Българското експериментално късометражно кино
Bulgarian Experimental Shorts

Summary/Abstract: The term ‘experimental film’ assumes aspects of the terms ‘independent’, ‘alternative’ or ‘avant-garde’ film and their boundaries are more often than not blurred. Still, while the independence of a film is all about production and distribution, the differences between the mainstream and experimental film are primarily aesthetic. Such works are often short, lacking a clearly articulated linear narrative; the standard and conventional structures are used untraditionally. These are usually a mix of genres and styles, used both as self-identification and a label, concurring in designating the non-commercial. How about experimental film in its Bulgarian version? Historically, it all began officially in 1974, when the Experimental Film Studio was set up. In the twenty-first century, variants of experiments are discernible in most of the movies, where the author’s opinions and style are profoundly personally stated, which for some reason are not concurrent with the more general trends. At times, it is about they unconventional subgenre (documentary? feature? mystification?), and sometimes, about their non-standard running time. In short film, experiments assume primarily the form of hybridism, a mix of animation, feature, documentary or visual and art approaches. More numerous are the works, where experiments imply onscreen rendition of the authorial ideas of Surrealism or somnambulistic visions or playful notions. Yet, an experiment suggests an extreme gesture, a radical overturn of a subject matter or a form, and such daring or recklessness is a rare occurrence in Bulgarian film.

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