The Sofia International Film Festival (SIFF) is the leading film festival in Bulgaria. It promotes both important and innovative works of modern international cinema to local audiences and regional Bulgarian and Balkan cinema to international audiences in a bid to stimulate and improve co-operation between local and international filmmakers.

This year’s organisers presented a package of 12 Bulgarian and European films at a news conference.

Since 2003, the festival has been incorporated within the FIPRESCI calendar (Federation Internationale de la Presse Cinematographique) - the International Federation of Film Critics. The FIPRESCI is an association of the national organisations of professional film critics and journalists worldwide for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests", founded in 1930 in Paris with more than 50 members worldwide.

According to organisers, in 2007 Variety said that the SIFF ranks among the top 50 international film events. The 14th edition of the event, orchestrated by the director of SFF, Stefan Kirov, the director of the national film centre Alexander Donev and the programme director of the House of Cinema, Vladimir Trifonov, will last throughout 2010 in Sofia, Bourgas and Plovdiv.

The autumn edition of the SFF, bearing the tag "For Students", includes a package of 12 films, screened from October 12 onwards, with movies scheduled to be aired at the Dom na Kinoto in Sofia.

The programme consists of four Bulgarian productions (or films with Bulgarian participation in them) and eight international, exclusively European productions: The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner, a joint production from Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary and Slovenia; Volver from Spain; Gegen die Wand from Germany; Zift from Bulgaria, Goodbye Lenin from Germany; Palermo Shooting from Germany, Italy and France; When I Grow Up, I’ll be a Kangaroo, from Serbia, Sansa from France and Spain, Georgi and the Butterflies from Bulgaria, Billy Elliot from the UK, Seamstresses from Bulgaria and, finally, the Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain from France and Germany.

Part of the promotion strategy naturally envisages that everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. University and school students, however, will be given the royal VIP treatment and will be invited in for free all year round. The student programme will be introduced by Stefan Komandarev, director of The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner.

Special praise was lavished on this film by Sasho Donev, director of the National Film Centre, emphasising that ever since its release, 48 weeks running, the film has maintained its top-20 position in Bulgaria, and has accordingly received high international acclaim. The film, based on the book by Iliya Troyanov, tells the story of Alex, who with the help of his charismatic grandfather Bai Dan, and his proficient skill at backgammon, decides to undertake a journey to discover himself, a journey that leads him back to Bulgaria.

"This scheme is an important educational tool for the young; it is vital because it emphasises their daily problems and emotions that rule their lives," Donev said. "As such, the films are very relevant to this country’s youth. It is the ritual that is important. Not just skimming the flick on your DVD player, but actually being there with a bunch of people, interacting with them and the screen.

That way, when you leave the theatre, the experience, the impressions of it all continue to linger on... the film remains alive," he said.

The movies will be available throughout 2010 in Sofia. The Sofia Students Film Fest is part of a nationwide initiative with the support of the SFF National Film Project, which includes the International Film Festival with its affiliated editions in Sofia, Plovdiv, Bourgas and 10 other towns across Bulgaria. Furthermore, the festival is part of the international project, called Operation Film, which will take place in Sofia, Istanbul, Cluj Napocca and Sarajevo.