2017 PS Film Festival
film synopsis
Writer/directors Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov (The Lesson, PSIFF 2015) are back with another blistering and complex moral tale from contemporary Bulgaria that uses the extraordinary performers from their debut film in strikingly different roles.
Tsanko, a lonely, stuttering railroad worker from a rural town is elevated to the status of poster boy after he selflessly turns in a tidy sum of money he finds spilled on the railway tracks over to the police (about US $85, or half a month’s salary to Tsanko). The Ministry of Transport awards him a new digital wristwatch, which is the last thing he wants or needs. Worse, Julia, the domineering and heedless PR at the Ministry, loses Tsanko’s old watch, a gift from his father. Frustrated, Tsanko goes to the press, and the reporter in question sees an opportunity to rake some muck. All Tsanko wants is to have his watch back.
“Sharply executed, superbly performed… A gripping dark comedy that turns unnervingly tragic in its final stages.” Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter.
Winner: Best Film, Hamptons