About The Film

A visually stunning tale of first love and friendship in a time of war. In the summer of 1943 in Sofia, Bulgaria, a shy 17-year-old Jewish boy, meets his cousin and is immediately smitten. Unfortunately, so is his more worldly friend Giogio. The boys navigate more than a love triangle; however, as the police begin rounding up the Jews in this Ladino-speaking community under pressure from their German allies, who are also devastating Shelli’s hometown of Kavala, Greece. To complicate matters, Giogio’s father is a brutish anti-Semite who works for the government department in charge of deporting Sofia’s Jews to forced labor and death camps.

Despite its grim setting, the film’s tender evocation of childhood exuberance, innocence, and budding romance recreates the sweet and sumptuous lost world of Bulgarian Sephardic Jewish culture.

Bulgaria’s submission to the 2014 Academy Awards® for Best Foreign Language Film, BULGARIAN RHAPSODY is part of director Ivan Nichev’s historic trilogy about Bulgarian Jews, which also includes AFTER THE END OF THE WAR (1999) and THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM (2003).

Guest Performance: Duvana Bulgarian Women's Choir

Director Bio

Ivan Nichev secured the Golden Rose for best feature film, IVAN AND ALEXANDRA at the 1998 Bulgarian Film Festival. He is also known for CHILDREN OF WAX (2007).

Guest Speaker

Dr. Devin E. Naar is the Isaac Alhadeff Professor in Sephardic Studies, Assistant Professor of History, and faculty at the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. Born and raised in New Jersey, Dr. Naar graduated summa cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis and received his Ph.D. in History at Stanford University. His forthcoming book with Stanford University Press, Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece, based on his prize-winning dissertation, explores the impact of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of modern Greece during the 19th and 20th centuries on the Jews of Salonica (Thessaloniki).

Dunava is a Seattle-based women's vocal ensemble specializing in the a cappella folk music of Eastern Europe. Founded in 2005, Dunava is made up of singers from diverse musical backgrounds who all share a passion for complex and beautiful harmonies. The choir's repertoire includes songs from the Balkans as well as other Slavic countries and the Caucasus. Upcoming performances.

Sponsor:

• Lela and Harley Franco

Community Partners:

• The Stroum Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Washington
• UW Sephardic Studies
• Seattle Sephardic Network