''The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories'' is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n documentary feature film directed by Andrey Paounov and written by professor Lilia Topouzova. It was included in the 46th

International Critics' Week The International Critics' Week (french: Semaine de la Critique) was founded in 1962 and is organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. It was created following the showing of '' The Connection'' directed by Shirley Clarke which had been ...

of the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in 2007.

Plot

The city of

Belene Belene ( bg, Белене ) is a town in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Belene Municipality. The town is situated on the right bank of the Danube river, close to the town of Svishtov. Ge ...

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 The Belene Nuclear Power Plant ( bg, Атомна електроцентрала „Белене“) is a planned nuclear power plant 3 km from Belene and 11 km from Svishtov in Pleven Province, northern Bulgaria, near the Danube River. ...

. 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 The Belene labour camp, also referred to as Belene concentration camp, was part of the network of forced labour camps in Communist Bulgaria. It was located on the Belene Island, between two branches of the Danube river. At the height of Valko Cher ...

. 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

of the

in 2007, and was screened at international film festivals including

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become ...

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festi ...

, and

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and sho ...

. It was released in Bulgarian cinemas in 2008.

Awards

*The Times BFI

Grierson Award *First Prize of the Jury Festival Internacional de Documentales de Madrid * Human Rights Award

Sarajevo Film Festival The Sarajevo Film Festival is the premier and largest film festival in Southeast Europe, and is one of the largest film festivals in Europe. It was founded in Sarajevo in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War, and brings internation ...

*Special Jury Mention

Karlovy Vary Award Winners 2007 The 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival from June 29th to July 7th 2007. The Crystal Globe was won by '' Jar City'', an Icelandic police detective film directed by Baltasar Kormákur. The second prize, the Special Jury Prize was won by ...

*Grand Prize Sunny Side of the Doc 2008 Award, by Panavision *Best film OFF Docúpolis section at Festival Documental Internacional de Barcelona *Grand Prix - Docufest, International Documentary and Short FF, Prizren, Kosovo *The Best Documentary Award at MEDIAWAVE *Best Documentary at the 15th L'Alternativa - Barcelona Independent Film Festival *Best full-length non-feature film – Shaken’s Stars IFF 2008, Almaty, Kazakhstan *A-to-A Award for best regional film - Motovun FF, Croatia *Honorary Mention at the 8th goEast Festival of Central and Eastern European Film *Special Mention -

BRITDOC Doc Society (formerly Channel 4 BRITDOC Foundation and BRITDOC Foundation) is a social entrepreneurship organisation created in 2005. They have supported the production of over 60 films that have won awards . Development Initially supported by UK b ...

Festival, Oxford *Zolotoy Vityaz (The Golden Knight Award) Moscow *Nominated for the Adolf Grimme Award

References

Weissberg, Jay (''Variety'' 19, 2007)Southern,Nathan ( All Movie Guide)Wollaston, Sam (''The Guardian'', Wednesday 14 November 2007)Ambrose, Dominic (wordpress)46e SEMAINE DE LA CRITIQUEDC NEWS

External links

* *
Documenta Madrid
*

, http://www.kviff.com/en/history-years/2007/
ITVS International
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosquito Problem and Other Stories Bulgarian documentary films Films shot in Bulgaria 2007 films Films directed by Andrey Paounov Belene 2007 documentary films