“Chapa Meets Fellini” to feature at international film festival in Rome

Bulgaria has a special place in the programme of the sixth Coliseum International Film Festival (COLIFFE) in Rome. On October 6, 2026, at 9 pm, Bulgarian culture will be showcased through cinema, folklore and discussion at Rome’s Teatro Marconi.

The highlight of the evening will be a screening of “Chapa Meets Fellini”, a documentary by journalist and director Georgi Toshev exploring the friendship and creative relationship between renowned Bulgarian sculptor Georgi Chapkanov, known as Chapa, and legendary Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. Their story is an unusual encounter between Bulgaria and Italy, between sculpture and cinema, and between two different creative worlds that crossed paths in Rome.

“Chapa Meets Fellini” tells the story of the friendship between Chapkanov and Fellini, who met in the early 1990s on Via Margutta, a street known for its artistic community. It was there that Chapkanov persuaded Fellini to make a bas-relief for him.

Immediately after the screening at Teatro Marconi, Georgi Toshev will take part in a public discussion with well-known Italian journalist Massimiliano Spinella. The conversation will give the audience an opportunity to learn more about the making of the film, the relationship between Chapkanov and Fellini, and the place of their story in the broader European cultural context.

A special guest of the evening will be actress Yana Yakovleva, deputy director and artistic director of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Italy.

The programme will also feature a performance by a Bulgarian folk ensemble, adding one of the most recognisable elements of the country’s living cultural tradition to the evening’s presentation.

Editor: Miglena Ivanova