| Born in 1938 in Sofia, Eduard Zahariev graduated from the Budapest Film School in 1961, and made his feature film debut in 1967, with If a Train isn't Coming. One of Bulgaria's foremost filmmakers, Zahariev's films constantly brought him into conflict with the authorities, and after the fall of communism he found it equally hard to adapt to the new realities of the market economy. Eduard Zahariev died of cancer shortly after finishing the rough cut of Late Full Moon, and never got to see the finished film. «Doctors say that tobacco killed him. What they didn't know was that he had lived through World War II, sharing his parents' anxiety about Russian emigration; that he had gone to school during the Stalinist era; that he was in Budapest in 1956; that he had written courageous scripts in difficult years; that he wasn't allowed to work for years because of censorship [...] May Eduard rest in peace, and if there is an afterlife for filmmakers, may he join those he respected and loved, who also left us much too early: Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, Paradjanov.» (Istvan Szabo, Budapest, February 1997).
FILMOGRAPHY 1962 Wlak w nebeto (documentary) 1965 Sol ( documentary) 1966 Ako ne dojde wlak 1968 Nebeto na weleka 1970 Stomana (documentary) 1971 BDJ ( documentary) 1973 Prebroja waneto na diwite sajzi 1975 Wilna Zona 1977 Maschki wremena 1980 Potschti Ijubowna istorija 1982 Elegia 1985 Skapa moja, skapi moj 1991 Reserwat 1996 Zakanjalo palnolunie |
| Zakasnjalo palnolunie Bulgaria 1996 LATE FULL MOON Growing old is an art in itself, but coming to terms with aging can be especially difficult during a time of monumental social change. The generation gap between the Old man and his family has become increasinlgy evident with the coming of capitalism to Bulgaria. In despair, the Old Man moves into a home for the elderly. But his life there is no better than before, and so he moves on, embarking on an odyssey that parallels that of modern Bulgaria. The last film by Bulgarian auteur Eduard Zahariev Late Full Moon is a quietly comic, affectionate film about serious life changes. Direction: Eduard Zahariev. / Screenplay: Eduard Zahariev. / Cinematography: Emil Hristov. /Editing: Tsvetana Kolarova. / Sound: Ivan Vencislavov. / Music: Kiril Donchev. / Cast: Itzhak Fintzi, Virginia Kelmelite, Nikolai Urumov. / Producer: Eduard Zahariev. / Production: Eduard Zahariev Films, Bulgaria. / World Sales: Bulgarian Film center, Boulevard Kniaz Dondukov, 2 A Sofia 1000, Bulgaria, tel.: 359 2 883 831, fax; 359 2 873 626. 35mm / Colour 117' |
