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 Photo by Enkhbold Byambajav MAR 25 - AUBGers were the first audience to see Yavor Gardev’s first full-length movie “Zift” during a “Ghastly” Bunch evening. Gardev, a renowned Bulgarian theater director, spoke about his theater productions to the “Ghastly” Bunch audience on February 12. “It’s the first time in five years that the same guest comes for a “Ghastly” Bunch evening twice a semester,” said Journalism Professor Aernout van Lynden. Before its pre-screening at AUBG, “Zift” had only one initial screening. Gardev showed the movie to the critics who select films for festivals. “They were very impressed,” he said. The movie needs another 1.5 months of post-production work before it can be officially released, the director said. “Zift” is based on a novel written by Vladislav Todorov, a professor of East European culture and cinema at Pennsylvania University. The style of the movie was determined by the style of Todorov’s book. Although “Zift” is a combination of a criminal story, a political and a human drama, it is difficult to talk about the proportions of the elements, Gardev said. “What is crucially important for me is the interactive communication with the audience and aesthetics that combine radical opposites,” he said. While working on “Zift,” the director was influenced by the work of Guy Ritchie and the early movies of Quentin Tarantino, especially by the latter’s way of treating violence ironically. Some people can feel the irony in “Zift” and take the movie with humor, and some can’t, Gardev said. “It will split the audience for sure.” Released in black and white, “Zift” belongs to the film noir genre that was commonly used in crime dramas of 1940s and 1950s and pays homage to a few. “I watched 250 movies that belong to this genre. There are quotes in ‘Zift’ that are taken from different noir movies but I want them to be hidden,” Gardev said. Over 100 students and some faculty members came to watch the movie. After the screening, the director asked the audience to fill in a questionnaire about the movie. “It was quite a research for me. I did not expect that many reactions,” Gardev said.
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