THE LESSON
directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov
A lesson about right and wrong
In a small Bulgarian town Nadezhda, a young teacher, is looking for the thief in her class so she can teach him a « lesson » on right and wrong. As this episode unravels at work, her personal life changes drastically and when she becomes indebted to loan sharks, can she stay true to her own values?
DRAMA DCP/HD - 2014 - Bulgaria/Greece - 105min
ORIGINAL TITLE Urok
CAST Margita Gosheva, Ivan Burnev, Ivan Savov et Stefan Denolyubov
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE Bulgarian
PRODUCED BY Abraxas Film
KRISTINA GROZEVA received numerous award for her short films, among them Best Fiction Debut at the Bulgarian Film Academy Awards 2008 for Birds of Heaven; Special mention of the jury of the International Student Film Festival, Casablanca, Morocco 2009 and Special mention of the jury of the Mediaschool International Film Festival, Lodz 2009 for Gap; The award for the best short film until 10min.-International Student Film Festival 2006/PREMIOS 7th Festival de Escuelas de Cine/Montevideo, Uruguay and The Best Film of International One-Minute Film Festival-FILMINUTE, UK, 2007 for Game.
PETAR VALCHANOV graduated in Film and TV Directing form the NATFA in 2002. His first short film Shock participated in the student program at Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2001; his next short film Resurrection was awarded for the Best Film at the International Student Film Festival-Velingrad 2003. His short film Captured was selected at Tampere Film Festival, Finland 2005, as well as Sofia Film Fest-Jameson competition 2005, and Tel Aviv Film Festival, Israel 2006. His short film Family Therapy was awarded Best student fiction film of International Film Festival Wiesbaden 2009, Best Film-CINEMAIUBIT-international film festival Bucharest 2008, and JAMESON award for the best Bulgarian short film at Sofia Film Fest 2008, among others.
His short film Family Therapy was awarded Best student fiction film of International Film Festival Wiesbaden 2009, Best Film-CINEMAIUBIT-international film festival Bucharest 2008, and JAMESON award for the best Bulgarian short film at Sofia Film Fest 2008, among others.
Festivals / Awards
Toronto International Film Festival 2014 - Contemporary World Cinema section
San Sebastian International Film Festival 2014 - New Directors section Kutxa New Directors' Award
Göteborg Film Festival 2015 Ingmar Bergman Award for best debut film
Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2014 Special Jury Prize "Bronze Alexander” and Best Screenplay Award
Tokyo International Film Festival Special Jury Prize
Warsaw Film Festival 1-2 Competition Award
Golden Rose Bulgarian Film Festival The City of Varna Special Award and the Critics Guild Award
Premiers Plans Angers Film Festival Award for Best Actress (Margita Gosheva)
Molodist International Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize
La Orquidea International Film Festival (Ecuador) Best Film Award
Vilnius International Film Festival 2015 BEST ACTRESS AWARD (Margita Gosheva)
Sofia International Film Festival 2015 GRAND PRIX AWARD, BEST BULGARIAN FEATURE AWARD, AUDIENCE AWARD, FIPRESCI AWARD
Hong Kong International Film Festival 2015
Hecho en Europa - Festival de Cine Europeo 2015, Puerto Rico
Luxor Film Festival 2015, Egypt
Guadalajara International Film Festival 2015
Vilnius International Film Festival 2015
Sofia International Film Festival 2015
Luxembourg City Film Festival 2015 Grand Prix
Minsk International Film Festival Listapad Grand Prix "Golden Listapad" for Best Film