On this page you will find videos created as part of a series of projects aimed at raising public awareness and institutional competence in the fight against domestic and gender-based violence.
A total of 109 femicide cases—the killing of a woman because she is a woman—were tried in Bulgarian courts over the five-year period from 2018 to 2023. That means 109 women’s lives were violently taken, most often by their own partners, relatives, or acquaintances. These murders are all too frequently accompanied by alcohol and drugs, jealousy, and a sense of male superiority… To confront femicide in Bulgaria, we must first make it visible. No official institution here counts these cases or takes sufficient measures to prevent them, even though the warning signs are well known and these murders can be stopped in time.
FEMICIDE HAS WARNING SIGNS.
KNOW THEM.
SAVE A LIFE!
„When you are alone in the rain and have no one in the world,
even on your bad days a heart beats for you -
a friend is called him, remember...“*
On the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women – November 25 – Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and tanuki films present you a new video “Friendship“, dedicated to the cause: fighting gender-based violence with a specially made adaptation of the song by the PIF group “Friend“.
Every one in four women in our country has experienced domestic violence. We do not even suspect some of them, although we often know them, whether they are colleagues, relatives or friends. Many of them do not manage to save themselves.
Behind this chilling statistic, which few have not yet encountered, is the fact that each of us has at least one friend in our environment who we can help. Therefore, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee calls on you to empathy and action. We should not remain indifferent and silent witnesses to what is happening around us, it is not a personal problem that is solved behind closed doors in the family. Domestic violence is a crime that requires public intolerance, as well as prevention and protection of victims by institutions and the law.
Learn how you can help as a witness to domestic violence on spasena.org - the website of the campaign "Stop the cycle of gender-based violence" of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Alliance for Protection from Gender-Based Violence.
On the website spasena.org you will find useful information both as bystanders and if you have suffered violence from your partner or another loved one, or if you are a person who realizes that they have a tendency to violence and wants to overcome it.
* A quote from the song by the group PIF, which the members of the group allowed us to use and supported our cause against domestic violence.
The video was created by:
Director: Anna Stoeva
Cinematographer: Alexander Stanishev
Producer: David Dzhambazov, tanuki films
Co-producer: Alexander Stanishev
Editing: David Dzhambazov and Anna Stoeva
Vocals: Balena Landzheva
Guitar/arrangement: Rusita Boeva
Music and lyrics: P.I.F.
Cast: Stanislava Kamenova, Ivana Keranova, Anna Hristova, Velina Georgieva, Dimana Toncheva, Lora Ilieva, Elina Karastoyanova, Yuliana Georgieva, Sasho Hristov, Norka Boneva, Svetlin Hristov, Dominik Stanimirov, Stefani Yordanova
Voiceover: Ivana Keranova
Production Director: Lyubomir Anev
First Assistant Director: Borimir Ilkov
Set Designer/Costume Designer: Diana Toteva
Assistant to the Designer/Costume Designer: Radosveta Gabova
First Assistant Camera: Radostin Lazarov
Second Assistant Camera: Dimitar Tenev
Gaffer: Nikola Lilovski
Makeup/Hair: Ralitsa Roth
Production Supervisor: Ivan Tiholov
Organizer: Krasimir Georgiev
Assistant production: Alexander Stoichkov
Production Assistant: Yavor Mantarkov
Sound Post-Production: Ivan Andreev / Sonus
Color Correction: Boris Tivchev / Motif Pictures
Animation: Atanas Filipov
Camera Equipment: Magic Shop
Lighting: KFPRO 13
Thanks to Lyubomira Piperova, Ivan Velkov, Venera Nechkova-Fingarova, David Moore and Emily Toynink, Irina Dzambazova, Valentina Peeva, Hotel "Saggitarius", Kyustendil
This video was created under the project “Stop Gender-Based Violence Against Women and Children in Bulgaria“ – GBV-OUT, co-funded by the European Union's Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme. The content is the sole responsibility of the authors and can in no way be taken to reflect the position of the European Commission or its agencies.