Stefan Petrov

Evtim Manasiev is an outstanding engineer. At the office, he has made a name for himself as a "whole-hogger boss". At home, his motto is: "Love me, love my dog". His children rebel against his acting at variance with his own principles. Tired and exasperated, Manasiev realizes that he has been wrong in some of his actions. On a holiday, he runs into Mihaylova, a subordinate of his whom he has recently fired undeservedly. The meeting urges him to reconsider and to review painfully all his previous life and principles. —Georgi Djulgerov

1197. King Kaloyan ascends the throne in hard times for Bulgaria. The country is still recovering from a century of Byzantine subjugation. He is forced to carry out a very flexible foreign policy in order to strength his positions. Pope Innocent III recognizes him as Emperor (Tsar), but a little later the fourth Crusade crosses the country under Emperor Baldwin. A new conflict is coming. Tsar Kaloyan wages the decisive battle at Adrianople and wins.

Boris Morev dreams of money and power, he’ll do everything to reach the top, including leaving his beloved Irina, to marry the daughter of the local tobacco factory owner. With the death of his father-in-law and the illness of his wife, Morev becomes the new owner of "Nicotiana" and rules with an iron fist, resulting in massive labour strikes and murder. He ropes Irina back into his life, first as a mistress and later as his second wife, but his ambitions still come first as he plans on emerging as the biggest tobacco seller once the war is over. Irina’s love for Boris is fading and she finds a lover in one of the Germans Boris is trying to strike a deal with. Set against the backdrop of World War II and communist partisans fighting against the Nazi-allied Bulgarian monarchy, the film is a screen adaptation of the Bulgarian classic novel "Tobacco" released in 1954.

The students Yoshkata and Petar share rooms and wartime privations in a poor man's street. Over a glass of vine, Yoshkata often talks about the stage life of genuine beauty. The student is unaware of the passion with which Vaska, the barmaid at the local pub, burns for him. Petar is a member of an antifascist combat unit. The pupil Katya loves him. Petar carries out a sabotage action and comes home wounded. Yoshkata manages to deceive the Germans who rush into their flat that they have been drinking and playing cards throughout the evening. He saves his friend. However, the secret agent notices the doctor's visits. When the police arrive to arrest Petar, Yoshkata tries to resist them and the agent shoots him dead. Petar goes underground. On the day of the liberation, all the residents of the poor man's street celebrate, and Katya and Petar happily reunited. Vaska is there, too, a baby in her arms, the fruit of her love with Yoshkata...

Partisans hijack a boat

At the seafront garden, the members of The Worker's Youth Union and the members of fascist organization are fighting. Absorbed in their feelings Vladko and Aneto have nothing to do with those events. Things at Aneto's big wealthy home look very different from Vladko's small house huddled in the yard. Kiril, Vladko's elder brother, is anxious about Vladko who should have been at the rally, but is writing poetry instead. Aneto and Vladko are happily dancing at the school-leavers' ball. Kiril has killed a German officer. The ball breaks out. Aneto has disappeared in the confusion. Vladko goes to look after her. A group of people armed with clubs and knuckle-dusters beat him cruelly because he is Kiril's brother. Kiril has joined the partisans. Vladko is seriously ill and dies. Kiril and his comrades continue the struggle.

A diver gets trapped at sea and needs to be rescued by the man whose love and life he has ruined.

Gaffer Yordan the Gerak is a wealthy farmer with a large family. The Geraks live in harmony as long as his wife is alive. After her death, disagreement and strife erupt among them. Two of the sons, Bozhan and Peter, demand the partition of their father's real estate. The third son, Pavel, who is doing his military service in the town, has become estranged from the land and from his family. When Pavel returns home only to ask money from his father, Gaffer Yordan discovers that he has been robbed. His sons trade accusations and come to blows. Pavel goes back to his mistress in the city. Elka, Pavel's wife, falls ill with a venereal disease she has contracted from his husband. On a dark and stormy night Elka is about to drown herself in the river when the Gerak's old farmhand takes her back home. Before long, Elka dies, as does Gaffer Yordan. Bozhan fells the centenarian pine tree in the yard of the family home, which symbolized the patriarchal ways of the Geraks.

A spring is hidden in the Iron Mountain but the people of Arzen cannot get to it and they are suffering from thirst.

A Bulgarian village before the First World War. The young and ambitious farmer Enyo loves the beautiful but poor Tsveta. His brother and his wife arrange their engagement. The hunchback girl Stanka, daughter of the richest man in the village, is in love with Enyo. Because of her father's lands Enyo decides to end his engagement with Tsveta and starts building up his farm.

The weaknesses and shortcomings in the work of some leaders in the years of the building of socialism are ridiculed.

A quite line in the capital city. A little girl, Veseto, slips out of home unnoticed, attracted by the voices of children playing in the yard. when the kids get tired of playing hide-and-seek, they scatter and Veseto sets out in a long stroll across the city, full of exciting adventures. She talks to a chimney sweep, stops to look at some land surveyors at work, watches an interesting football game at the stadium, enjoys herself at the fair, extemporizes as an actress and has a trying experience on a building site. All the people in the neighborhood start looking for the lost child. In the evening, Veseto reappears. She is back to the arms of her mother, while the people in the neighborhood prove by deeds their human solidarity, their love for children and their resolve to struggle for peace, a must for children's future all over the world.

This is a typical story from the 'cold war' era. A group of kids play on a quiet street in Sofia. From a nearby window falls a key. The helpful youngsters quickly return it to the owner, but in the haste switch the keys. The unintentional error disentangles a whole spy story. The young detectives doubt the good intentions of the man they tried to help. It turns out that the key is from a secret apartment where saboteurs are hiding. The secret network is exposed to the authorities and the kids feel like heroes.

Venice Film Festival 1955

Follows the Bulgarian people's struggle for national independence in the period from 1875 to the Liberation from Otoman bondage.

Constantinople, 1883. During an outing to the Black Island Edith, the adopted daughter of the French ambassador, is saved by Kalin the Eagle. She learns that he is a Bulgarian revolutionary from the April Uprising of 1876. With her help Kalin the Eagle escapes and returns to the liberated Bulgaria, where he is drawn to the socialist movement. Edith finds out that Kalin is in fact her father, and sets out in search of him. Kalin the Eagle is notable as the first movie made by the nationalized film industry after World War II in the newly formed People's Republic of Bulgaria.