has collapsed. His beloved Nelly lives alone with her daughter. One day Slavi meets her again...

Some time between childhood and adulthood, when life is a string of easy decisions, the world of half-sisters Iva and Maya is about to change drastically. They would have to find answers to questions grown-ups don’t even dare to ask. Can the two teenagers make decisions of life and death?

Svetla, a widow who lost her job recently is living next to the Bulgarian-Turkish border. There are many cases of refugees in her village due to it's location. One day she meets a refugee from Africa and this changes her life.

Ivan, a Bulgarian taxi driver living at the Golden Sands tourist resort, is saving money in order to go back to Finland to meet his ex-wife and son, and to make amends for his past mistakes. But money is tight, and eventually Ivan will resort to extreme measures.

The 1960s was the time of Beatles and Rolling Stones, the time of sexual revolution. These events have their echo in Bulgarian English-learning school. The school order provokes a protest of the students due to the narrow-minded teachers.

Teenage Bulgarian boy Radostin collides with his parents by disappearing for two days and then bringing home his two new friends - devoted punks. Their encounters in a small flat are challenging, serious and at the same time funny.

Sami is a passionate visual artist with a keen eye for the world's untold stories. Tonight, he steps away from the comfort of artistic abstraction at a vibrant party, seeking authenticity amidst the chaos of a city in upheaval. Drawn to the raw energy of street protests, Sami finds himself in a reality far beyond the scope of his camera—a reality where the lines between observer and participant blur. As he navigates the complexities of truth, power, and freedom, Sami's journey becomes an exploration of resilience and the cost of integrity in the face of injustice. The Capture invites audiences on a gripping journey through the beauty and pain of standing up for one's beliefs, challenging us to question where we draw our own lines.

Babak, an Iranian student in Greece, doesn't show up to welcome his visiting parents at the Athens airport. Pari and her older husband, both devout Muslims abroad for the first time, are ill-prepared to search for their son in an intimidating and alien environment. All their attempts to find a clue that might lead them to him prove to be in vain and they soon reach a dead end. But Pari can't give up looking for him, even when returning to Iran seems like her only choice. Following the steps of her rebellious son in the darkest corners of the city, she will exhaust her inner strength to achieve more than a mother's search for her missing son.

A couple and their teenage son eke out a living on a hilltop, doing the laundry for local hotels, despite the intermittent water supply. Their simple life is overturned by the arrival of a father-and-daughter team of diviner and well-digger, who promise to bring an end to this precarious existence by finding a source on their arid hill. But ultimately, these newcomers quench a thirst far greater than than the simple need for water.

Three young girls try to flee from unemployment in the country: they arrive in the capital city of Sofia to look for a job and a different future. The three of them try to survive, fighting...

A story of the strong women upholding their free will.

Smart, angry, self-reliant Dida will stop at nothing to achieve a single tangible goal – to buy a plane ticket so she can join her estranged mother in the United States.

A love story between a Serbian girl and young Albanian set against the background of current Balkanic conflict.

A middle-aged Bulgarian is watching the change of the guard in front of the Buckingham Palace. For no apparent reason, while looking, in his mind he gets back to his childhood in the little Bulgarian village, he grew up in. Different rites, different traditions and still he finds something in common. He recalls the people he knew, he feared or admired. He ponders over that life of no brilliance, where people plough, harvest, marry and die, celebrate or grieve. Miracle are also worked, conceived in a unlimited child's imagination. It is the child's perception of the world that helps us to give a meaning to the major questions of human existence.

Scandalous Italian ex-premier arrives in Bulgaria to support EU parliament application of a Bulgarian politic. The host and his much younger wife invite the ex-premier to a remote villa. A Dead body, naughty adventures and many compromising events happen before the true greedy, traitorous and selfish nature of the host shine bright among the awkward circumstances.

This is an epic screen presentation showing the creation, the consolidation and the power of First Bulgarian Kingdom and the first Bulgarian ruler Khan Asparuh. This is the first part of the film trilogy about the events before the creation of the Bulgarian state in the middle of the VII century. Volga Bulgaria is straining under the attacks of the Khazars. Following the testament of his father, the sons of Khan Kubrat looking for a new home for their tribes. The youngest of them - Asparukh, wander 20 years in search of "land forever" for his people and reaches the mouth of the Danube. The film is narrated by captured Byzantine chronicler Belisarius, which should Asparukh in his journeys. Byzantine witnessed the heroic efforts of the Bulgarians to win the land south of the Danube and to create their new country.

A single mother, wanting to protect her eight-year-old son from pain, lies to him that his dad is away with the Antarctic expedition. But postponing the confession about the father's death, causes damage to her and her son.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the plague swept through the Bulgarian lands. Chorbaji Yurdan and his son Yono return from Hadzhilak and find the villagers starving and scared. The Black Plague brings to the fore the greatest human fears and atavistic survival instincts.

Rado, an orphan from a poor Sofia neighborhood, has been in and out of school for troubled youth for years. Although he is approaching adulthood, he is yet to finish 8th grade. He cannot reconcile his pride and sense of justice with the kind of education provided by people who are deprived of sensibility and human warmth. Rado asserts his right to freedom by frequently running away. During one of his escapes he meets the love of his life, Albena. She is a good student, and comes from a well-educated, sophisticated family. This new and unexpected connection intensifies Rado's desire for freedom and independence, and leads them both into uncharted territory.

Atanas Burov (played by Assen Blatechki) is considered as the most influential politician in Bulgaria's history. The movie is about him and his love story with Dilyana Popova as the main female character.

The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia: Two ambitious lawyers face each other in the trial of Milorad Krstić, who’s accused of committing war crimes as a commander in the Bosnian war. The defender, Mikhail Finn, has managed to refute all the accusations against his client. Convinced of Krstic´s guilt, Catherine Lagrange, the prosecutor, summons a young man with incriminating evidence against Krstić. He claims to have been abandoned by his parents as a child and to have been one of Krstić’s soldiers. Defender Finn starts to investigate in order to verify the witness’ testimony – and soon encounters the young man’s family. Inspired by a true story.

The film belongs to the 'migration cycle' in the Bulgarian cinema. It is about the drama of a group of women who have been left alone in their 'female kingdom' - a village deserted by its entire men folk.

Where does the dividing line lie between insanity and supersensitive mentality? How should we treat people who act in a different way then we do? A young and gifted shrink sets up a group, using up-to-date and unknown methods. His idea is to socialize such people, to integrate them into a society they keep aloof from, and help them to survive.

Based on a true story. 1996, open sea. During his shift on a transatlantic ship’s deck, Joel, a religious Filipino sailor, discovers Dumitru, a Romanian stowaway hidden between some containers. If he is spotted by the Taiwanese officers running the vessel, Dumitru is at risk to be thrown overboard. Joel decides to hide him, as a sign of his gratitude towards God. Soon, a dangerous cat and mouse game begins. When his crew, his own friends, even God itself start to turn their backs on him, Joel learns that he has to face his cruel destiny alone.

In Paris, Sophie and Daneel make a solid couple. Nothing, it seems, can separate them - until the day when Sophie tells her partner she has organised a surprise trip to Bulgaria. Daneel refuses to go, but Sophie insists and soon discovers just why her soul mate was so reluctant to set foot in the country...

When did you last talk with your father? Will you ever ask him about those things that hurt you? In FATHER the reality of life is turned upside down to create an impossible dialogue - the dialogue between a child and a father that never happens.

In a small provincial town, the only traffic light is stuck on red. An intercity bus driver refuses to continue until the light turns green. This provokes a series of misunderstandings with the nervous passengers and the local law enforcement, in a world where following the rules is a misunderstanding in itself.

One night – seemingly just like any other. Two police officers find the body of the well-known drug addict Lazar near the railroad tracks in Sofia. This is how the night of 9 November, 2019 begins – 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the regime change in Bulgaria. Three teams of police officers are patrolling the streets of Sofia, doing their job as they believe is right, while facing the challenges posed by contemporary Bulgarian reality.

A group of Bulgarian soldiers go on a mission during the Balkan War.

The life of the rhythmic gymnastics ex-champion and present stripper Zhaneta is changing, when she becomes a victim of violence. Trying to find her place in this world, the girl stands in front of her most powerful enemy: herself.

Fleeing an abusive relationship, Mila, a teen prostitute, finds herself in a border town, pregnant, alone, and, to her surprise, welcome. The remote village is on a marijuana plantation run by a group of elderly men and women. Not having known much kindness, she goes into emotional hiding, but by the time the baby is born she has a new life and love. Her past, however, is not far behind

This is a story of strange, impossible, inexplicable love between a Muslim Turk woman and a non-Muslim Bulgarian man. Ivan (the Bulgarian) is a pure and romantic young fellow, who gets caught up in the so-called "regeneration process" (when ethnic Turks' names were forcibly changed to Bulgarian ones). He is responsible for the official seals, which is required to issue the new identity documents after the forced name changes. The schoolteacher Ayten tries to steal the seals, thinking that this way she can slow down the ethnic genocide. Their unexpected and unusual meeting brings these two characters together and makes them fell close, forcing Ivan to take a fateful decision -he must either "rename" Ayten, or face the consequences if he does not.

Teenage Koko lives in a nondescript town in Southern Bulgaria. His parents moved to Greece where the wages are higher, leaving Koko alone to care for his grandmother, an elderly and unwieldy woman with Alzheimer's. Koko is in love with Elena, an aspiring singer who seems only to care about a famous rock band scheduled to pass through town. On the night of the big event, the social fabric of the teens' provincial lives is thrown into disarray, paving the way for new constellations.

The wife of a Bulgarian POW camp's warden falls in love with a Serbian prisoner at the end of World War I.