Nine first-time filmmakers train in Burgas, set to screen three short films

Nine people with no film experience will spend three weeks training in Burgas and make three short films, due to be shown to the public on 24 October, the VOESOLI studio says. The VOESOLI Film Lab programme runs from 9 to 25 October and is funded by Burgas council.

The participants include schoolchildren, students and people who don't work in film. Director Kiril Todorov leads the programme. Participants work through script writing, pre-production, filming, editing and a final screening for the public.

The modules on camerawork and on-set sound recording are led by professionals based in the Czech Republic. The cinematographer is Tomáš Pavlíček from Prague, who has more than 10 years' experience at Czech visual-effects studios and worked as director of photography on the feature film "EMBUG". Sound is recorded by Armenian composer and sound engineer Ashot Mansuryan, who is based in the Czech Republic and has worked on dozens of film, TV and advertising productions.

The Morsko Kazino cultural centre hosts the lectures and post-production work, while filming takes place at various locations around the city. On 10 and 11 October, from 9am to 1pm, the Georgi Baev hall will open its film lectures to anyone interested, not just lab participants, with free admission.

The three films in this run are "The Bench", written and directed by Kostadin Vasilev. "Premiere", by Maya Georgieva. And "To the Sea", by Yaroslava Zarokili. The films premiere on 24 October at 7:30pm in the Petya Dubarova hall, also with free admission. The programme wraps up on 25 October.

The organisers say the lab was set up to train people through hands-on practice and to build a pool of technical and creative talent for film productions along Bulgaria's Black Sea coast.

This is the first full run of the programme. The studio tested the model in 2025 with a pilot session for a small group, which produced four short films shown at the Morsko Kazino cultural centre.