– We talked to the new head of the Bulgarian National Film Center, who seems determined to modernise the institution responsible for the well-being of the local film industry
Following a 25-year career in film exhibition, film production and festival organising, Peter Todorov was appointed head of the Bulgarian National Film Centre in February, for a five-year term. We took the opportunity to pick his brain about his main priorities regarding the future of the institution.
Cineuropa: What is your main priority as the new head of the Centre?
Peter Todorov: My immediate priorities are two: the first one is to get the advisory body of the Film Centre, called the Finance Committee, to work. This commission operates and distributes funding on behalf of the Bulgarian Film Industry Law and, by that law, it should be composed of experts, mostly working at the Centre. Unfortunately, at present, there are no such experts, so we have to hire external ones. I have asked for an urgent meeting with the Minister of Culture [Atanas Atanasov] to discuss increasing the number of experts working at the Centre. The staff on payroll has not changed since its establishment, i.e. 13 people, but at present the team consists of only 11. Since 2021 this Financial Committee is responsible for the dissemination of a much bigger budget than in previous years. These circumstances have led to an administrative collapse during 2021 and actually to the financing of far fewer projects than the annual budget would have allowed.
My other priority is the digitalisation of the Centre. The film industry has always been one of the fastest growing industries, offering new production technologies and access to content through various channels. I cannot accept that in 2022 all film projects in Bulgaria under different schemes are to be submitted and administered on paper. Since my first day in office, I was flooded with paper. I have already…