Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov Probe Corruption and Pro-Russia Nostalgia in ‘Black Money for White Nights’
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- Grozeva and Valchanov return to Karlovy Vary Film Festival's competition with 'Black Money for White Nights,' their first competition entry since winning the Crystal Globe in 2019 with 'The Father,' which represented Bulgaria in the Oscar foreign-language race.
- 'Black Money for White Nights' is set in 2022 and follows Marina, a nurse, and Gosha, a railway agent in their late 60s, who spend years collecting small bribes to fund a vacation to Russia to see the fabled White Nights.
- The couple's plans collapse when their travel agent vanishes with their money and Russia invades Ukraine — leaving them with no trip and the realization that police, government, and even an underworld fixer 'can help,' because 'everything is lies.'
- Grozeva said the film examines people whose emotional loyalty to Russia distorts their moral compass — 'even when reality changed dramatically in 2022, these people kept protecting the story they've chosen to believe after the propaganda.'
- The film indicts six Bulgarian institutions — healthcare, public transportation, police, government, the church, and family — shot in real locations using documentary techniques by cinematographer Alexander Stanishev.
- Marina has an epiphany and refuses bribes, giving the film what Grozeva calls a 'tragic happy ending' — the post-credits continue dialogue so audiences carry the debate about the couple's future in their minds.
- 'Black Money for White Nights' is produced by Abraxas Film in co-production with Graal Films, Bulgarian National Television, Hellenic Broadcasting Corp. (ERT), and the Greek Film Center, with Cercamon handling international sales.
Why it matters: Grozeva and Valchanov's return to Karlovy Vary competition after their 2019 Crystal Globe win gives 'Black Money for White Nights' significant festival visibility, with Cercamon driving international sales. By indicting six Bulgarian institutions while centering the 2022 invasion as a turning point for characters still nostalgic for Russia, the film stakes out a pointed domestic argument aimed at a country the filmmakers say is 'happy that we are now part of Europe.'
