In Bulgarian, the term 'Zift' can refer to any one of several things; it's a tough, chewy, gum like substance; an asphalt; or a blanket piece of slang simply meaning 'shit.' Sandwiched in between Romania, Greece, and Turkey at the ass end of Europe, Bulgaria is one of the forgotten, less fashionable Eastern Bloc nations that suffered under Communist rule for the better part of a half century. Eager to impart the odd sensation of numbing that set in as his country and it's culture slowly suffocated, veteran theater helmer Javor Gardev's hyper-stylized noir opens with a monologue from our hero, Moth (Baharov), recounting one unfortunate fellow's run-in with the vengeful husband of his mistress emptying the contents of an entire sewage truck into his apartment. Ironically, the sight of four tons of feces sloshing around in his pad didn't even make the man queasy. "When there is that much shit,...
- 7/22/2010
- by Neil Pedley
- JustPressPlay.net
Zift
Bulgaria, 2008, 91 minutes
Director: Javor Gardev
Take a classic genre, one traditionally linked to American pulp novels, like film noir. It's a genre that's often closely associated to its 30's-to-50's period, given the hard-edged characters that permeate through them, but what if you transplant it into another country, in the same period? While it needs the familiar symptoms to be diagnosed as noir, and Zift indeed keeps those symptoms, the side effects clearly differ. Most importantly, perhaps, the political landscape.
I'll admit that my knowledge of Bulgaria isn't up to snuff, but indeed the film piqued my interest, which led me to do some light reading on Bulgarian history—I love that about film.
Our hero Moth (Zachari Baharov) was imprisoned on false murder charges during an attempted robbery right before the big Bulgarian coup d'etat in 1944. After being a model Communist in prison, he is released early to...
Bulgaria, 2008, 91 minutes
Director: Javor Gardev
Take a classic genre, one traditionally linked to American pulp novels, like film noir. It's a genre that's often closely associated to its 30's-to-50's period, given the hard-edged characters that permeate through them, but what if you transplant it into another country, in the same period? While it needs the familiar symptoms to be diagnosed as noir, and Zift indeed keeps those symptoms, the side effects clearly differ. Most importantly, perhaps, the political landscape.
I'll admit that my knowledge of Bulgaria isn't up to snuff, but indeed the film piqued my interest, which led me to do some light reading on Bulgarian history—I love that about film.
Our hero Moth (Zachari Baharov) was imprisoned on false murder charges during an attempted robbery right before the big Bulgarian coup d'etat in 1944. After being a model Communist in prison, he is released early to...
- 4/25/2009
- by Arya Ponto
- JustPressPlay.net
SXSW is one of my favorite festivals of the year as it showcases some of the best and most innovative real independent films, and with this host of world premiers, it's also playing alot of Sundance material as well as genre fare from all over the world, many of which we've covered heavily in these pages.
From the Sundance lineup, we have films like Moon, The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, You Won't Miss Me, Grace, and Humpday, among others.
For the world genre material we've covered, there's Lake Mungo, The Square, Zift, and Awaydays.
I think you get the point that lots of great looking film will be playing. I'll leave a bit of the exploration to you..
Lineup after the break.
Narrative Features Competition
Artois the Goat
Director: Kyle Bogart. Writer: Cliff and Kyle Bogart
Lab technician Virgil Gurdies embarks on an epic quest to craft the greatest...
From the Sundance lineup, we have films like Moon, The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, You Won't Miss Me, Grace, and Humpday, among others.
For the world genre material we've covered, there's Lake Mungo, The Square, Zift, and Awaydays.
I think you get the point that lots of great looking film will be playing. I'll leave a bit of the exploration to you..
Lineup after the break.
Narrative Features Competition
Artois the Goat
Director: Kyle Bogart. Writer: Cliff and Kyle Bogart
Lab technician Virgil Gurdies embarks on an epic quest to craft the greatest...
- 2/2/2009
- QuietEarth.us
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