I saw an exceptional film in 2017 - Directions/Posoki, an ensemble drama from Bulgaria, presenting Sofia at night as seen by its taxi drivers, complete with tawdry display windows, ubiquitous pawn shops, children descending into prostitution and pensioners living in abject poverty. Just for the record, it's a laugh-out-loud comedy, and most amazing of all, five of the six presented stories are based on real events, while the final one is an adaptation of a work by Anton Chekhov.
Bulgaria, as portrayed in Directions, is a land which remains optimistic against all odds, for all the pessimists and realists have left long ago. A land where there are only two directions to take: Sofia Airport Terminal 1 or Sofia Airport Terminal 2. A land which has been left behind by God, along with one-third of the population.
The director, Stephen Komandarev, came to the screening I attended in Luxembourg, and was just as talkative as in 2014 when he presented his previous film, The Judgement, at the Warsaw Film Festival. I asked him whether he had been influenced by either Night on Earth by Jim Jarmusch or Taxi by Jafar Panahi, and he said that his main influence was rather Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia, as well as various works by the Dardenne brothers. A very good influence to have, if you ask me...
This film is a fantastic work of art. Go see it.
