The American Foundation for Bulgaria has announced the results of the 20th edition of its Student Film Project Funding Competition. This year, 17 projects developed by students from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts “Krastyo Sarafov” and New Bulgarian University participated in the competition.
Following the evaluation of the applications, the jury selected six projects that will receive financial support for their production. The awarded projects stand out for their thematic diversity – from stories about war and human relationships, through reflections on freedom of spirit, belonging, and personal identity, to animated narratives about empathy, sharing, and social inequality.
The following projects will receive funding:
On the Line
A joint project by Katya Simeonova (NATFA) and Miroslav Golemanski (NBU), dedicated to the human cost of war and the strength of connections that people try to preserve despite distance and separation. The film explores how technologies that create a sense of connection can provide support when entire families are divided by armed conflict.
To Go
A fiction film inspired by the personal experience of director Vasil Djambazov. Through comedy, the film explores home as a place of belonging, memory, and connection with the people who know you. It seeks to answer the question of whether home is where you can achieve more, or where you can always find your way back.
Because They Can
An experimental hybrid documentary film by Georgi Kozhuharov, focusing on the prohibition of art in Afghanistan and the attempts of a regime to control not only people’s actions but also the human spirit. Through the film, the author expresses his position against the erasure of art and free expression from people’s lives.
Music Box
A short fiction film directed by Stella Petrova, based on a screenplay by Boris Krastev, exploring the conflicted inner world of a young ballerina torn between the external pressure of others’ expectations and the silence of her own desires and emotions.
Sunny Yummy Corn
A 2D animated film by Lidia Tsvetkova from NBU, telling the story of an encounter between a little girl and a seagull mother, and how a funny incident can become a moment of empathy. The film explores themes of compassion, sharing, and overcoming preconceived ideas about others.
Ants
A short animated film by Teodor Ralev from NBU, which presents life in an anthill as a small, functioning, and vulnerable world. Through this metaphor, the film explores inequality and the relationships between the strong and the weak, the big and the small.
The Student Film Project Funding Competition is one of the long-standing initiatives of the American Foundation for Bulgaria in support of young Bulgarian filmmakers. Over the years, the program has supported dozens of student films, many of which have subsequently been selected for national and international festivals and have marked the beginning of their creators’ professional careers.
We thank all participants in the competition and wish the authors success in bringing their projects to life.