"Censorship has returned in full force," director and screenwriter Veselin Dimanov wrote on November 2. The reason was the cancellation of the appearance of Kaloyan Nikolov, director of "Chronicles of the Inconvenient Truth," and Dimitar Ivanov, editor of the documentary, on the program "Kultura.bg" from one day to the next.
"Chronicles of the Inconvenient Truth" has been the highest-grossing Bulgarian film for more than three weeks. It tells the story of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and the reaction of the Bulgarian authorities.
Bulgarian National Television denies that the appearance was canceled. "It is not good to lie when writing Facebook posts," "Kultura.bg" host Dimitar Stoyanovich said on air on October 3. "There is no such thing. Next week we have a conversation scheduled on the subject of this most likely very good documentary. The fact that they appeared here on "100% Awake" several days before our appearance on "Kultura.BG" was the reason why they were postponed by a few days."
A search for sensation or concern about media freedom—which lies behind this scandal? DW contacted Kaloyan Nikolov, Veselin Dimanov and the team of "Kultura.bg".
"The conversation lasted 40 seconds"
"Kultura.BG" forwarded our questions to BNT's public relations team. They sent us a link to today's program and confirmed the position expressed by Dimitar Stoyanovich and Evgenia Atanasova.
A few days after appearing on "100% Awake" on October 14—with the program being broadcast on BNT 4 because parliamentary control was being shown on BNT—the team of "Chronicles of the Inconvenient Truth" received a call from the cultural program inviting them to appear, Kaloyan Nikolov recounts. Footage was then sent and further arrangements were made up until November 2—the day before the scheduled appearance. "They called us and said: "We were told from above that it is not possible because the subject has become worn out, since you were on another program." That was it. The conversation ended. It lasted 40 seconds," Nikolov claims.
"At the time I published my post, there had been no invitation," Veselin Dimanov also claims. He says that this was why he reacted sharply and wrote that he "expected BNT's management to clarify the situation."
Kaloyan Nikolov confirms the chronology. "A few hours after the post, they called us and said: "There has been a major misunderstanding. We can do a live appearance and make a program on the subject. Choose a day." The team behind "Chronicles of the Inconvenient Truth" discussed the matter and decided to accept after all. "I called later and said: We are swallowing our pride; we have no interest in arguing with television stations. You made a mistake, you apologized, thanks to public pressure. We agree to choose a date and conduct the interview."
It is not clear, however, whether there will be an interview. No specific date has been agreed, while the subject has triggered a storm of reactions on social media.
BNT and the broadcaster's controversial decisions
Like Nikolov, many users see risks related to the political situation. "The elections took place yesterday, and today the results are already affecting the "freedom" of our media," wrote editor Daniel Ivanov, who was also supposed to appear on the program. For now, such suspicions remain mere speculation, but it is a fact that a number of decisions by the public broadcaster's new management have drawn criticism in recent months.
These include the removal from the air of Georgi Angelov, host of "Istoria.bg," who was highly critical of Bulgaria's communist past, and the suspension of online news in Ukrainian. Social media users continue to recall an episode from 1995, when the late Milen Tsvetkov, the subject of Veselin Dimanov's previous film, left the public broadcaster, complaining of censorship. At the time, the director of "News and Current Affairs" at the broadcaster was the current president, Iliana Iotova.
BNT's press office told DW that the subject of Chernobyl has also been covered in previous programs on the broadcaster. "In May 2026, Bulgarian National Television broadcast the film "Reasons for Concern—The Archives of the Bulgarian Chernobyl." The film's screenwriter and director is Maya Dimitrova, the cinematographer is Dimitar Atanasov, the editor is Maria Miteva, and the executive producer is Maria Cherneva. The entire film is ", the broadcaster said. It also gave another example: "I am also sending you a link to the latest program in which the subject of Chernobyl was discussed on "Kultura.BG"—the presentation of the book "The Bulgarian Chernobyl. An Archaeology of Moral Wretchedness" in June 2026."
A film about disinformation, silence and responsibility
"Chronicles of the Inconvenient Truth" examines one of the most traumatic moments in the history of the People's Republic of Bulgaria—the Chernobyl disaster and the subsequent silence of the Bulgarian authorities. Maya Dimitrova's film and Prof. Dimitar Vatsov's book also address the same subject. "The fact that they lied to us after Chernobyl is widely known—almost every family in our country has a traumatic memory of this lie. But the second main cause of the radiation burden on Bulgarians—and of our lamentable first place—is not publicly known," Prof. Dimitar Vatsov, author of the book "The Bulgarian Chernobyl. An Archaeology of Moral Wretchedness," explained in an interview with DW in April. "It is that one year after the disaster, Bulgarians were exposed to another huge amount of radiation through food," the university lecturer said. A year later, despite warnings from radiologists and knowingly, the authorities released radioactive feed. "Without batting an eyelid, they poisoned the population," Prof. Vatsov stressed.
Many of the traumas from the events of that time do not appear to have healed even today, as is also evident from the widespread distrust of the authorities, the courts and the media. "People across Bulgaria have largely lost the desire to speak and share as a result of all the repression of communism, the years of the thugs and the politicians' lies in so many areas," Dimanov commented. According to him, Kaloyan Nikolov's film breaks this stigma.
"The film is about disinformation and truth. The subject of the film does not allow us to hide the truth now either," director Kaloyan Nikolov sums up. What the truth is about Nikolov and Ivanov's interview, and how "inconvenient" it is, is difficult to confirm. But the strong public reaction and interest clearly show that the trauma and the "Chernobyl" complex are still very much alive today.
Source: www.dw.com