MOSQUITO PROBLEM, THE
The epic story of a village turned concentration camp, turned a city, turned nuclear power plant and it’s population, swamped between regimes, fried fish, ideologies, mass murder, pop-folk music, guilt, redemption, hope and mosquitoes…
A small town and its hopeful citizens are about to embark on a bright new journey. Massive rusty cranes, foreign investors, and the joyful chants of cheerleaders carry the dream of a great nuclear future. Disturbed only by gigantic stinging mosquitoes, the townsfolk celebrate the atomic hurray by engraving the nuclear power plant logo on buildings and soup bowls. Amidst the apparent atomic prosperity, lies a past that no one wants to remember. An island holding terrifying secrets. Stories of shocking and horrible crimes loom on the city just like the dark clouds of mosquitoes descending on its citizens. A world instantly transformed by ideologies, regimes and dreams of economic prosperity.
The tales of characters whose lives intersect in a sinister past, nuclear future and the stinging mosquitoes flying through time, sealing their fate together.
The collaboration which gave rise to this film began when Lilia Topouzova, historian, researching the Bulgarian camp system met with filmmaker Andrey Paounov.
- Release year:
- May 2007
- Director:
- Andrey Paounov
- Co production:
- Channel 4, ZDF /ARTE, HOS, YLE, Sundance Channel, NFC Bulgaria, MEDIA & ITVS
- Running length:
- 52 / 100 minutes
- Production company:
- AGITPROP
- Prizes:
- World premiere:
International Critics’ Week of the Cannes Film Festival 2007
Awards: The Times BFI London Film Festival Grierson Award for best feature-length documentary
Special Mention for a full-length documentary - Karlovy Vary IFF
Human Rights Award for best regional documentary - Sarajevo FF
Grand Prix - Docufest, International Documentary and Short FF, Prizren, Kosovo
Special Mention - BRITDOC, Oxford
A-to-A Award for best regional documentary - Motovun FF, Croatia
Award of the Bulgarian National Film Center for best producer to Martichka Bozhilova - Golden Rython Festival of Bulgarian non-feature film, Plovdiv
Golden Rython for best cinematography to Boris Missirkov and Georgi Bogdanov
Golden Rython Festival of Bulgarian non-feature film, Plovdiv
Official selections: Toronto IFF Pusan IFF London IFF
From the team behind the IDFA Silver Wolf award-winner Georgi and the Butterflies
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