Tenth-graders from the Computer Science High School in Stara Zagora took on the roles of the characters from “Under the Yoke“ – Rada Gospozhina, Boycho Ognyanov, Chorbadzhi Marko and the other characters from Ivan Vazov's immortal novel. The students filmed their own film based on the work, Nova TV reports.
The idea for the film came from Ralitsa Koeva and Vasilena Nikolaeva, who are also screenwriters. “While I was resting on the beach, I read the entire novel – about 500 pages. Then Vasilena and I decided to make a screenplay. We wrote it in one week“, says Ralitsa.
The photos were taken in Zheravna, and the cast includes students from the class. “In three days we managed to film everything and in my opinion the result is excellent“, said Zhivko Arbalov, who plays Dr. Sokolov.
“We wanted to present the novel to our peers in a way that would be interesting and understandable to them“, adds Vasilena. For all participants, the project was a real experience – with emotions, work and even tears. “There was love, revolution, slaps, tears – many emotions that we experienced during the filming“, shares Ralitsa, who played Rada Gospozhina.
Kristian Genchev, in the role of Boycho Ognyanov, admitted that the relationship between the characters was particularly exciting, since his on-screen partner is also his girlfriend in real life.
The students share that initially found Ivan Vazov a difficult author, but after they got into the roles, they realized the depth of the work. "At first it was boring, but then it started to get more and more interesting," said Ralitsa. "The words are complicated, the adaptation was difficult, but then everything worked out," adds Vasilena.
“Our generation has a hard time understanding the novel, but when you realize it, it amazes you with its depth“, commented Stefan Georgiev, in the role of Kiryak Stefchov.
The teacher of Bulgarian language and literature Hristo Stoev is categorical: “These young people show Bulgaria that patriotism is still alive and they are not afraid to express it.“
Thus, all participants send their message: “Love Bulgaria and the Bulgarian one!“