THE FATHER “Bashtata”
Narrative Feature | 90 minutes

HIFF 2018

 World Cinema Narrative

Directed by
Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov

Produced by
Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov, Konstantina Stavrianou, Irini Vougioukalou

Written by
Kristina Grozeva, Petar Valchanov, Decho Taralezhkov

Featuring
Ivan Barnev, Ivan Savov

2019 | Bulgarian | Bulgaria/Greece

Juggling complications at work and in his personal life, Pavel (Ivan Barnev) returns to his hometown for his mother’s funeral with much more on his mind than repairing the lingering tensions between him and his estranged father Vasil (Ivan Savov). With Vasil left mentally unsound and grief-stricken, Pavel finds his father convinced that his wife is trying to contact him from beyond the grave, forcing the men on a trip to a local psychic that will force them both to confront their years of separation. Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s follow-up to their HIFF 2016 Best Narrative Feature winner GLORY intimately and truthfully channels the relationship between its two protagonists with equal parts tenderness and absurdist humor.