Best Bulgarian drama movies
Get ready to binge. We've found a collection of must-watch drama films from Bulgaria, now streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
Gundi: Legend of Love (2024)
Finding Rin Tin Tin (2007)
Finding Rin Tin Tin (2007)
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.
East/West (1999)
East/West (1999)
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.
The Father (2020)
The Father (2020)
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.
Khan Asparukh - Part I - Phanagoria (1981)
Khan Asparukh - Part I - Phanagoria (1981)
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.
Time of Violence (1988)
Time of Violence (1988)
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.
Godless (2016)
Godless (2016)
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.
Enemies (2018)
Enemies (2018)
A group of Bulgarian soldiers go on a mission during the Balkan War.
Tilt (2011)
Tilt (2011)
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?
Victor Young Perez (2013)
Victor Young Perez (2013)
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 Peach Thief (1964)
The Peach Thief (1964)
The wife of a Bulgarian POW camp's warden falls in love with a Serbian prisoner at the end of World War I.
A Dog in a Drawer (1982)
A Dog in a Drawer (1982)
A-5-year-old boy of divorced parents is sitting all day long at home, watching TV. His mother is full-timer, and the father visits him just occasionally. The only dream of the boy is to have a puppy. So, he and three friends of his decide to buy a pup. No sooner said than done. The kids are ready to do everything for their pet, but the heartlessness and lack of understanding of the part of their relatives and neighbors bereaves them of such of joy. The puppy is destined for a village, and the kid is once again all alone at home, watching TV.
Glory (2017)
Glory (2017)
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.
Doomed Souls (1975)
Doomed Souls (1975)
The events of the film are related to the Civil War in Spain. This is a film about the beauty of love - exotic and tragic and the maze of human feelings.
Faith, Love and Whiskey (2013)
Faith, Love and Whiskey (2013)
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.
The Rest Is Ashes (2020)
The Rest Is Ashes (2020)
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.
Armourless Knight (1966)
Armourless Knight (1966)
Impersonating a knight is one of the favorite games of nine-year-old protagonist. Now as Don Quixote, now as D'Artagnan he is fighting evil, he is searching for justice and defending the weak. Together with his friends, packed in cardboard armor, they play all day long. As he is playing, however, he unwittingly witnesses the relation between his parents and gradually comes to understand that the world of the adults is far removed from the canons of knightly honor. His parents love him, but never seem to find the time to listen to his concerns. The deceit, corruption and lack of respect in his own family alienate the small boy. The only adult, whom the boy trusts, is his uncle to whom he is attached by a genuine, equal, man-to-man friendship. He takes him to the cinema and theater performances and talks to him like with his peer. Will this sensitive kid ever succeed in building an internal armor against selfishness and rudeness?
Plague (2024)
Plague (2024)
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.
Viktoria (2014)
Viktoria (2014)
Dreaming of the West, Boryana is determined not to have a child in communist Bulgaria. Nonetheless, her daughter Viktoria enters the world in 1979, curiously missing a belly button, and is declared the country’s Baby of the Decade. Pampered by her mother state until the age of nine, Viktoria’s decade of notoriety comes crashing down with the rest of European communism. But can political collapse and the hardship of new times finally bring Viktoria and her reluctant mother closer together
The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (2008)
The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (2008)
The story of Alex, who, with the help of his charismatic grandfather, embarks on a journey in search of his real self.
Tobacco (1962)
Tobacco (1962)
Boris Morev dreams of money and power, he’ll do everything to reach the top, including leaving his beloved Irina, to marry the daughter of the local tobacco factory owner. With the death of his father-in-law and the illness of his wife, Morev becomes the new owner of "Nicotiana" and rules with an iron fist, resulting in massive labour strikes and murder. He ropes Irina back into his life, first as a mistress and later as his second wife, but his ambitions still come first as he plans on emerging as the biggest tobacco seller once the war is over. Irina’s love for Boris is fading and she finds a lover in one of the Germans Boris is trying to strike a deal with. Set against the backdrop of World War II and communist partisans fighting against the Nazi-allied Bulgarian monarchy, the film is a screen adaptation of the Bulgarian classic novel "Tobacco" released in 1954.
Stolen Eyes (2005)
Stolen Eyes (2005)
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.
Fear (2020)
Fear (2020)
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.
Khan Asparukh - Part III - Land Forever (1981)
Khan Asparukh - Part III - Land Forever (1981)
The last part of the epic "Khan Asparukh" - "Land Forever" is an impressive finish to scale narrative, created for the nationwide celebration of 13 century anniversary of the Bulgarian state. The authors collected in final chord all storylines, culminating in the political strengthening of the young Bulgarian state. In the center of the film epic again is the image of Khan Asparukh - a lofty romantic hero who embodies the virtues and energy of his people.
In the Heart of the Machine (2022)
In the Heart of the Machine (2022)
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.
Khan Asparukh - Part II - The Migration (1981)
Khan Asparukh - Part II - The Migration (1981)
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. The second part of the great historical epic - "The Migration" - tells about the long journey to the land of the Bulgarians of today's Bulgaria. Here the young Khan Asparukh laid the foundations of the new state. The authors adhere to the established historical versions for this event. The film builds on the impressive mass scenes and the convincing served psychological characteristics of the main characters. The image of Asparoukh is a natural center of the story, in which many minor persons recreate the environment of the Khan. Romantic exalted, Asparukh is shown as capable leader of the people, consistently implement his own ideas.
Liuben (2024)
Liuben (2024)
Victor has a nice life in Madrid with his partner, José. However, after returning to his childhood home in the mountains of Bulgaria for his grandfather's funeral, he decides to stay for the summer. While reconnecting with his father and the village way of life, he unexpectedly finds love in the form of Liuben, an 18-year-old Roma boy. Despite their differences, and the conflicts surrounding them, Victor and Liuben find refuge in each other, while a romance begins to take form.