Bulgaria

Official name: Bulgaria

Population: 7,284,552

GDP in Euro per capita: 11,623?

Capital: Sofia

Currency: Bulgarian Lev (1 EUR =1,9558 BGN)

Time zone: CET (UTC+2)

Calling code: +359

The Bulfarian National Film Center is the Executive Agency of the Bulgarian Ministry of Culture that administrates the implementation of the Film Industry Act (FIA). The main functions of the Agency are to finance film production, film managing, distribution and exhibition of films, to support the promotion of Bulgarian films in this country and abroad, to keep the register under the FIA, to stimulate the development of the film culture.

NFC administers producer's rights of Bulgarian films, when granted such rights under an act or a contract.

NFC represents Bulgaria at the Board of management of Eurimages Fund of the Council of Europe. NFC is the coordinator for Bulgaria of the European Audiovisual Observatory and of the MEDIA Plus Program of the EU. The national MEDIA Desk Bulgaria is operating within the NFC .

For the creation, the distribution and the preservation of Bulgarian films NFC collaborates closely with the Bulgarian National TV, the Bulgarian National Film Archives and the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers.

NFC is the organiser of the Festival of Bulgarian Feature Film Golden Rose / Varna and the Festival of Bulgarian Documentary and Animation Film Golden Rhyton / Plovdiv. Under its initiative and with the efforts of its team since 1996, the International Film Festival of European co-productions EURO FILM FEST is held in Sofia. 

FOREIGEN FILMS WHO WERE SHOT IN BULGARIA:

Twelve foreign films were shot in Bulgaria between 1 September 2012 and 30 September 2013, attracted to the country by Sofia’s Nu Boyana Film Studios. According to Dominque Combe, head of production at Nu Boyana, half of them were produced or coproduced by US Millennium Films:

- Hercules 3D (director Renny Harlin)
- Automata (director Gabe Ibáñez) coproduced with Spanish Green Moon;
- Eliza Graves (director Brad Anderson);
- Olympus Has Fallen (director Antoine Fuqua)
- Kiling Season (director Mark Steven Johnson)
- The Expendables (director Patrick Hughes)

Nu Boyana also provided services for the Warner Bros production 300 - The Rise of an Empire (director Noam Murro) and for the European TV series: Crossing Lines – Season 2 (director Edward Allen Bernero) produced by German Tandem Communication and French TF1); Rudy Valentino-la leggenda produced by ItalianAres Film;Plebs – season 1 (director Sam Leiffer) produced by UK Rise Comedy.The Japanese Fuji Television serial Thermae Romae 2 (director Hideki Takeuchi) and Canadian Supercollider (director Jeffery Scott Lando)produced by Supercollider were also shot with the collaboration of Nu Boyana.

DISTRIBUTION 

The information of Bulgarian film distributors shows that in 2013 both admissions and film distribution receipts have witnessed an increase by almost 20 percent compared with those the previous year. It is a local film market climbing a record high across Europe, where a general slump has been recorded, while the drop in gross receipts across the continent has seen a second lowest level since 2000. Frame of reference also matters, of course, for in Bulgaria, 2012 was the first year following 2005, seeing a drop both in terms of attendance and revenue. At the same time, the increase in Bulgaria’s market in 2013 is remarkable for the fact that the amount of receipts rose by BGN 3.5m from the record high of 36.5m from 2011. Besides, the admissions in 2013 went up by over 160 000 compared with the record-breaking 4.63 million in 2011. Consequently, average attendance per capita is getting very close to 0.7, or twice as many compared with the mid-2000s. In fact, cinema attendance in this country has been ever growing over the recent decade with the receipts increasing three times and admissions doubling.

FUNDING

Following genres are eligible for funding by the Bulgarian National Film Center:

- Development and production of feature films (over 70 minutes), short features (between 15 and 30 minutes), short and feature length documentaries and animation; 

- Minority co-productions;
- Local theatrical distribution of Bulgarian movies (including supported minority co-productions);
- Festivals and other cinema events;
- International promotion of Bulgarian films (participation of films and filmmakers at international festivals and other major cinema events).

Only companies registered according the Bulgarian Trade Law and registered as producers, distributors or exhibitors at the Bulgarian National Film Center can apply for funding.

The state support is allocated to film projects, selected by a National Commission of experts on a competitive basis.

For 2014 the secured amount of the state support for the Bulgarian film industry is 12 700 000 BGN / aprox. 6,5 millions of Euro /. According the law :

- at least 10 % (0,64 millions of Euro for 2014) of the funding is for support Local theatrical distribution of Bulgarian movies (including supported minority co-productions);

- up to 5 % (0,32 millions of Euro for 2014) of the funding is for support of festivals, other cinema events and international promotion of Bulgarian films

- up to 5 % (0,32 millions of Euro for 2014) of the funding is for support of special film projects on subjects, proposed by Ministry of culture; 

- at least 80 % (5,22 millions of Euro for 2014) of the funding is for all type of film production (feature film, documentaries, animation + minority co-productions). Up to 20 % of this amount (aprox. 1 millions of Euro for 2014) is for support of minority co-productions.

The legitimate level for support of majority Bulgarian productions is:

- at least 30% of the average budget from previous year for the type of film production (feature film, documentary or animation);

- up to 50 % of the budget of the film project, but for low budget productions the legitimate amount is up to 80 % (The definition for low budget film production according to the Bulgarian Film Law is “A Film with a budget up to 60 % of the average budget of an European movie for the previous year based on the database provided by the European Audiovisual Observatory.)

NATIONAL FILM ARCHIVE:

The Bulgarian National Film Archive is a Member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF) since 1959. It holds the national film archive, which consists of about 15 000 titles with more than 40 000 copies. There are 9528 Bulgarian films (including features, documentaries and animations) and 4348 foreign films from 54 countries. The absolute priority of the Bulgarian Film Archive is to preserve “the moving pictures” for the posterity.

FILM HOLDINGS:

- 5844 documentaries and popular science films

- 2364 newsreels

- 700 feature films

- 620 animations, newsreels, chronicles and periodicals

UNION OF BULGARIAN FILM MAKERS:

The Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers is a creative professional organization with its own contribution to the development of film art and audiovision in Bulgaria as an active party in the process of devising of all concepts, legislation, models and decisions, which correspond to the problems of audiovisual culture.