‘Blaga’s Lessons’ Review: A Victim Turns Venal In a Bitterly Potent Social Thriller From Bulgaria

Guy Lodge Film Critic As a female union rep in the oppressively male-dominated French nuclear industry, Maureen Kearney — the real-life heroine of Jean-Paul Salomé’s “The Sitting Duck” — is accustomed to keeping a cool head in a crisis. That doesn’t stop her male superiors from accusing her of the opposite, with then-President Nicolas Sarkozy allegedly branding her a “hysteric in a skirt”: In this men’s club, a woman’s mere presence is deemed her weakness. Yet when Kearney is raped and mutilated by unknown assailants, seemingly as a professional warning, it’s her lack of hysteria under the circumstances that is declared suspicious by men in power. As she’s first disbelieved, then charged without outright fabrication, Salomé’s film pivots from itchy whistleblower thriller to irate courtroom drama, with institutional misogyny as its binding thread.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic If “Barbarian” handily won as last year’s premier monster-in-the-basement movie, 2023’s prize might well end up going to “Cobweb” — a less inspired effort, but one decently creepy enough to get the job done. Chris Thomas Devlin’s script feels like a composite of some prior horror conceits, and there is not much depth to the narrative or characters. Still, director Samuel Bodin’s first theatrical feature is atmospheric, and departs from stock slasher conventions just enough to make for an entertaining if unexceptional scarefest. Lionsgate is releasing the U.S.-produced feature (which was apparently shot in Bulgaria in 2020) to limited theaters on July 21.  It begins with the familiar device of a child having night terrors that are probably not entirely in his or her imagination. Eight-year-old Peter (Woody Norman, from “C’mon C’mon”) is a sad loner, bullied at school, who’s woken from sleep by noises seemingly behind his bedroom wall — it sounds like something or somebody is moving around back there. When he taps on the wall, “it” taps back, which sends him screaming to his parents. But they dismiss it as an old house’s bumps in the night. 

The lessons learned in this pitch-black German-Bulgarian co-production are very grim indeed, a social-realist drama that takes an unexpectedly shocking turn at its harrowing climax. The film’s recent win at Karlovy Vary, where it took the Grand Prix in the Crystal Globe Competition, should give it a welcome boost on the arthouse circuit, but the unwary are warned that Stephan Komandarev’s latest feature packs a punch not seen since Lars Von Trier or Michael Haneke in their provocative prime.

This was the moment a 'reckless' driver ploughed into a motorcyclist before leaving him lying in the road. Video footage shows 'selfish' Bryan Rothwell being pulled from his doorway and arrested moments later.

Emily Blunt has revealed that she is taking a year-long break from acting to spend more time with her family.The Mary Poppins Returns star, who is married and shares two daughters with fellow actor John Krasinski, made the comments during an appearance on the Table for Two podcast.Asked by host Bruce Bozzi how she manages to juggles her career with being a mother, Blunt said: “Not always well, you know. It’s one of those things when people are like, ‘How do you balance it?’ I never feel like I’m doing it right, you know.

Crystal Globe CompetitionJury members:Dora Bouchoucha, TunisiaPatricia Clarkson, USAJohn Nein, USAOlmo Omerzu, Czech Republic / SloveniaBarry Ward, IrelandGRAND PRIX – CRYSTAL GLOBE (25 000 USD)The financial award is shared equally by the director and producer of the award-winningfilm.“Blaga’s Lessons” (“Urotcite na Blaga”)Directed by: Stephan KomandarevBulgaria, Germany, 2023SPECIAL JURY PRIZE (15 000 USD)The financial award is shared equally by the director and producer of the award-winningfilm.“Empty Nets” (“Toorhaye khali”)Directed by: Behrooz KaramizadeGermany, Iran, 2023BEST DIRECTOR AWARDBabak Jalali for the film “Fremont”USA, 2023BEST ACTRESS AWARDEli Skorcheva for her role in the film “Blaga’s Lessons” (“Urotcite na Blaga”)Bulgaria, Germany, 2023BEST ACTOR AWARDHerbert Nordrum for his role in the film “The Hypnosis” (“Hypnosen”)Sweden, Norway, France, 2023SPECIAL JURY MENTION“Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano”Directed by: Cyril ArisGermany, Lebanon, 2023PRÁVO AUDIENCE AWARD“The Edge of the Blade” (“Une affaire d’honneur”Directed by: Vincent PerezFrance, 2023Proxima CompetitionJury Members:Dana Linssen, NetherlandsMarija Razgutė, LithuaniaŠimon Šafránek, Czech RepublicBarbara Wurm, AustriaMeng Xie, People’s Republic of ChinaPROXIMA GRAND PRIX (15 000 USD)The financial award is shared equally by the director and producer of the award-winningfilm.“Birth”Directed by: Yoo Ji-youngSouth Korea, 2022PROXIMA SPECIAL JURY PRIZE (10 000 USD)The financial award is shared equally by the director and producer of the award-winningfilm.“Guras”Directed by: Saurav RaiIndia, Nepal, 2023SPECIAL JURY MENTION“Brutal Heat” (“Brutální vedro”Directed by: Albert HospodářskýCzech Republic, Slovak Republic, 2023CRYSTAL GLOBE FOR OUTSTANDING

The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has concluded yet another wonderful week of cinematic discoveries. Previously announced awards were given to a variety of contributors to global cinema.

The 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (June 30 – July 8) came to a close this evening with an awards ceremony that bestowed two key prizes to contemporary Bulgarian drama Blaga’s Lessons (Urotcite Na Blaga) by director Stephan Komandarev.

Will Tizard Contributor Bulgarian crime story “Blaga’s Lessons” by Stephan Komandarev scored the top prize and $25,000 at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival on Saturday, capping a week of celebrating art film, stars and bold global work. With sold out screenings ranging from Russell Crowe introducing “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” to rare Japanese masterworks by Yasuzo Masumura and a tribute to actor Daniela Kolarova, Czech audiences proved once again to be hungry for every kind of film they cannot experience at any other venue. The Crystal Globe competition special jury prize, along with $15,000, went to “Empty Nets,” a German-Iranian gritty love story directed by Behrooz Karamizade.

Budget-friendly travel doesn't necessarily mean you can't venture far. Holidaymakers tend to opt for European destinations for a cheap getaway - but if you fancy exploring somewhere further afield, you don't always have to spend thousands of pounds on flights.

Flying Lotus (aka Steven Ellison) has already made a name for himself in the music business as a Grammy Award-winning rapper, producer, and composer. But the multi-hyphenate dabbles in film production, too, like his 2017 feature debut “Kuso,” which had its world premiere at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

Emmerdale fans are feeling concerned for one of the soap's most loved characters after they 'worked out' a 'sneaky' newcomer's next victim. During the latest trip to the Dales on Thursday night (July 6), viewers watched as Naomi Walters's left the village after getting some money from her pal Vinny Dingle.

It’s been eight years since U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant) packed up his Stetson hat and moved down to Miami in the series finale of FX’s consistently excellent “Justified.” (Although it’s 15 years in the world of the show.) As if he’s never left, he glides back into the television landscape this month with “Justified: City Primeval,” an eight-episode limited series that adapts Elmore Leonard’s 1980 book, “City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit,” into a new standalone story.

A victim of disgraced surgeon Professor Sam Eljamel has told Scotland’s First Minister in a face-to-face meeting that only a public inquiry will restore trust in the NHS.

A woman whose stalker ex-partner leaked intimate photos of her online has welcomed changes to Government legislation, but said: "We still have a long way to go." After a new amendment to the Online Safety Bill, the Ministry of Justice announced last week prosecutors will no longer have to prove intimate and explicit images had been leaked with intent to cause distress.

Jurors in the Kevin Spacey trial have been shown footage of a police interview with an alleged victim of the Hollywood star in which he said the actor “grabbed me so hard I almost came off the road.”

Murtada Elfadl An intriguing character-based musical that chronicles a few days in the life of an aspiring young rapper, “Lost Soulz” follows Sol (Sauve Sidle) as he navigates life on a road trip while making new friends. The film, from first-time feature writer-director Katherine Propper, won the second-place audience award at this month’s Tribeca Film Festival. Inspired by Sidle’s experience as a musician on the rise, “Lost Soulz” tells a raw personal story in a fragmented structure deriving its strength from the original music composed and performed by its talented cast. Propper opens on Sol admiring his reflection in the mirror and murmuring to himself, “You are a superstar. Look at you.” Sidle proves believable as a big-dreams wannabe with an easy relaxed screen presence. Sol’s odyssey kicks off after his best friend Wesley overdoses at a party they were both attending. Though Sol was living with Wesley’s family, he abandons him and spontaneously accepts a group of hip-hop musicians’ invitation to tour Texas with them. The film becomes a road-trip narrative intercut with musical interludes.

Stephen Webb and his husband Daniel Lustig were called "f***ing f*****' in a vile homophobic attack as he urged fans to 'stay safe'.

Alissa Simon Film Critic Bulgarian multi-hyphenate Stephan Komandarev completes his trilogy on social problems and moral ills in contemporary Bulgaria with “Blaga’s Lessons,” world premiering in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Crystal Globe competition. Heretic is the sales agent. After “Directions” (2017), which centers on tough times for some Sofia taxi drivers over a long and eventful night, and “Rounds” (2019), about police officers patrolling the capital, Komandarev and his co-writer Simeon Ventsislavov use an older woman duped by a telephone scam to look at issues afflicting their parents’ generation. Komandarev says: “The Bulgarian pensioners turned out to be the real victims of the so-called ‘transition’ (the time from 1989 to today.) These people, who have worked and created persistently all their lives, have lost basic safety and security, normal food, adequate medical care, heating, etc.”

A man who pleaded guilty to producing cannabis despite being a victim of human trafficking as a child has had his conviction overturned.