First International Film Forum BOB (Based-on-Books)
On October 26 and 27, the first BOB (Based-on-Books) film forum, organized by Cinelibri IFF, took place at the Grand Hotel Millennium Sofia. The event brought together local and foreign directors, producers, writers, screenwriters and actors, sales and literary agents, festival selectors, allowing them to exchange experience and ideas for future partnerships and collaborations. Statements and presentations of the panelists and participants were loaded with numerous examples from theory and practice. Each project was discussed in light of its respective context, history and perspectives. As well as being extremely productive and useful from a pragmatic point of view, bringing together film and literature professionals from different parts of the world, the forum became a platform for many informal conversations – equally rich in creative ideas – and possibly a source of future friendships.
On October 26, the session started with a panel discussion dedicated to the film industry opportunities that Bulgaria could offer to local and foreign directors in a long term. Director and creator of Cinelibri – Jacqueline Wagenstein, the deputy mayor of Sofia – Yana Genova, the representative of the National Film Center and representative of Bulgaria at EURIMAGES, Stefan Prohorov, and the producer Katya Trichkova took part in the event.
Genova expressed her pride in supporting Cinelibri and her belief in Sofia as “a welcoming destination for international professionals: “I remember it was 2005 when the Berlinale and the Frankfurt Book Fair signed a co-operation agreement for the first time, and the more conservative contingent in the book business wondered what on earth ‘film people’ were doing in their biggest forum. But now it’s customary to see film and book industry representatives together.” Genova also highlighted Sofia’s wealth of hidden gems and its “mishmash” of cultural traditions merging ancient, Ottoman, interwar, socialist, and post-socialist history. “Sofia has its own film commission which facilitates and provides logistical support for productions and co-productions, mostly non-commercial projects. Producers can access tax relief, support for transportation, and parking spaces,” she added. The literary scene is also vibrant, with 8-9,000 new titles published each year.
Stefan Prohorov stated that Bulgaria is on a very steady course in terms of its film industry, though not politically: “As an institution, we’ve finally managed to become ‘predictable.’ We’re a subsidiary agency of our Ministry of Culture. In terms of co-productions, we support features and shorts, as well as TV series. We’ve got a working cash rebate in place and we’re part of all the major networks, including Creative Europe and EURIMAGES. Bulgaria offers a 25% rate, worth up to €1 million, which Prohorov described as “an adequate amount” with “increasing numbers of different-sized productions benefiting from it.” He also announced the launch of a new dedicated platform connecting professionals in the coming months.” On her turn, Katya Trichkova, who co-produced Nebojša Slijepčević’s 2024 Palme d’Or-winning short The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (Croatia/France/Bulgaria/Slovenia), delved into the tortuous path she walked in terms of production. Set in 1993 in Strpci, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the film is based on a true story and follows a passenger train from Belgrade to Bar which is stopped by paramilitary forces in an ethnic cleansing operation. As they haul off innocent civilians, only one man out of 500 passengers dares to stand up to them.
The opening discussion was followed by a two-part panel titled CONTENT IS KING. Award-winning and international bestselling author Christine Leunens, American actors Ann Cusack, Ignacio Serricchio and Brian Krause, the beloved Bulgarian writer, director and playwright Zachary Karabashliev took part. Christine told the story of her collaboration with Taika Waititi in turning her award-winning book “Caging Skies” into “Jo Jo Rabbit”. She explained how Taika initially didn’t want to read her book but his mom was the one who made him and saw the potential of a movie. Christine described many entertaining moments working with Taika and said that the movie turned out exactly as he told her the day they met. She also recalled a moment where Taika couldn’t find an actor to play Hitler, so he had to do it himself and his mom came to set and told him “you look so handsome” without initially realizing he was in costume. Ann Cusack, Ignacio Serricchio and Brian Krause entertained with behind-the-scenes stories of their experience in playing characters in adaptations such as “Sully”, “Ripley”, “Firefly Lane” and “Sleepwalkers” (written by Stephen King). Ignacio shared that his life-long dream is playing Zorro, however, the procedure of obtaining the rights to the character is extremely difficult. Beloved writer Zachary Karabashliev recalled more on his experience with adaptations and turning his bestselling book “18% grey” into a film and his experience as a scriptwriter too.
The first day of the conference continued with a pitching session. Twelve selected projects with high potential for being turned into film adaptations have been presented before Bulgarian and foreign producers with obvious interest in this field:
– YAN BIBIYAN, a fantasy novel by Elin Pelin, presented by director Yavor Gardev
– CHAMKORIA, a historical novel by Milen Ruskov, presented by director Viktor Bozhinov
– THE SUN THROUGH YOUR FINGERS, a children’s novel by Gabriele Clima, presented by Cinzia Seccamani from Italy
– IF I WERE A BOY, a novel by Haki Stërmilli, presented by Albanian director Fatmir Koci
– LABYRINTH, a novel by Bosnia and Herzegovina authored by Branimir Šantak, introduced by himself
– ENGAGEMENT, a novel by Chiller Ilhan from the Netherlands, presented by the author himself
– DEFECTIVE, a novel by Nagla Angeli, presented by the literary agent Clementina Luizzi from Italy
– THE HEART IN THE CARDBOARD BOX, a novel by Konstantin Konstantinov and Svetoslav Minkov, presented by Evgenia Taneva
– LITTLE SINS, a novel by Paulina Georgieva, presented by the author hereself
– SUDDEN STREETS, a novel by Ivanka Mogilska, presented by the author herself
– AUTOBIOGRAPHY, a novel by Marcel Lacko from Slovakia, presented by the author himself
– THE GENE OF DOUBT, a novel by Nikolaos Panaiotopoulos, presented by Zornitsa-Sofia Popgancheva and Zvezdomira Bojana
Representatives of seven major world media were in Sofia for covering the BOB event. Among them was the film critic and journalist Davide Abbatescianni (Cineuropa) who has paid special attention to five of the projects pitched at the industry gathering: 1/ Yan Bibiyan – “coming-of-age tale boasting a dark, sinister look”, based on Elin Pelin’s fantasy novel. Its story is deeply rooted in Bulgarian culture and folklore, and it is known nationwide by children and adults alike. Director Yavor Gardev billed the project as “the Faust for children”; 2/ Chamkoria – based on the novel penned by Milen Ruskov, the story is set in 1920s interwar Bulgaria. It also tackles one of Bulgaria’s most painful historical events, the St Nedelya Church assault; 3/ If I Were a Boy – based on the novel by Haki Stermilli, this story follows the tragic vicissitudes of a young girl, enslaved and abused by her own family in the name of their religious beliefs; 4/ Defective – published by Fandango Libri and presented on stage by literary agent Clementina Liuzzi, this book tells a true story of an abandoned non-European citizen. Today, she’s become a woman who has managed to change her life for the better; 5/ Little Sins – a psychological drama which revolves around six friends who meet at a famous retreat centre in Crete. They are middle- and upper-middle-class individuals who meet first in Berlin, sharing their “little sins” and struggling with different anxieties.
The second day of the BOB film forum started with an outgiving of Gabrielle Gonçalves, France’s Film Initiative expert, who delved into the journey from page to screen, marking the need for innovation and strategic rights handling. Gonçalves began with introducing the company she works for, established by Isabelle Fauvel in Paris in 1993. She emphasized that the firm’s activities are focused solely on the development stage: “We’re there to support talent very early, from the idea to the very start of production. We assist talent and producers, and handle many different aspects, including script consultancy, story editing, script doctoring, book scouting, training, and master classes covering a wide range of topics, held for labs and markets.” Gonçalves pointed out that in the past 10 years, there was a surge in adaptations. According to a national study, one in five films and TV series in France are adaptations. “But is any book adaptable? No, and that’s an even longer question to answer,” she explained, adding that the first “bond” between the director and the book is not “love at first sight,” but requires a certain degree of “intimacy.” One of the most important things, in any case, remains the concept itself. Gonçalves noted that recent years have also seen “a surge in non-fiction, journalistic, and investigative stories,” including “true crime.” Negotiations then become crucial – not only in economic terms, but also in creative ones: “Some people will sell, but they want to be involved in the script.” Gonçalves affirmed there’s no secret recipe for success, but gaining experience and having a keen eye for trends are essential practices. Some of the main events attended by Film Initiative include Books at Berlinale, Shoot the Book in Cannes, the Biennale Book Adaptation Rights Market, and Lyon’s Quais du Polar.
Dr. Costas Constantinides, director of the Cyprus Film Days International Festival and a lecturer, presented many interesting case-studies of famous adaptations such as “Poor Things”. He is also an author of a book that deals with the subject – “From Film Adaptation to Post-celluloid Adaptation”. Davide Abbatescianni and actors Ignacio Serricchio and Brian Krause discussed project promotion and shared their experience from festivals and events to the delight of conference attendees who had many questions.
In a special panel dedicated to the relation and interaction between reality and fiction in cinema and literature on the field of the documentary cinema, the producer Martichka Bozhilova, the VP and executive producer of Max Documentary Originals Hanka Kastelicová, the Dutch director Misja Pekel and the executive producer Anita Modak-Truran took part with many fascinating stories from their experience but also with concrete examples of what the path of a successful documentary production might be, accompanied with some useful tips.
The two-day film forum concluded with a panel discussion on international film adaptation markets. The panelists were Martin Petrov (WoFF Glasgow), Elizabeth Kormanova, currently heading the business affairs team of London-based film & TV studio Rocket Science, and Yannis Palavos (writer and programmer of the IFF in Thessaloniki). Very interesting and witty was Palavos’ overview of Greek literature onscreen & adaptations at TIFF. He highlighted several key points. First of all, no matter what the literary source is, it’s the film that matters: “Adapting is translating – you need to betray to stay faithful; but even such a faith does not matter: it’s about the film’s cinematic qualities.” While Martin shared a lot of his own experience with festivals, Elizabeth provided impressive and exhaustive analysis of the adaptation’s film market revealing quite interesting data proving the huge share of the adaptations on the general film market and at international film awards.