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Blaga’s Lessons

Blaga’s Lessons

Blaga’s Lessons

Dir. Stephan Komandarev
114 min

After Directions (2017), which centered on tough times for some Sofia taxi drivers over a long and eventful night, and Rounds (2019), about police officers patrolling the capital, director-writer Stephan Komandarev and his co-writer complete their trilogy on social problems and moral ills in contemporary Bulgaria with this cautionary drama about an older woman duped by a telephone scam aimed at the country’s pensioners. Blaga (Eli Skorcheva) is a retired Bulgarian language and literature teacher. A recent widow, she’s worried about how she will pay for her husband’s grave and headstone. She supplements her meager pension by giving private language lessons. At first it looks as if she can stretch her finances, but then she is swindled out of almost all her money. The film provides a fitting showcase for the expressive lead Skorcheva, an ‘80’s star, who turns in a performance that is both vulnerable and steely.

Film Details

Release Year: 2023
Runtime: 114 min
Country/Region: Bulgaria, Germany
Language: Bulgarian
Print Source: Heretic
Tags: Crime, Drama, Oscar Submission, Thriller

Cast/Crew

Director: Stephan Komandarev
Producer: Stephan Komandarev, Katya Trichkova
Cinematographer: Vesselin Hristov
Screenwriter: Stephan Komandarev, Simeon Ventsislavov
Editor: Nina Altaparmakova
Composer: Kalina Vasileva
Principal Cast: Eli Skorcheva, Gerasim Georgiev, Stefan Denolyubov, Rozalia Abgarian, Ivan Barnev