The everlasting dream of humans to sail in the sky, feeling absolutely free still remains unachievable. However, young and creative people have dared to cross the boundaries in art with the assistance of modern technologies, in order to show the image of this world, padded by our ego.

The Roman stadium in Plovdiv is the stage of the most modern film festival in this country. On August 19 – 20 DroneUp will gather among the ancient remains artists from 32 states on 5 continents, united by their passion for innovation. Movies, shot by drones are being presented, showing nature, cities, travels, extreme and wild spots, stories and history with a special accent on Bulgarian landmarks and beauty. However, what’s most typical for this latest visual genre and how comparable is it to feature movies?

“I don’t think we can separate things, as drone-shot movies are now a standard part of feature ones,” says Mr. Petyo Petkov, one of the festival’s organizers. “Those shots were created with a helicopter before, while now Hollywood uses a drone, as it is cheaper, providing new options at the same time. A drone can shot the face of an actor and a few seconds afterwards, within the same frame, one can lift it up, showing the surrounding background. Our case is a bit different, as we have a requirement – at least half of each movie to be shot by a drone. However, the main question is still whether the cameraman or the director has succeeded in telling a good story from a bird’s eye height.”

This view can take us to different artistic directions, depending on each artist’s imagination. An American cameraman has shot his voyages across exotic countries – Australia, Vietnam, Tasmania, Bora-bora etc. while his Bulgarian colleague has brought landmark views from this country.

“The view from high above gives us a really new type of beauty,” Mr. Petkov goes on to say. “We have got used so much to our everyday life – the same streets, the same working hours, the same environment… However, the bird’s eye view gives completely different dynamics and angle. That is what we would like to show to the audience –the world from above is a bit different from the one we have got used to.”

The USA is one step ahead in the drone-based movie making, just like in everything else, the expert says. The best European masters work in Germany and France. The Bulgarians also appeared to be at a good level and that was why a special category was created for them at the last moment, presenting the hosting country. The Friday evening’s show is expected to be remembered for a long time. The location is not a coincidence – ancient roots and modern artistic invention are to meet there.

“It will be interesting to present a meeting between ancient remains and traditions, which are numerous in Plovdiv and new technologies – we are looking for this out-of-frame combination within any other part of the festival,” PetyoPetkov goes on to say. “Besides that the Roman stadium is downtown Plovdiv and supports our vision to create a public event, where art is accessible for everyone.”

The festival will end up with a wink to Hollywood – the initial Drone Oscars will be handed over, divided in different categories, the way it should be…

English version: ZhivkoStanchev