One of the best documentaries shown during this year’s edition of the Sofia Film Festival is “And the Party Goes on” (Et Le Bal Continue) by director Georgi Balabanov. He graduated from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia and in the 80s he moved to Paris, where he created a series of documentaries that brought him awards from the prestigious festivals in Oberhausen, Venice, Paris, and New York. We will recall that the previous edition of the Sofia Film Festival opened with his film “The Petrov File” with its script writer being Oscar winner Jean-Claude Carriere. Balabanov’s new film, generally speaking, is dedicated to the city of Sofia as an image of changes in Eastern Europe.  People who tell viewers about these changes are constant dissident Nikolay Kolev-Bosia and his friend Krasimir Raydovski - former intelligence officer of the State Security, psychiatrist Nikolay Mihaylov known for his psychological analyses of social phenomena. And more: former MP Pavel Chernev, who recently passed away; television host Martin Karbovski, famous pop-folk singer Azis and others...

“At a certain moment I had to choose people I knew and with whom I had human connections. It was still a relatively long period of work, during which trust was born."

"My job doing these polls is due to my personal ambition for reformation of society and for making people ask questions like ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Am I happy?’ I want people to think about the way they felt during the year and if they could change anything if they voted or had a certain civic position, for example. This is my way to make a contribution to people and society and to make them think. And, perhaps at some point those who run this country would become concerned about the actual situation of people." 

 
The film is a co-production of Bulgaria and France and it is entirely funded by the renowned French public broadcaster ARTE. Major producer is Helene Badinter with her company "Ladybirds Films." Ms. Badinter is considered one of the most active producers of contemporary French documentary cinema and she has Bulgarian roots. The film has also received support from the French National Film Centre and several financial institutions and was shot entirely in Bulgaria.

 
"I am lucky that my mother is a Bulgarian. My grandmother and my grandfather were Bulgarians. When I was a child I used to come to Bulgaria every year. I have not been here for 15 years, though. I stopped coming when my grandparents passed away. In France I am French as my father is a Frenchman but when someone is talking about Bulgaria, they awaken my interest. Georgi Balabanov came to my office and presented his idea for a film about Sofia, the people who live in it, the history of this country concentrated in the city." 
 
What audience is this film addressed at? According to director Georgi Balabanov, the audience in Paris saw France in the film, while during the recent documentary film festival ZagrebDox a young director told him: “I watched the film. It is all the same here.”

English: Alexander Markov