The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories

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The Mosquito Problem and other stories
Directed by Andrey Paounov
Written byLilia Topouzova & Andrey Paounov
Produced byMartichka Bozhilova
CinematographyBoris Misirkov & Georgi Bogdanov
Edited by Andrey Paounov & Orlin Ruevski
Music byIvo Paounov
Distributed byTV 2 / Danmark
Running time
100 minutes
Country Bulgaria
Language Bulgarian

The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories is a Bulgarian documentary feature film directed by Andrey Paounov and written by professor Lilia Topouzova. It was included in the 46th International Critics' Week of the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.

Contents

Plot

The city of Belene is about to embark on a bright new journey. Massive rusty cranes, foreign investors, and the joyful chants of cheerleaders carry the dream of a great nuclear future, with the planned Belene Nuclear Power Plant. Disturbed only by gigantic stinging mosquitoes, the townsfolk celebrate the atomic achievement by engraving the nuclear power plant logo on buildings and soup bowls. Amidst the apparent atomic prosperity lies a past that no one wants to remember: the Belene labour camp. Stories of crime loom over the city just like the dark clouds of mosquitoes descending on its citizens.

The film depicts a world transformed by ideologies, regimes, and dreams of economic prosperity. It tells a tale of characters whose lives intersect in a sinister past, nuclear future, and the stinging mosquitoes flying through time, sealing their fate together.

The idea for the film started with the years-long research of professor Lilia Topouzova, a historian and filmmaker who studies the Bulgarian Gulag camps through the use of archival and ethnographical research and oral history. Later on, she collaborated with the filmmaker Andrey Paounov, who directed the film.

Reception

The film had its world premiere at the 46th International Critics' Week of the Cannes Film Festival in 2007, and was screened at international film festivals including Toronto International Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, and London Film Festival. It was released in Bulgarian cinemas in 2008.

Awards

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References