The ninth International Book-to-Film Festival Cinelibri (Cinelibri IFF) will tempt viewers in the capital and six other locations in Bulgaria between October 6 and 29! We present to you the vision of this year’s edition, authored by Radoslava Boor and Slava Studio. The variegated palette of colors promises an impressive stylistic diversity, multi-genre and a multi-faceted program that brings together the best of world cinema for the past year!
With the motto “Metamorphoses”, the festival marks 140 years since the birth of Franz Kafka, one of the most significant and influential figures in the literature of the 20th century. Along with James Joyce and Marcel Proust, Kafka is considered one of the “three wise men” of modern literature. The motto is directly associated with the novella “The Metamorphosis”, an emblematic work of the writer, first published in 1915. In the vision, the festival events are symbolically united by a butterfly as an embodiment of the idea of constant metamorphoses in nature. In a similar way, literature, which has come into the focus of the great cinema visionaries, undergoes astonishing metamorphoses on the way to the big screen and brings delight to all the senses.
Cinelibri 2023 audiences will have access to more than 60 film titles awarded at Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and other prestigious festivals. As always, the selection is uncompromising, and each of the films is an example of ingenuity and courage in translating the respective literary work into the language of cinema. This year, the edition covers four competitions: for feature film, for documentary film, for short film and for design of costumes. The program is full of national and world premieres filmed by acclaimed masters in the field of adaptation.
There will be a „Cinema with a Cause“ section which will include films dealing with hot topics – an unequivocal testimony that modern filmmakers on a global scale are unable to remain indifferent against the background of disturbing trends and “metamorphoses” in all spheres of life. Dozens of cinema & literary events, discussions, celebrations, retrospectives, gala evenings, workshops in the field of cinematography and, of course, public meetings with world-famous guests and Jury members are in the process of preparation.
The festive opening ceremony of Cinelibri will take place on October 6 at 19:00 in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia. Viewers will enjoy spectacular performance, captivating music, exciting opening speech and unforgettable surprises. The ninth edition of the festival suggests that it will be the most glamorous, curious and attended Sofia event of the fall. Details of all screenings and special guests will be revealed soon.
Cinelibri 2023 will take place between October 6-29 in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Veliko Tarnovo, Gabrovo and Stara Zagora. The project is to be realized with the financial support of Sofia Municipality, the National Film Center, the National Culture Fund, the Municipality of Plovdiv, the Culture Fund of the Municipality of Varna, the Municipality of Burgas, the Municipality of Veliko Tarnovo, the Municipality of Gabrovo and in partnership with the Regional Library “Zachary Knyazheski” and Stara Zagora Municipality.
The festival is part of the Calendar of cultural events of Sofia Municipality for 2023. The project will be implemented with the financial support of the National Culture Fund under the program “Program for restoration and development of private cultural organizations”.
Cinelibri 2023 is to be carried out in cooperation with many partners and like-minded people, which we are yet to announce.