The November issue of LIK magazine tells the story of the 10-year history of the Cinelibri International Book-to-Film Festival. The publication of the Bulgarian News Agency (literally Bulgarian Telegraph Agency or BTA) traces the development of the forum from its establishment in 2015 to its tenth anniversary edition, which took place this year.
The publication will be presented on November 25 (Monday) at 5:00 p.m. simultaneously in BTA press clubs in the country and abroad. Among the participants of the event in the Maxim Hall in Sofia will be the General Director of BTA – Kiril Valchev, and the Editor-in-Chief of LIK – Assoc. Prof. Georgi Lozanov. The creator and art director of Cinelibri – Jacqueline Wagenstein, will also participate online.
In the introduction to the issue, the editor-in-chief of LIK, Assoc. Prof. Georgi Lozanov, points out that “nowhere in the world is there (and has there never been) another festival like this, which surprises even its creator herself – Jacqueline Wagenstein. Because, as she says, “this is actually the most ancient connection between two arts”. In his words, 10 years ago “Cinelibri appeared on the international art scene to give the audience an intellectual look, guided by professionals, at the closeness between the two arts” – cinema and literature. “And the festival gives them a chance to look at each other in order to clarify how they influence each other not only in the creative process, but also in their cultural destiny, and how, with their mutual support, they escape unscathed from the frequent premonitions of the end of everything – of great stories, of the author, of art, of reading, of cinema…”, he adds.
In an interview for LIK magazine, Jacqueline Wagenstein says: “Cinelibri is already an established and unavoidable festival on the Bulgarian scene, which is gradually becoming a factor on a global scale. The goal of what we have achieved over the years is for people to trust us and know that we select the best from the world film market in the respective genre for them. We are tied to books, but we are not limited by genre,” she adds to BTA. In an interview for the special edition of BTA, Wagenstein talks about the development of the festival over the years, the criteria for selecting guests and a different motto each year. She shares how important the team is and how, thanks to good partnerships in the country, the festival also has editions outside the capital.
“Not only literature and not only cinema, but Cinelibri” is the title of the article by film critic and historian Petya Alexandrova. She examines the prerequisites for the emergence of the festival and its “essence and successes over the 10 years of existence.” “The first and main achievement is precisely the focus of the festival – the connection between literature and cinema,” writes Petya Alexandrova. “For 10 years now, Cinelibri has been delighting us every autumn with a harvest of fresh films that bridge the gap to literature and we can move freely in both directions on this bridge,” she further points out.
The pages of BTA feature a thematic chronology that presents highlights from the publications about Cinelibri stored in the Agency’s archive. The news items that have appeared in the broadcasts for all editions of the forum to date include information about the periods of holding, the choice of theme, guests and selected titles, as well as words and shared emotions from the organizers and celebrities attending the festival.
The tenth anniversary edition of Cinelibri is also covered by Bulgarian News Agency. In addition to information about its holding and program, it is also presented with interviews with some of its guests – American actress Ann Cusack, New Zealand-Belgian writer Christine Leunens, Dutch director Misja Pekel, Italian film director, screenwriter and actor Daniele Lucchetti, Bulgarian artist, director and Oscar-nominated animator Theodore Ushev. And the survey “We Give the Jury the Word” includes the answers of Ignacio Serricchio, Daniel Kehlmann, Bozhidar Manov, Nayo Titsin and Rene Karabash.
“Literature, Art and Culture”, abbreviated to LIK (ЛИК as a word on its own also means “image, portrait) is a monthly magazine covering its eponymous topics, published by the Bulgarian News Agency. The magazine was formerly published on a weekly basis. Its headquarters is in Sofia.