Следствено дело № 148/97 г. – историята на едно трансгранично кинематографично престъпление
Inquest Case Number 148/97 – The History of a Transborder Cinematographic Crime

Summary/Abstract: The first (known up to now) film projec- tion in Bulgaria has taken place in February 1897 in the city of Rouse. But following these screenings things died out. The cinematographic beam of light, that illuminated our fatherland, died away. But it turns out that this is not true. That same year (at the end of August and the beginning of September) in the city by the Danube River were realized a number of performances with the cinematograph – the work of the Austrian Oscar Fischer. But his apparatus was “illegally appropriated” by somebody named Tvartko Drandarov (who also came from Austro-Hungary). This guy was in hiding for some years in Serbia and he used the stolen apparatus. The Regional Court of Rouse initiated criminal actions on the case. In order to get extradition of the accused Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs a number of times turned for as- sistance to the competent authorities of the Serbian kingdom. In this way a diplomatic correspondence was initiated, the contents of which all of a sudden shed new light on the yearly history of the cinema in the country. Although these documents were kept in the Central State Archive for over a century, the contents were not made known until now even to the most noted specialists in the sphere of Bulgarian film history. The author of the present article Petar kardzhi- lov, extramural PhD student at the Institute of Art Studies, managed to attain this data, analyze it in depth and present it in a fascinating manner. The information that he has managed to bring to light does not in any “revolutionary” manner change the academic paradigm about the first stage of Bulgaria’s film history, but enriches it im- mensely. Having in mind the lack of factual data about this period we could state, that kardzhilov’s contribution is undisputable.

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