Director, producer, scriptwriter

Bulgarian director, producer and scriptwriter, born in 1966 in Sofia. Member of the Association of Film Producers – Bulgaria. Member of the Bulgarian Film Directors' Association. He graduated from the Medical Academy in Sofia (1993) and completed a degree in Film & TV directing at the New Bulgarian University (1998). Stephan Komandarev's works include documentary and feature films. He is a lecturer at the Film Department of the New Bulgarian University (since 2008).

Continuing education (Media programs):

2010 - Mediterranean Film Institute Script 2 Film Workshops - professional European training activity in the field of scriptwriting and project development - www.mfi.gr

2009 - 2010 ScripTeast - training program for experienced scriptwriters from Central and Eastern Europe - www.scripteast.pl

2008 - 2009 - Ex Oriente Film - international workshop dedicated to the development and funding of creative documentary films in Central and Eastern Europe . Organized by The Institute of Documentary Film (IDF). www.docuinter.net

Spoken languages: French, English - fluently.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY

2009. The Town of Badante Women - documentary, 70 min. Supported by Bulgarian National Film Center and YLE Finland. World Sales - Autlook Filmsales, Austria. Director and producer.

- Dokufest - Kosovo 2010
- Internazionale a Ferrara Festival - Italy 2010
- Bratislava IFF - Slovakia 2010

2008,The War, short, 5 min, fiction. The film has been produced within "15" - the first BG omnibus film. Director.

2008, The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner, (www.theworldisbig.com) 105 min, 35 mm, a full-length feature film. A Bulgaria-Germany-Hungary-Slovenia-Serbia co-production supported by Eurimages, MEDIA, SEECN, the Bulgarian National Film Centre, the Bulgarian National Television, MDM, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, the Hungarian Film Centre, and the Slovenian Film Board. Support from Media Distribution - 2009. Director and screenwriter.

• 2009 Academy Awards - Best Foreign Language Film - SHORTLISTED
• Sofia International Film Festival(Audience Award; Kodak Award for Best Bulgarian Feature Film)
• Annual Cinema Prize of the European Parlament (Nomination for Lux Cinema Prize)
• Moscow International Film Festival
• Karlovy Vary Film Festival
• Zurich Film Festival (Audience Award)
• Rotterdam Film Festival "Coolpolitics" (Opening Gala)
• Golden Rose Film Festival (Best Script Award; Best Cinematographer Award)
• Warsaw International Film Festival (Special Jury Award)
• Haifa International Film Festival
• Bergen International Film Festival ("Cinema Extraordinaire" Grand Prix)
• Mar del Plata Film festival
• Tallinn International Film Festival "Black Nights" (Special Mention of the Jury; Don Quixote award)
• Trieste International Film Festival (Closing Gala)
• Vilnius International Film Festival - (Best Film and Best actor awards)
• Almaty International Film Festival - (Best actor award)
• Taipei International Film Festival - (Audience award)
• International Film Summerfest Durres - (Best director award)
• Festroia International Film Festival - Setubal - (Best director award, Audience award, SIGNIS award)
• Minsk International Film Festival Listapad - (Gold of Listapad 2009 Grand Prize award)
• Saturno International Film Festival - (Best Film and Best actor awards)
• Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran -(Crystal Simorgh of Special Jury Prize)

2003, Alphabet of hope , Digital Betacam, 54 min, documentary. Director and producer.
• 14th Golden Rython Bulgarian Documentary Film Festival, 2003 - Golden Rython for Best Bulgarian Documentary Film; Best Producer Award;
• IDFA 2003 - Amsterdam - official selection, 2003;
• GoEast Festival of Central and Eastern European Film, Wiesbaden, Germany, 2004 - Best Documentary Film Award of the Hertie Foundation;
• Documenta Madrid , 2004 - competition;
• 19th Munich International Documentary Film Festival, 2004 - official selection;
• 47th International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, 2004 - official selection;
• 26e Festival International - Cinéma Méditerranéen, Montpellier , 2004 - competition.

2002, Bread Over the Fence", DVC-Pro, 56 min, documentary. Director and screenwriter.
• 45th International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Films, 2002 - Best East European Documentary Film Award;
• GoEast Festival of Central and Eastern European Film, Wiesbaden, Germany, 2003 - Best Documentary Film
Award of the Hertie Foundation and Special Mention of FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics.

2000, Dogs' Home, full-length feature film. Director.
• 51st Berlin Film Festival, International Forum of New Cinema, 2001;
• Golden Rose Film Festival (Best Debut Award)
• Montreal World Film Festival, 2001;
• 7th Sarajevo Film Festival, 2001;
• Festival International du Film de Quebec, 2001;
• Black Nights International Film Festival, 2001;
• Warsaw International Film Festival, 2001

2001 - 1998 - 35 editions of the "Monday 8 ½" Program - weekly documentary television program, devoted to the history of Bulgarian cinema. Director

1997 - The Balloon- short feature film (7 min, 35 mm) - Public Award at the International Film Schools Festival "Henri Langois", Poitiers, France (1997). Selected for the competitive program on the International Film Festival of the Mediterranean Cinema, Montpellier, France, (1997). Awarded for Best film at the Student Film Festival, Sofia (1997); Director

IN DEVELOPMENT:

The Judgment - feature film project. Co-production with Germany. Supported from the Bulgarian National Film Centre. Best Pitching Award - "Sofia meetings - Second Films Pitching" 2009. Developed in ScripTeast 2009 (www.scripteast.pl) and Mediterranean Film Institute Script 2 Film Workshops 2010 (www.mfi.gr)