By Lili Gospodinova,

One of Bulgaria’s most gifted comedy actors Georgi Kaloyanchev made an appearance in front of a crowd of film lovers in Varna. Photo by log.bg

The ‘Love is Folly’ International Film Festival, held every year in Varna, runs this year from August 28 to September 3.

The Festival was officially opened by Culture Minister, Vezhdi Rashidov, in the Black Sea city at 19:00.

Tatyana Lolova, Georgi Kaloyanchev and Nikola Anastasov made appearances in front of a crowd of film fans. 50 films from 20 countries from three continents will be shown, all of which have themes relating to love, passion and the folly that these emotions engender.

The russian movie, ‘Admiral’ by Andrey Kravchuk had the honour of opening the festival. There is no doubt for the interest that the two movies with bulgarian participation provoked. They are ‘Prima Primavera’ starring Vesela Kazakova and Djoko Rosich and ‘St. George Shoots the Dragon’ with Stefan Danailov in one of the main roles.

Saturday will be the first time that the Festival has focused on Indian Films. One of the highlights of the Festival will be the showing of ‘East Meets Barry West’, an English-Bulgarian joint production, starring rapper Misho Shamara.

There will be two panoramas, dedicated to the Bulgarian movie heritage. One of them is in memorial of the great Bulgarian actor Petar Slabakov and the other is dedicated to the work of the script writer Georgi Mishev.

Main accent in ‘Love is folly’ will be the newest german cinema. The Bavarian program includes six movies. Among them you can see the winner of the Silver bear prize of this year’s Berlinale - ‘All the other’, directed by Maren Ade. Another accent in the program is the panorama of the movies with the russian actor Oleg Yankovski. You will be able to remind masterpieces like ‘Tsareubiytsa’, ‘Flying Asleep and Awake’, ‘My Tender’ and ‘Affectionate Beast’.

Among the guests of the festival will be the Georgian director Nana Dzhordzhadze and the American director Celik Kayalar. Their movies - ‘The Rainbowmaker’ and ‘Moonlight sonata’ are also included in the program.