"10.11. Fest" offers a platform for an open conversation about Bulgaria's past

November 10 will mark 37 years since the historic events that ended 45 years of totalitarian rule in Bulgaria and set the country on the path to democratic change.

Memories of the socialist era in Bulgaria differ from person to person. For some, it was a time of repression. Others remember security, predictability or simply their own youth. Sometimes these memories coexist within the same family, or even within the same person. How can we listen to these experiences without distorting the historical facts about the regime? How can we talk about repression and the lack of freedom to people who say, "Still, not everything was bad"? These are among the questions explored by the second edition of the "10.11. Fest", which invites the public to engage in an open discussion about the past through November 15 in Sofia, Burgas, Ruse and Dimitrovgrad.

The festival officially opened on November 6 at the Goethe-Institut in Sofia with a screening of the documentary "Chronicles of an Inconvenient Truth". The film explores the Bulgarian authorities' response to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the information blackout that left people unaware of the radioactive contamination and the risks to their health.

A discussion will follow on November 8, also at the Goethe-Institut, focusing on the question: "Why does the conversation about communism so often begin with 'not everything was bad', and how should we explain this period to young people who have no personal memories of it but often grow up surrounded by the nostalgia of their teachers and relatives?"

"We will discuss how family stories intersect with historical facts and how the past is used in today's political debates. Is it possible to create a museum of communism that encourages dialogue rather than deepening divisions - a place that approaches personal experiences with understanding while presenting clear, factual accounts of the regime, its repressions and freedoms denied?", say the organisers, the Sofia Platform Foundation and New Bulgarian University.

Edited by Elena Karkalanova

Translated by Kostadin Atanasov