Film about the history of BNR Folk Orchestra will be shown in Vienna and Berlin

The documentary film “Folk Music Is My Life”, which traces the 74-year history of the Folk Music Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), will be presented on February 26 in Vienna and on March 2 in Berlin.

“This is one of the best orchestras in Europe!” says Radka Stamenova, the film’s director, quoting world-renowned Bulgarian musicians whose words are captured in the footage that was screened before an audience in Sofia for the first time on February 18.

Film about BNR Folk Music Orchestra will be shown in Sofia, Vienna, and Berlin

The film features performances by generations of professionals and follows the orchestra’s history, which began back in 1952 with the establishment of the Folk Songs Ensemble at the Bulgarian Radio. The ensemble included a choir that later gained worldwide fame under the name “The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices,” as well as an orchestra formed around the Ugarchin Group led by Tsvyatko Blagoev - the musician whose performance was the first ever broadcast live on air in 1935, the year that marks the beginning of BNR’s history.

The documentary uses archival recordings preserved in BNR’s Golden Fund and the multimedia platform BINAR, as well as numerous preserved video materials from the archives of the Bulgarian National Television. “No one made a sound during the entire screening. There were tears in people’s eyes, and they even asked us where we had found all this footage. The truth is that we made every effort to discover in the archives the materials that most accurately reflect the life of the orchestra,” Radka Stamenova shared about the Sofia premiere, adding:

“We decided to hold the screenings in Vienna and Berlin now in order to mark Bulgaria’s National Day - March 3. I am grateful that Borislav Petranov, director of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Berlin, included us in the program. Unfortunately, the program of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Vienna was already full, so together with the Bulgarian-Austrian School ‘Prof. Ivan Shishmanov’ we arranged a hall. The children will take part with folk dances, and director Salzitsa Groman provided us with contacts, so we sent invitations to the embassy, the cultural institute, associations, and so on. Journalists from Bulgaria also helped us, as they have colleagues in Vienna and Berlin whom they invited to the event.”

The organizers’ goal is for the film to tour other Bulgarian communities in Europe, after which it will travel beyond the continent and be presented to Bulgarians overseas, says Radka Stamenova. Speaking about the upcoming premieres for Bulgarians and foreigners abroad, she adds:

“I believe what will impress both Bulgarians and foreigners are the people and the musical performances. The ensemble and the dancers from that time cannot fail to make an impression! I remember when my father, Tsvyatko Blagoev, traveled with the Youth Ensemble ‘Vladimir Mayakovsky,’ he often said: ‘Everyone stands up when the Bulgarian songs and dances begin.’ I myself remember that the doors were always left open because the hall could not hold all the people and they would stand in the corridors. In the film you will see how effortlessly Mita Stoycheva, Gyurga Pindzhurova, and Atanaska Todorova sing, as well as how Kostadin Varimezov, Tsvyatko Blagoev, Stoyan Velichkov, and my father play. You cannot help but be impressed! And foreigners, especially in America and Canada, join dance groups and learn Bulgarian folk songs. It is a fact that Vanya Moneva’s choir was invited to the Olympics in Japan to perform their anthem. What more can I say?!”

Radka Stamenova also shares her idea to organize a Youth Folk Festival in Sofia with the participation of singers, instrumentalists, and dancers from local schools and Bulgarian schools abroad, counting on the support of Radio Bulgaria:

“We must all work to promote Bulgarian folk music, songs, dances, culture, and traditions. This means that the Ministry of Education and Science and the leadership of the BNR should ensure there are more programs dedicated to folklore, so that we can promote Bulgarian music and its people, because they are wonderful! Wherever Bulgarians have appeared with folk dances, songs, and musical performances, they have always caused a sensation! That is why we want to promote the orchestra, because today it consists of virtuoso instrumentalists, and even those interviewed in the film say that there is no other like it and that it may be the best in Europe - perhaps even in the world!”

Read also:

“The Rhythm of the Balkans” – a project by the BNR’s Folk Music Orchestra offering a unique blend of traditions

BNR Folk Orchestra Opens 73rd Season with Georgi Dobrev’s “Plovdiv Melodies”

English version: R. Petkova