In Truth.com, Bulgarian filmmaker Tonislav Hristov follows Sofia-based investigative journalist, Genka Shikerova, on her way to discover “who is behind the distribution of fake news and the hybrid war that is taking place [in Eastern Europe and the Balkans] at the moment.” She has been an investigative journalist for more than 20 years and currently works for Radio Free Europe. During this time, her life has been continually threatened and she has been targeted heavily online, the filmmakers stress.
With the EU parliamentary elections set to take place in 2024, the two big issues for Bulgarians are membership of the Schengen area, and entering the Eurozone. “In anti-West circles, these are seen as the ultimate evil, since in both Bulgaria and the Balkans there are very strong pro-Russian/anti-West forces on the move,” the filmmakers underline.
In the film, as Genka follows the fake news and trolling linked to these elections, she will also follow “the trail of news and the money, from the local level to as high as it is possible.” And all the time, the filmmakers will follow Genka.
“It is a highly topical, very important subject right now when there are forces trying to unbalance Europe on the move,” underlines producer Aho.
The Finnish/Bulgarian co-pro has a budget of €510,000 and a mooted delivery of Winter 2024/25. “We have quite good connections already to our possible financiers but there’s always room for a few more. The sales agent [slot] is still open and it would always be good to get to talk with festivals about the world premiere,” Aho points out.
Director Hristov’s documentary The Good Postman (IDFA 2016, Sundance 2017) was nominated for the European Film Awards in 2017. His latest documentary The Last Seagull has been widely screened at core festivals in 2023, including Thessaloniki IFF, CPH:DOX and Docaviv.
What are his specific motivations to make this film? “After 15 years of living in Northern Europe, I have always been puzzled by the differences between European politics and societies,” he writes. “During the pandemic and the Russian war in Ukraine, this puzzlement has grown. The political films I have made before were based on analogies: the everyday lives of middle age Balkan men. Truth.com is different. Directly political, it attempts to understand who is trying to divide us, and why some parts of Europe are more vulnerable than others.”
“We, in Northern Europe or in old Western Europe, tend to wonder how is it possible that so many people are still buying the Russian propaganda, but if you take a look at what is happening behind the scenes, on many levels, it is totally understandable,” producer Aho picks up the theme with Business Doc Europe. “Investors should get involved because we have a political and quite crucial subject dealt by a director who makes character driven, cinematic documentaries and who has an excellent sense of storytelling.”
“It will be fascinating to see how he [Hristov] combines this with a directly political story,” Aho signs off.
