''Glory'' ( bg, Слава, translit. ''Slava'') is a 2016 Bulgarian
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
written and directed by
Kristina Grozeva
Kristina Yordanova Grozeva ( bg, Кристина Йорданова Грозева; born January 26, 1976) is a Bulgarian filmmaker. She is best known for her cinematography on feature films such as '' The Lesson'' (2014), '' Glory'' (2016) and ...
and
Petar Valchanov
Petar Valchanov ( bg, Петър Вълчанов; born May 15, 1982) is a Bulgarian filmmaker. He is best known for his cinematography on feature films such as ''The Lesson'' (2014), '' Glory'' (2016) and '' The Father'' (2019).
Biography
Valcha ...
.
The second film in the directors' "newspaper-clippings trilogy", the film is a social-realist parable exploring the themes of corruption, class differences, and the rural-urban divide, in contemporary Bulgarian society.
[ It was selected as the Bulgarian entry for the ]Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
at the 90th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
Plot
Railway trackman
The TrackMan is a radar system that uses Doppler technology to track and record 3D characteristics of a sports ball in motion.
History
TrackMan was created in 2003 by golfers Klaus (CEO) and Morten Eldrup-Jørgensen and radar engineer Fredri ...
Tsanko Petrov discovers a large amount of money in bundles on the tracks, but instead of taking the cash for himself he notifies the authorities. The sophisticated head of PR at Bulgaria's Ministry of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...
, Julia Staykova, takes the opportunity to deflect a brewing corruption scandal by holding a ceremony to hail Tsanko as a working-class hero. Unkempt and dishevelled with a debilitating stutter, Tsanko is ridiculed by Julia's PR team while they parade him for the press as a hero. In order for the Minister to present Tsanko with a new digital watch, Julia removes Tsanko's own Slava-brand watch, an heirloom passed down from his father. However, she then loses it, ignores him when he tries to contact her, and finally replaces the watch with a fake.
In anger, Tsanko goes to the press and exposes the corruption and theft that is endemic in the transportation ministry, and the Minister's complicity in the crime.
In an attempt to save the ministry, Julia arranges for Tsanko to be framed for a crime he did not commit. He is then coerced into retracting his earlier accusations, in exchange for release from prison. On his way home, he is accosted by his co-workers, who are angry with him for exposing their crime ring. It is also implied that Tsanko's beloved rabbits had died from neglect, due to his long absence while in prison.
The following day, Julia reads in the newspaper that a trackman had committed suicide. Racked with guilt for her role in causing the death of a good man, she gets drunk and searches her office desperately for the missing watch. The following morning, she both finds the watch, and receives word that the dead trackman is actually not Tsanko. Feeling relieved, she drives to his home to return the watch personally. Whereupon she finds a severely injured Tsanko, furious with her for having triggered the entire chain of events. The movie ends with a glimpse of Tsanko grabbing his wrench and Julia screaming, while her oblivious husband sits in their car nearby listening to music.
Cast
* as Tsanko Petrov
* Margita Gosheva as Julia Staykova
* as Valeri
* Milko Lazarov as Kiril Kolev
* Georgi Stamenov as Doctor
* Ivan Savov as Minister Kanchev
* Mira Iskarova as Galya
* Hristofor Nedkov as Porter
Development
An event reported in the Bulgarian press inspired the film. One of the film's directors (Petar Valchanov) stated in an interview:
In another interview, the directors elaborated that in constructing the screenplay of the film, they take the superficial parts of real-life stories reported in the news media. A separate real-life event that the directors incorporated into ''Glory'' was an incident where an architect is forced to apologize.
Production
The film, originally known as ''The Pledge'', was scheduled to film in July–August 2015, in Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
and surrounding villages. The budget was reported as €260,000, including a €190,000 grant from the Bulgarian National Film Center
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
.
Release
Relying on the strength of the directors' previous film, Italy's I Wonder Pictures bought the film in February 2016, while ''Glory'' was in post-production, Distribution rights for the film were later sold to Filmarti (Turkey), Arti Film (Benelux), La Aventura Audiovisual (Spain), JSC Europos Kinas (Lithuania), Bounty Films (Australia and New Zealand), and Film Movement
Film Movement is a North American distributor of independent and foreign films, which is based in New York City, founded in 2003.
History
Film Movement was founded in 2003, and has released more than 250 feature films and shorts. Having grown fr ...
(United States and English-speaking Canada).
The film had its world premiere at the 2016 Locarno International Film Festival
The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...
(in Switzerland).
Reception
The film holds a score of 84 out of 100 on Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
indicating "universal acclaim".
Accolades
At the 2016 Locarno International Film Festival
The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...
, ''Glory'' received a special mention from the International Federation of Film Societies
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
(FICC/IFFS) jury.
At the in Zadar, Croatia
Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serve ...
, ''Glory'' won the Grand Prix (top prize) as well as the Best Actor award (Stefan Denolyubov).
At the Golden Rose Bulgarian Feature Film Festival The Golden Rose Bulgarian Feature Film Festival ( bg , Фестивалът на българския игрален филм „Златна роза“) is held in Varna in September or October. Also known as Golden Rose National Film Festival or ...
in September 2016, ''Glory'' won the Special Award of the City of Varna, the Best Screenwriter Award, the Best Cinematographer Award (to Krum Rodriguez
Krum ( bg, Крум, el, Κροῦμος/Kroumos), often referred to as Krum the Fearsome ( bg, Крум Страшни) was the Khan of Bulgaria from sometime between 796 and 803 until his death in 814. During his reign the Bulgarian territory ...
for his work on both ''Glory'' and '' Godless''), the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers Award, and the Accredited Journalists' Award.
The film won the top prize at the 2016 Hamptons International Film Festival, the HIFF Award for Best Narrative Feature Film, consisting of a film production-services package worth more than $125,000 along with a $3,000 cash prize.
At the 2016 KineNova film festival in Skopje
Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre.
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...
, ''Glory'' won the best film award.
At Film Fest Gent
Film Fest Ghent, spelt Film Fest Gent in Flemish and also known as International Film Fest Gent, is an annual international film festival in Ghent, Belgium. The festival held its first edition in 1974, under the name Internationaal Filmgebeuren ...
in October 2016, ''Glory'' was in official competition and received a special mention from the jury, which said it admired the film "for its humor and its political and moral honesty".
In the 15th edition of Tirana International Film Festival
The Tirana International Film Festival (TIFF) is one of the major annual events taking place in Tirana each year. It was the first international cinema festival in Albania. This cultural event was created in 2003 and is currently the most importan ...
, Glory won the Best Feature Film.
Best International Feature Film , Edinburgh International Film Festival 2017
See also
*Stuttering in popular culture
There are many references to stuttering (also called stammering) in popular culture. Because of the unusual-sounding speech that is produced, as well as the behaviors and attitudes that accompany a stutter, stuttering has been a subject of scienti ...
* ''The Lesson'' (2014 Bulgarian film)
* List of submissions to the 90th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
* List of Bulgarian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glory
2016 films
2010s political drama films
Greek drama films
Bulgarian drama films
2010s Bulgarian-language films
Films set in Bulgaria
Films shot in Bulgaria
Rail transport films
2016 drama films