Rhetoric of Belonging and Transnational Appropriation in the Development and Marketing of the Bulgarian Popular Feature Love.net

This article focuses on issues of representation and belonging, in an attempt to uncover how popular cinema in Bulgaria caters to national sensitivities while at the same time making the link with the global film industries. The Bulgarian popular feature Love.net (Ilian Djevelekov, 2011) is an example of the shift towards treating filmmaking in Bulgaria as a business as much as a cultural venture. It emerged as part of broader European trends, which put an emphasis on film development, marketing and stars, with the aim to counter Hollywood’s dominant market position. Love.net focuses on the role of the Internet as facilitating love, relations and communication in the contemporary world. On a textual level, and similarly to Love Actually (Richard Curtis, 2003), it explores the six degrees of separation theory, implicitly advocating for a world of interconnectedness. Contextually, Love.net created a sense of virtual belonging among the local online community, allowing them to participate in the film’s development and engage with its interactive marketing. Transnational stars provided a further point of contact and involvement. Through its mixed cast featuring home-grown and locally popular foreign actors, Love.net both channelled and challenged Hollywood, positioning European cinema as similar in glamour and attraction but different in identity.

Masque(s) et cinéma européen

Mask(s) and European Cinema The aim of this study is to question the links between Mask, Cinema and Europe. The five films selected are Three Colours: Blue from Kieślowski, Crazy Pierrot from Godard, Strada from Fellini, Death in Venice from Visconti, Wings of Desire from Wenders. These movies exhibit a particular type of mask: the mask without mask. Mask obtained by light or make-up, it seems to express the character’s aspiration for an elsewhere.

Contemporary Ukrainian cinema into the European context (2014-2019)

The relevance of the study is conditioned by the fact that the development of Ukrainian art, including cinema, is becoming more popular every year. Since 2014, the Ukrainian film industry has been rapidly developing, and has also shown good results at European and other international film festivals. The purpose of the study is to analyse the position of Ukrainian cinema in the recent historical period, as well as to analyse the preconditions that were created for its development and introduction to the European cinema market. The methodological basis of this study is the combination of theoretical methods of cognition. Methods of data analysis and synthesis, dialectical method, historical and periodisation method are used. In the course of writing this paper, the studies of Ukrainian and foreign researchers regarding the subject were studied and analysed. The establishment and current state of the film industry are investigated. The preconditions for the development of Ukrainian cinema as well as factors that influenced its entrance to the European market are considered. Studying the history of Ukrainian cinema and the process of its commercial distribution, will help to analyse the stages of its establishment, as well as explore opportunities for industry development.

Female Revolution behind the Camera

The paper addresses the issue of discrimination against women in the world of cinema. The author examines the successive stages of the struggle pursued by women of cinema for equality and fair treatment in an industry dominated and ruled by men. The discussion covers the most important campaigns and movements challenging gender discrimination, such as #MeToo in the U.S. or the European #nobodysdoll, as well as watershed events from the author’s point of view, including the Oscar for Kathryn Bigelow – the first woman in history to receive the award for best director, Harvey Weinstein’s conviction for sexual assault, and the leak of Sony’s confidential financial documents. The public disclosure of these facts triggered a process that should be referred to as gender equalisation in the film industry. The author also takes a look at the latest events in the industry, such as Agnieszka Holland’s election as president of the European Film Academy. In addition, the paper also comments on the aspect of feminine nouns in Polish and the attitude towards them on the part of the women they are supposed to describe. Information is provided on the U.S. and European cinema markets, as well as some diagnoses of problems appearing so far and suggested solutions.