SMALL-TOWN XENOPHOBIA MEETS ABSURDIST HUMOR
IN BULGARIA’S OFFICIAL OSCAR SUBMISSION &
GRAND PRIZE WINNER AT TALINN BLACK NIGHTS
PREMIERING VIA VIRTUAL CINEMA, VOD & DIGITAL
ON MARCH 11, 2022
SYNOPSIS
Svetla (Svetlana Yancheva), a strong-willed widow, lives alone in a small Bulgarian village close to the Turkish border. She has recently lost her job as a teacher due to the lack of families with young children. One day, while hunting in a forest, she encounters an African refugee, Bamba(Michael Fleming), who is trying to reach Germany, and will bring about a dramatic turn in her life. Reluctantly, she offers him hospitality, but day after day, a bond develops as Bamba learns the language and takes part in her daily life. Svetla will make life-changing choices that go against her traditional community creating a revolt among the villagers. Absurd, comic and tragic situations ensue as she breaks barriers of loneliness, close mindedness and fear of the outsider.
Winner of the Best Film award in Tallinn, and the Golden Rose for Best Picture at Varna’s Golden Rose Bulgarian Feature Film Festival and nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at Santa Barbara International Film Festival, this black & white drama – director Ivaylo Hristov’s fourth film following 2015’s endearing Losers – is a tense and timely fable brought home with visual panache.
FEAR (2020)
Written and Directed by: Ivaylo Hristov
Cast: Svetlana Yancheva, Michael Flemming, Ivan Savov, Stoyan Bochev, Krassimir Dokov, Miroslava Gogovska
Produced by: Assen Vladimirov
Director of Photography: Emil Christov
Genre: Drama/Comedy/World Cinema
RT: 100 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: 2.0 Stereo
Language: English andBulgarian with English Subtitles
:quality(85):upscale()/2026/04/20/723/n/1922564/80d8b98269e6527f642929.34142853_.jpg "Kendall Jenner's Dog Accessory Was the Highlight of Her Coachella Outfit")
:quality(85):upscale()/2026/04/13/934/n/1922564/03fde3dd69dd5f3329e5d5.08160835_.png "We Channeled the '90s in Guess For Coachella Weekend – Starting at")
