The 21st edition of Early Bird International Student Film Festival will be held from November 1 to 5, 2025, in Sofia. The festival is organized by the American Foundation for Bulgaria, which once again will provide young filmmakers with a platform through which their bold ideas and powerful stories can reach a wide audience. The co-organizer of the festival is the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA), and the screenings will take place at the G8 Cultural Center.
The program features 71 films by talented young directors from 30 countries, with this year’s focus on documentary cinema. Bulgarian students and audiences will have the opportunity to meet and interact in person with their peers from Romania, Georgia, Spain, Croatia, Hungary, Greece, Israel, and Turkey.
The Early Bird 2025 awards will be decided by a distinguished international jury:
- Gita Feyzi (Iran) – President of the Jury and winner of the Early Bird 2024 Grand Award for the film “The Plain Sings”;
- Prof. Philip Peters (USA) – producer and production designer, Professor of Scenic Design at the University of Central Florida;
- Stefan A. Shterev (Bulgaria) – actor, producer, prominent figure in the performing arts, and television host.
A key highlight of this year’s festival program is the special screening of the documentary film “A Sense of Intolerance” by Boya Harizanova, Assistant Professor of Directing at NATFA.
The film explores the life and work of writer Georgi Markov up to 1969, when he left communist Bulgaria.
The opening of the 21st edition of Early Bird will be on November 1, 2025, at 17:30 in the Aula of NATFA, Stefan Karadzha St. 20.
We look forward to welcoming you!