Recovery

Vice President Margarita Popova opens 15th International Red Cross and Health Film Festival

SOC "Kamchia", Varna
November 3, 2014

Under the motto "Through Humanism to Peace and Friendship", after a long break, the Bulgarian Red Cross, Varna Medical University and Varna Municipality revived the International Festival of Red Cross and Health Films - the only one in the Balkans in category A, such as Cannes, Berlin and Venice. The current 15th edition of the festival was under the patronage of the Vice President of the Republic of Bulgaria Margarita Popova, who officially opened the creative forum, called it a "festival of philanthropy" and thanked the BRC volunteers for their invaluable assistance to flood victims.

In his welcoming speech, the chairman of the Bulgarian Red Cross Hristo Grigorov shared: "I am excited because this is a historic moment. Today we show that the spirituality of the Bulgarian is alive. Today we are taking a historic step that will capture the attention of the world cultural community on Bulgaria. "
The official opening ceremony of the festival was attended by the hosts - the Mayor of Varna Ivan Portnih, members of the National Council of the Bulgarian Red Cross, the Director General of the organization Assoc. Prof. Dr. Krassimir Gigov and Deputy Directors Dr. Slavita Dzhambazova, Dr. Nadezhda Todorovska and Vasilka Kamenova, representatives of the Medical University in Varna, headed by the Vice-Rector Assoc. Prof. Albena Kerekova, employees and volunteers of the Bulgarian Red Cross.

Among the official guests were the Ambassador of the State of Israel to Bulgaria Shaul Kamisa Raz, Pascal Kazan - Head of the Reference Center for First Aid, France, delegations from the Turkish Red Crescent and the Swiss Red Cross. The acting and film circles in our country were represented by the director of the National Film Center Georgi Cholakov, Yitzhak Finci, Nikola Anastasov, Svetoslav Peev, Andrey Slabakov, Milena Kaneva, Mihail Mutafov, Anya Pencheva, Iren Krivoshieva, Ivan Laskin, Martina Vachkova and many others. The members of the jury Prof. Boyan Biolchev, Prof. Temelko Temelkov and Mitko Todorov were also here.

Before the official opening of the festival, a film about the floods in the Asparuhovo district was screened and volunteers who helped the victims were awarded. The mayor of Varna, Ivan Portnih, presented a plaque for humanism in cinema to Serbian director Goran Paskalevic, winner of numerous awards at the most prestigious international film festivals and a member of the board of the European Film Academy. The festival started with his film "When Dusk", which participated in "Sofia Film Fest".

As a symbol of a new beginning, before the opening of the festival, Vice President Margarita Popova planted a tree in the Alley of History in the park of the Children's Health Camp "Rainbow", next to the trees of the hundredth cosmonaut Victor Savinich, director of the Russian Cultural Information Center Victor and Prof. Dr. Natalia Korolyova, daughter of the "father of astronautics", Sergei Korolyov.

A photo exhibition "Retrospective of the Red Cross and Health Film Festival" was opened, prepared from archival photos and materials, reflecting the history of the festival, its creators, actors, directors and cameramen of the films awarded over the years.

Photo gallery

For more information visit the festival website