German Lessons

  • Pavel G. Vesnakov
  • Bulgaria, Germany
  • 2020
  • 100'
  • Urotsi po nemski

Fifty-year-old Bulgarian driver Nikola is one day away from completing his conditional sentence, and is planning to start a new life in Germany. His parents have decided to divorce in their advanced age, his children don’t want to see him, while spending 25 years of his life in communism and 25 more in a false democracy has left him feeling enraged and helpless. Two days before leaving, his father’s dog goes missing. As he searches for the lost pet, Nikola confronts his own past and lost identity, and faces his final decision: will he cut ties or is the bond with the past unbreakable after all?

Subtitles: EN, HR

Pavel G. Vesnakov

One of the most successful young Bulgarian directors, known for provocative realist films that problematize the decay of Bulgarian society and human relations. His short film trilogy Inches of Suburbia screened at Clermont-Ferrand, Locarno, Sarajevo, etc, while its last instalment, Pride (2014), won the Clermont-Ferrand Grand Prix. German Lessons is his feature debut.

German Lessons

Director
Pavel G. Vesnakov
Screenplay
Pavel G. Vesnakov
Cast
Julian Vergov, Vasil Banov, Elena Telbis, Meglena Karalambova, Stefka Yanorova
DOP
Orlin Ruevski
Editing
Victoria Radoslavova
Producer
Orlin Ruevski, Monica Balcheva, Sebastian Weyland, Knut Jäger, Manfred Giesecke
Production
Moviemento, Heimathafen Film & Media
Festivals & Awards
Filmfest Hamburg; Sarajevo Film Festival; Cairo Int'l Film Festival; Shanghai Int'l Film Festival

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