Balgarianovinite.com The documentary film The Cruel Path, directed by Dejan Bararev, received the top award for documentary cinema at the 29th edition of the Golden Rhyton Festival. The award was presented by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev during the closing ceremony at Lucky Cinema House on Monday evening. Valchev highlighted the film’s focus on both the ascent and descent of the young mountaineers, describing it as “a story of both ascent and descent, of courage and memory.”
Valchev also reflected on the festival’s historical significance: “BTA has been covering the Golden Rhyton Festival in Plovdiv for exactly 50 years, since its first edition as the Festival of Bulgarian Short Films with the grand prize ‘Golden Thracian Rhyton,’ first reported by our news agency on October 9, 1975. […] BTA preserves the news of the ascent and descent recounted in The Cruel Path, including our correspondent Lubomir Kasavetov’s report from May 9, 1984, as the four climbers reaching Everest, alongside archival photos of their departure from Sofia airport on February 20, 1984, and their return on May 31, from which the first Bulgarian to reach Everest, Hristo Prodanov, is absent.”
In addition to the top prize, The Cruel Path earned distinctions from the Bulgarian National Film Archive and the Critics’ Guild. The festival’s award for best animated film went to Balconada, directed by Iva Tokmakchieva, which also received accolades from the Critics’ Guild and the best-director category. Documentary filmmaker Svetlozar Draganov was recognized for Sneja and Franz.
Other festival awards included the Academia 21 prize for the documentary Sisyphuses, and the screenplay award for Petko Venedikov: Memories from Bulgarian 20th Century by Prof. Vera Naydenova. Debut awards in animation were given to Tanya Bozhinova for Next to You and Nevena Semova for Time Jar, while the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers honored Asen Vladimirov for On the Occasion of an Assassination and the animated works The Boy Who Erased Kisses and Connected. The special award of the Plovdiv City Hall went to the documentary Zlatyu’s Dog and the animated film The Granny.
Following the ceremony, the two Golden Rhyton winners, The Cruel Path and Balconada, were screened for audiences. The festival, organized by the National Film Center and the Municipality of Plovdiv, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, is part of Plovdiv’s 2025 cultural calendar. “The Cruel Path” Wins Top Honor at 29th Golden Rhyton Festival 2025 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2025-12-22 20:59:47 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
