Bulgarian director Nikolay Stefanov starts production on his documentary Making Friends with the Idea of a Father.
In the film Stefanov seeks to reconcile his family with the past by investigating the unsolved murder of his father in 1994, just after the collapse of the Iron Curtain.
In an interview with FNE, the director explains his intentions: “My characters are mostly family members, friends, relatives – and myself. My approach to the film-making process is therefore delicate and requires a longer period of observation. The visual style of the film is multi-layered, as required by the story. It uses first-person shots, historical archive footage and animation by Bulgarian artist Asparuh Petrov to juxtapose the personal and the historical, the past and the present. With this film, I take a close look at how family trauma keeps us attached to the past, and I look for a way to forget it and free my children from it.”
Produced by Smarty Pants Shooter Ltd in co-production with HBO MAX, the film will shoot from March to August 2025.
The director’s previous film, No Place for You in Town (2022), screened at numerous festivals including CPH:DOX.
Sources : Smarty Pants Shooter, FNE
