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16.05.2020
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19.05.2020
We give you Rositsa Trayanova: Director
She is the seventh artist selected to be part of #GenerationArt
You are a student in Paris and you study Lettre Moderne-cinéma audiovisual (Contemporary Literature, Cinema and Audiovisual Arts). Tell us more when and how you fell in love with cinema?
Lettres Modernes is part of the department and although I have completed one year in the Contemporary Literature class, the cinema was calling. I fell in love with it as a child, but decided for it to be my way of life shortly before graduating from high school. I found script-writing first and then directing. Writing is always the beginning. Or, as one of my former teachers used to say, "There are bad movies with good scripts, but a good movie with a bad script can't exist."
You have a blog – how would you describe the amalgam of formats and genres through which you think you express yourself best?
Blog – I don't know why I decided to do that. I make some attempts to maintain it, but not very successfully. In general, I have always preferred literature on paper. To leaf through it, to carry it, to weigh it, to smell it. I have never supported this digitization of books. Books should have libraries, not folders. I'm really not a good blogger.
They say that my art is socially engaged and I tend to agree. I'm excited about human, personal stories that we often overlook. And they are one hand away from us, close enough to influence us and even closer to happen to us. Perhaps, since writing screenplays, prose has remained slightly behind, while poetry has remained a constant in my daily life. I started with my first poetic attempts as a child. I'm still learning. It's weird for me to call myself a poet.
I am still at the stage of short forms. Both in writing and in videography. And it's actually quite difficult to tell a story in just ten pages and so many minutes. And the stories are many. And each one deserves to be heard.
Why cinema in Europe and not in the United States or Canada?
I grew up with a European, independent cinema, to which, I admit, I am extremely biased. Of course, I was somewhat attracted to the idea of give it a try in America and / or Canada, but Xavier Dolan is one of my favorite directors, but time will tell. Anyway, my roots are in Europe, and my art is always influenced by them.
You are the author of several short films and documentaries. What is the unifying theme or themes that guide you through your art?
At the beginning of every idea there is a personal moment, a special feeling of a still shot, in which the concept most clearly says its word, not me, it. I always let the story take shape, be independent to some extent, I just rewrite it and give it shape. Whether it's a story about the Electra complex, a refugee selling flowers, a rebel rejected by his family, or a girl trapped in heroin, somewhere behind the whole story, the core of what is seen, heard and / or experienced is smoldering. I avoid specifying in one topic, I think that the world is vast and I will still find horizons to tell. However, humanity and the inner human world is at the heart of every one of my projects.
When is it dangerous to transfer one's personal life too literally to art, but is it also possible to have art without biographical elements?
I haven't tried to tell a personal story, probably strangers touch me differently, I'm not sure. However, I find it impossible to build an image without putting ourselves in its place, and this is a task I always set myself before I start writing a project. We need to know what the character is feeling, experiencing and thinking in order to breathe life into him, and he in turn – to convey the message we want. I remember that when I finished my teenage experience with the novel Chimera for Life, I missed the main character. Literally. Somehow, I lived in parallel with her and her end was like a wake up in the morning, checking the date, day, time and your loved ones, wondering if it really happened or it was just a dream. The line between the two is often thin. Purely emotionally.
What are you working on right now?
My latest project is about emotional abuse and the aftermath. In the hurry of everyday life, in the rhythm of life, in the problems we see more clearly than anything else, carried away in a kind of delirium, our time slips like sand between our fingers. We turn around and years have passed, the woman next to us has forgotten what it is like to give her a flower from her grandmother's garden for no reason, your parents don't remember the last time you had dinner together, you don't remember when you last played with your child. I think that with the development of digital communication on social networks and our closure in online existence, we forget the weight of words. And they can be outrageously heavy stones, often thrown at our loved ones.
What are your creative ambitions and dreams?
My dream is to find my place where I can create without the constant loop of fear of whether I will be able to find a way to realize a project. Each of the listed films are made literally because of the goodwill of friends who believe in independent cinema and its meaning. And this is as motivating as it is tiring. Each award is a shared joy between the team, because we know how hard we have achieved it. Together. I am infinitely grateful to this handful of people, whose names are repeated in the captions of each project, for being by my side, giving their own energy, work, creativity and often insomnia, but I am infinitely sad when I have to ask them for help again without offering much in return because I have bumped into closed doors again. This is a painful topic.
You have shared how much efforts and dedication your projects have cost so far. What would you say to a young man who is hesitant to embark on something as magical and as exhausting as the thing called cinema?
Every artist makes an incredible effort in his work and there lies exactly this magic of art and its uniqueness. For me, the hard part as an independent director is finding a production that would support a short project that shuns commercial themes. The rest is pleasure. Anyone who has an affinity for cinema, whether they prefer "in front" or "behind" the camera, I would advise them to dive into its waters. Its vastness is still an unsolved mystery.
You can like her official Facebook page , or check out her blog or subscribe to her Vimeo Chanel.
Rositsa is the seventh participant in GenerationArt - space, opportunity and a stage to express yourself and to show your art. If you want to share your art as Iva did, GenerationArt is open for people from all over the country, without a deadline - contact us at with a short description of your genre and the message you want to convey through art; send us a couple of your best works. No matter which is your direction, what is your genre and form, we cannot wait for you to share your work with our audience!
Since November 2019 GenerationArt is part of the three-year project "Empowering young LGBTI people through access to services, motivation and focused policy change", implemented with financial support, provided by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Financial Mechanism. The main objective of the project is to support and empower young LGBTI people and the professionals supporting them.
The sole responsibility for the content of this section lies with the Single Step Foundation and under no circumstances can it be taken to reflect the official opinion of the EEA Financial Mechanism and the Operator of the Active Citizens Bulgaria Fund.
