Produced by Activist38:
2022 “Vasil” - 92 min. feature film, dir. by Avelina Pratt
2021 “Women do cry” – 107 min feature fiction film, dir. by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova,
supported by Bulgarian National Film Centre, ARTE France Cinema, Ile de France and EURIMAGES
2020 “Mishou”, 8 min animation by Milen Vitanov and Vera Trayanova, premiered at Berlinale Generation, 2020
2019 “Cat in the wall” – 92 min feature film, premiered at Locarno Main Competition, co-production between Bulgaria,
UK, France, produced by Activist38, co-produced by Lambros Atteshlis and Cristophe Bruncher
2017 “Margarit and the Monster” – 9 minutes animation, dir. by Nayden Nikolov, supported by the National Film Centre, Bulgaria
2016 “The Beast is still alive” – 90 min documentary, dir. by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova
2014 “Uncle Tony, Three Fools and the Secret Service” – 86 min documentary, dir. by Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova
2013 “Because of Mum” – 12 min animation, dir. by Antoaneta Chetrafilova
2010 “Where is your head” - 7 min short fiction, dir. By Nenko Genov
2008 “Just so Darwin” - three episodes from the animated series for BBC 2 with Glasshead limited, London
2008 “Because of her” – 58 min documentary, dir. by Bilyana and Vesela Kazakova
Awards&Nominations:
• 2022 “Vasil”
Warsaw International Film Festival (Spain) - competition,
SEMINCI Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid (Spain) - official competition,
Best Actor Award - ex aequo (Carra Elechalde and Ivan Burnev),
La Mostra de Valencia (Spain) - Special competition section,
Golden Rooster Film Festival (China),
Berlanga Awards (Spain),
Best Film Award,
Best Screenplay Award,
Best Acting Award,
Best Original Score Award,
Award for Best Supporting Actress,
Best Sound Award,
Best Costumes Nomination,
Best Soundtrack Nomination,
Feroz Awards (Spain),
Best Comedy Film Nomination,
Best Actor Nomination (Carra Ellehalde),
Gaudí Awards (Spain),
Nomination for Best Director;
Nomination for Best Actor Award (Ivan Barnev) – Vasil Gendov Awards;
Best Actor Award (Ivan Barnev)– Golden Linden
• 2021,2022 “Women Do Cry”
Nomination Cannes’21 Un Certain Regard
Nomination Sarajevo FF’21 Heart of Sarajevo
EFA Feature Film Selection 2022
Youth Jury Award for Best Film at Cork IFF’21
Best Director Award Danube FF’21
Audentia’22 Eurimages Award for Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova
Best main performance award for Maria Bakalova at ZINEGOAK‘22, Spain
Best main performance award for Maria Bakalova and Ralitsa Stoyanova at UBFM‘22,
Best main performance for Ralitsa Stoyanova at Golden Linden'22
Best Outstanding Actor for Iosiff Surchadjiev at UBFM'22
Best Director Award at Rome Balkan Film Festival '22
• 2019, 2020 “Cat in the wall”
EFA Feature Film Selection 2020
FIPRESCI AWARD at Warsaw Film Festival’19
THE YOUNG CRITICS AWARD at ZERKALO Film Festival’20
THE AUDIENCE AWARD at ZERKALO Film Festival’20
BEST BULGARIAN FILM at Sofia International Film Festival’20
BEST DEBUT at Golden Rose’19
Nomination GOLDEN LEOPARD
Nomination HEART OF SARAJEVO
Nomination Golden Spike
• 2017 “Cat in the wall” (in post-production)
ARTE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS CINELINK AWARD – Sarajevo IFF
POST PITCH AWARD by Post Republic – Connecting Cottbus
• 2015, 2016, 2017 “The Beast is still alive”
IDFA FORUM AWARD 2015 at East Doc Platform Pitch, Prague
BEST DOCUMENTARY of the month at Calcutta Cult Film Festival 2017
BEST DOCUMENTARY at Aegean Docs 2017
BEST ANIMATION Gold Award and BEST DIRECTOR - Bronze Award at the European Independent Film Awards 2018
BEST DOCUMENTARY at European Cinematography Awards 2018
GOLDEN PALM AWARD at Mexico International Film Festival 2018
• 2014, 2015 “Uncle Tony, Three Fools and the Secret Service”
Best Director at Berlin International Film Festival
Royal Reel Award from Canada International Film Festival
Bronze Palm from Mexico International Film Festival
Women D/P Finalist Documentary at Florida Movie Festival
Award of Merit: Documentary Feature from the Accolade Global Film Competition;
First place in "Art" category at the International Heritage Film Festival "Idols";
Honorable Mention at Trindie Fest Film Festival, Colorado, United States;
Best Feature Documentary at 8th Bushwick Film Festival, New York;
Best Documentary at Phoenix Film Festival, Melbourne;
Country Best Award from International Open Film Festival;
Best Feature Film at Arquivo em Cartaz – Rio de Janeiro;
3 nominations at the Bulgarian Film Academy Awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Sound
• 2013, 2014, 2015 “Because of Mum”
Special Jury Mention for good artistic solution at the 6th International Television Festival “Dytiatko”, Ukraine;
Best Film: Europe 3rd place - Anim!Arte Film Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
Special mention -Valle d'Itria Film Festival, Puglia, Italy;
Best Short Film and Best Animation at Phoenix Comicon festival, USA;
Best Debut and Best Director for Antoaneta Chetrafilova at the Bulgarian Academy Awards 2013;
Special mention - Athens Animfest 2015
• 2012, 2013 “Pancho and Alice”
Best project Award at Sofia Meetings;
MFI’12 - scholarship
EAVE’13 – scholarship
• 2010, 2011 “Where is your head”
Honourable Mention of the Jury at the 17th International Festival of Local Televisions „Golden Beggar“, Košice, Slovakia;
Audience Award - 60 Seconds Short Film Festival in Copenhagen
Bulgarian company Activist38 is attracted to projects with strong political and social engagement as well as a hybrid forms and mix between the genres.
Its producers are strongly present internationally; members of the EDN and alumni of Emerging Producers’13, Eave’13.
Well established, nationally Activist 38 is perhaps the most up and coming Bulgarian film company internationally at the moment. It found itself on Screen International's showcase Euro 75 dedicated to Europe's lead independent producers, which was made in honour of Cannes Film festival's 75th anniversary.
Initially designed to help produce the work of Mileva&Kazakova, the company has now spread into international co-productions, TV content and promoting young talent too. The early years were hard but created a name for Activist 38 as extremely agile, adaptable, a survivor. Mileva and Kazakova produced and directed subversive documentaries, which created a huge national controversy. Despite the international success of these films with selections such as IDFA, AFI, Warsaw, Sarajevo, Goteborg, they haven't been aired on Bulgarian television for years.
In 2014 Activist38’s first documentary “UNCLE TONY, THREE FOOLS, AND THE SECRET SERVICE” provoked a scandal in the film industry and is still not aired by the national television. While it portrays the story of late animator Antoni Trayanov it also displays the lack of political lustration and the influence of the former Communist Secret Service in current Bulgarian society. It received many international awards and it enjoyed successful domestic cinema release. It was reviewed by Variety and it took part in AFI’s selection “Best of European Cinema” in 2014. It was sold to Al Jazeera Balkans and is VoD released on Amazon, iTunes, Apple TV, etc.The authors were interrogated by the public prosecutor at home for one and a half years. The attempts to land the pair in jail failed when European institutions got involved, the publicity increased and as Variety summarized those films act as “rare gadflies whose sting is causing a massive allergic reaction on the thin skin of Bulgaria's filmmaking elite”.
Mina and Vesela’s authored documentary “THE BEAST IS STILL ALIVE” (2016)supported by MEDIA and the Bulgarian national Film Centre, deals with consequences of Communism stirred a national controversy. After one broadcast on the Bulgarian National Television the film set the social media on fire and it was removed from airtime. The Socialist Party (former Communists) made a legal investigation into why a “propaganda” movie is aired and called the authors “Demonic duo”. With festival selections at IDFA, Sarajevo, Warsaw, Goteborg, ZagrebDox and others and awards at Aegean docs, Calcutta film fest, Mexico IFF, European Independent awards the film gained international recognition. In October 2019 the film was aired on ARTE.
Their first fiction film CAT IN THE WALL (2019) supported by MEDIA, premiered in the official competition at the Locarno Film Festival 2019 and SXSW for North America. It received FIPRESCI Award at the Warsaw Film Festival, Young Critics and Audience award at Tarkovsky Film Festival, Best Bulgarian Film at Sofia Film Fest and Best Debut at Golden Rose, Bulgaria and it was part of the EFA feature film selection 2020. It has wide coverage on Variety, Screen International, Cineuropa, including featuring as number 1 in their list of best films from summer festivals of 2019. The film is coproduction between Bulgaria, UK and France. Coproducers are Glasshead limited, Ici et la Produduction and the Bulgarian National Television. The film is on Amazon Prime for the USA and largely distributed throughout Europe and the world.
Their latest fiction film of the directing duo WOMEN DO CRY (2021) premiered at the 74th Festival de Cannes 2021 - Official Selection “Un Certain Regard”, it was closing film for 37th Warsaw FF, part of SXSW Global section, AFI European Union Film Showcase and a part of EFA feature film selection 2022.. The film deals with the absurd circumstances in Bulgaria around the ratification of the so-called Istanbul convention focused on the gender-based violence. It is a Bulgarian-French co-production, supported by the Bulgarian Film Center, ARTE France, Ile de France and Eurimages. The film received the prestigious Eurimages cash award Audentia (courage in Latin), given to a female director annually and many awards for the acttresses and the film,
The company's films have also enjoyed a wide TV and platform distribution. They've been on ARTE, Amazon, HBO, Al Jazeera, Current time TV, and many other regional televisions and platforms. Activist 38 is behind the first Spanish-Bulgarian coproduction done in collaboration with Distinto filmsBarcelona. “Vasil” with a main Bulgarian protagonist is Avelina Prat's feature debut. Well known Bulgarian actor Ivan Burnev (Best Actor ex aqua with Carra Elehalde – Seminci Film Festival) took the lead role alongside really big names in Spanish cinema such as Karra Elejalde, (Spanish affair), and Susi Sanchez, known from Almodovar's films.
Mileva and Kazakova were chosen as a Duo Jury president at Giornate degli Autori section of the Venice film festival 2021. The unprecedented choice of both a woman and a duo, was described as revolutionary by the organisers.
Activist 38 has always been concerned about social and political topics, which creates indeed an activist editorial line. Experimenting with mixed genres and documentary matured into a lineup of cinematic fiction films, that also carried a strong social undertone and quite a bit of satire and a fair amount of humour. A German film critic humorously wrote: ``No wonder so many Brits are pro Brexit if [two] Bulgarian women can steal a march on old working-class heroes like Ken Loach...”
activist 38