LOGLINE
A man of habit confronts a world in transition in his own kitchen.

SYNOPSIS
Manol -- a retired general, a loving grandfather -- is a patriarch of firm morals and fixed beliefs, which he has upheld in his household. But on this day he learns that the boy he raised is gay. The life choices of his loved ones challenge his values in a battle he has lost by default.

Direction: Pavel Vesnakov

Script: Pavel Vesnakov, Vanya Rainova

Production: Vanya Rainova, Vanya Rainova

Cinematography: Orlin Ruevski

Editing: Karen Tonne

Production Design: Nikolai Zlatanov

Sound: Veselin Zografov

Original Title: PRIDE

Original Language: Bulgarian

Subtitles: English

Film Production Countries: Bulgaria, Germany

Website: www.facebook.com/pridethemovie

Social Media: http://pavelgvesnakovabout.tumblr.com/

Statement of the Director/s
When I was 5, my parents lost their jobs. Bulgaria was in the early throws of transition to democracy and market economy, and many people of my parentsʼ generation faced a choice: they could either immigrate and brave the unknown or stay and cope with the countless compromises theyʼd have to make. My parents left.

Therefore, I spent the next several years living with my grandparents. Looking back, I realize that my grandfather was the greatest influence in my formative years, teaching me not only to read, write, add and subtract, but also laying the foundation of my morality. Thanks to him I never felt my parentsʼ absence. And yet, he and I are products of different eras and today I often find my values at odds with his. Despite our great relationship and his guiding presence in my youth, there is a chasm we canʼt bridge. This conflict is at the heart of the film Iʼd like to make.

Pride will show how the fond relationship between a boy on his way to manhood and his grandfather is threatened by their difference in values. The grandfather -
- a patriarch whose sense of responsibility for the boy translates into his need to make him fit into his inflexible idea of a “real man” -- canʼt deal with the news that the boy is gay. He is devastated, angry, ashamed, and determined to fix the problem before the boyʼs parents (who work abroad) visit. But the more he tries to force reality into his idea of a perfect world, the more obvious becomes that this is an impossible cause.

My goal is to help the viewer understand and feel empathy for both characters. Iʼll shy away from the moral definitive and will focus on the humanity of it all, capturing the nuance in this conflict of values.

I trust the story will touch viewers of all ages and walks of life. I hope for a poetic cinematic document that will show the difficulty of cross-generation communication in out post-communist society.

The visual style of the film is inspired by The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, Wendy and Lucy, Ballast, Fish Tank and Eastern Plays. Iʼll tell the story in a contemporary way, relying on the artistic devices of neo-realism and minimalism. I intend to use longer, slower shots with the camera revealing the action without ever interfering with it. The viewer will be
treated to a raw and honest visual narrative. The lack of music will additionally strengthen the sense of realism and candor. Everyone will be free to interpret the action without imposing conclusions.

Biography of the Director/s
Pavel G. Vesnakov is an award winning Bulgarian film director born in 1987. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Visual Arts and a Master's Degree in Film Arts from the New Bulgarian University. He is famous for his highly realistic and provocative ideas exploring the degradation of contemporary Bulgarian society.

He is the scriptwriter, director and editor of the short film trilogy INCHES OF SUBURBIA. The trilogy consists of three films TRAINS (2011), THE PARAFFIN PRINCE (2012) and PRIDE (2013). All of them have been shown on numerous international film festivals such as the Locarno International Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, Asiana Film Festival Korea, Molodist Film Festival Kiev, Leeds Short Film Festival, Sofia International Film Festival, Helsinki Film Festival and many others. The three films have won more than 10 awards and continue to travel within the festival circuit on an international scale.

His latest short film PRIDE has won the Grand Prix in the International Competition Category of the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. It was also recently nominated for Best Short Film at the 2014 edition of the European Academy Awards.

He has worked as a matte-painting artist, photographer, editor and director in companies like World Wide Effects, Nu Boyana, Bulgarian National Television and Miramar Film. He is additionally a Berlinale Talent Campus and Sarajevo Talent Campus alumnae. Vesnakov is currently working on his first feature film.

Awards Won
* Grand Prix, Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival
* European Grand Prix, Brive Film Festival
* Best European Short Fiction Film, Go Short International Short Film Festival Nijmegen
* Best Actor, Brussels Short Film Festival
* Best Short Film, Bulgarian Film Academy Awards 2014

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