– Crystal Globe winners Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov return to KVIFF with a tragicomic drama about corruption, moral compromise and a couple whose dream trip is shattered by war
Ivan Savov and Tanya Shahova in Black Money for White Nights
The 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, set to run from 3-11 July (see the news), will host the world premiere of Black Money for White Nights, the fifth feature by Bulgarian directorial duo Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, in its Crystal Globe Competition. The filmmakers return to the Czech festival seven years after winning the Crystal Globe with The Father and now present a tragicomic portrait of a generation forced to reassess its values in an increasingly polarised world.
Marina, a maternity-ward nurse, and her husband Gosha, a railway dispatcher, both in their sixties, have spent years collecting small bribes to finance their dream trip to St Petersburg to witness the White Nights. But when Russia invades Ukraine and the travel agency vanishes with all of their savings, their dream collapses along with their illusion of control over their moral principles and their relationship. As Gosha ends up in hospital after being beaten while trying to recover the money, long-buried betrayals surface, forcing the couple to confront the lies on which they have built their lives.
The cast is led by frequent Grozeva-Valchanov collaborators Tanya Shahova (Glory, Triumph) as Marina and Ivan Savov (The Lesson, The Father) as Gosha, alongside Margita Gosheva, who has played in all of the previous films by the duo, Ivan Barnev (The Art of Falling, Blaga’s Lessons) and Sibila Petrova.
The script was co-penned by Grozeva and Valchanov together with Decho Taralezhkov, who previously collaborated with the duo on their last three features. Having established themselves as two of the leading voices in contemporary Bulgarian cinema, the filmmakers first conceived the idea for Black Money for White Nights nearly a decade ago. Following their Crystal Globe-winning The Father, their most recent feature, Triumph, starring Maria Bakalova, premiered at Toronto two years ago and went on to become Bulgaria’s submission for the Academy Awards. Their earlier works include Glory, which screened in competition at Locarno, and their debut feature, The Lesson, which premiered at Toronto before playing at San Sebastián.
The cinematography is by Alexander Stanishev (Monkey, In Hell with Ivo) while the editing is handled by Yorgos Mavropsaridis, known for his long-standing collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos on movies including The Favourite and Poor Things. The score was composed by Theodore Oikonomou, the sound is handled by Ivan Andreev and Kostas Varympopiotis, and the production design by Ivelina Mineva.
Black Money for White Nights is a Bulgarian-Greek co-production staged by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov for Sofia-based Abraxas Film, alongside Konstantina Stavrianou and Irini Vougioukalou for Athens-based Graal Films, in collaboration with Bulgarian National Television and the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). The film has received backing from the Bulgarian National Film Center, the Greek Film Centre and Eurimages. Its international sales are handled by Cercamon.
