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Eastern Plays

Original title: Iztochni piesi
  • 2009
  • 1h 23m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
3.2K
YOUR RATING
Eastern Plays (2009)
Drama

Through Georgi (a juvenile) and Itso (an adult), we take a quick glance (about one and a half hour quick) at what happens in post cold-war Bulgaria.Through Georgi (a juvenile) and Itso (an adult), we take a quick glance (about one and a half hour quick) at what happens in post cold-war Bulgaria.Through Georgi (a juvenile) and Itso (an adult), we take a quick glance (about one and a half hour quick) at what happens in post cold-war Bulgaria.

  • Director
    • Kamen Kalev
  • Writer
    • Kamen Kalev
  • Stars
    • Christo Christov
    • Ovanes Torosian
    • Saadet Aksoy
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.1/10
    3.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Kamen Kalev
    • Writer
      • Kamen Kalev
    • Stars
      • Christo Christov
      • Ovanes Torosian
      • Saadet Aksoy
    • 16User reviews
    • 21Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 18 wins & 12 nominations total

    Photos4

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    Top cast41

    Edit
    Christo Christov
    • Itso aka Christo
    Ovanes Torosian
    Ovanes Torosian
    • Georgi
    Saadet Aksoy
    Saadet Aksoy
    • Isil
    • (as Saadet Isil Aksoy)
    Nikolina Iancheva
    • Niki
    • (as Nikolina Yancheva)
    Ivan Nalbantov
    • Itso and Georgi's Father
    Krasimira Demirova
    • Itso and Georgi's Stepmother
    Hatice Aslan
    Hatice Aslan
    • Isil's Mother
    Kerem Atabeyoglu
    • Isil's Father
    Alexander Radanov
    • Drega
    • (as Alexander 'The Indian' Radanov)
    Angela Nedyalkov
    Angela Nedyalkov
    • Angela
    • (as Anjela Nedyalkova)
    Kaloyan Lenkov
    • Bodyguard
    Velislav Pavlov
    • Koyno
    Ivan Penchev
    • Old Man
    Ivan Vitkov
    • Psychotherapist
    • (as Dr. Ivan Vitkov)
    Yosif Shamli
    • Mayer
    Samuil Kisiov
    • Tattoo Artist
    Bogomila Nikolova
    • Waitress
    Silvi Christova
    • Girl in the stairs
    • Director
      • Kamen Kalev
    • Writer
      • Kamen Kalev
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews16

    7.13.2K
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    Featured reviews

    10mgeorgieva2007

    The Most Honest BG movie :0)

    This is the most honest Bulgarian movie made in the last 20 years. Bravo Itso, Kamen and the rest of the team! It is a movie that resonates on the same wave as the contemporary BG people. It shows the heart...and the really important things in life - hope, love, tolerance, dialogue, the continuity between the generations and freedom - the choice to live your life as you want and to be its real master... Well, it is difficult for me to come up with 10 lines for this movie (as the guidelines indicate) since this is a movie that needs to be seen coz it is a movie to be felt...because it is simple and that's why it is a work of genius!!! It's absolutely worth seeing!
    9viharg

    A humane, tender film

    This is probably the best Bulgarian film in a decade. There are a couple of things that must be said about it. 1. “Eastern Plays” is first and foremost a humane story. I cannot underestimate the importance of that fact given the long-standing tradition of Bulgarian movies (and European cinematography in general) to intimidate their characters and to dissect them with horrifying bluntness. 2. More than that, the film is a really, really good contemporary narrative. The story is told in a subtle, calm and compassionate manner. 3. This film is a rare display of the importance of each and every human existence. The idea is presented without the help of complex existential constructions or intellectual roundabouts.
    8MantvydasZaukas

    Simple but magical experience

    It's not action, interesting story or fancy special effects who hooks you. It's something special, so basic and simple and in the same time so tragic. It's called life. And this film is perfect reflection of two brothers life who is living in post-soviet Bulgaria. And about lifes of others, their culture and toleration.
    7FilmCriticLalitRao

    A quite Bulgarian film which provides a good look at racism and human relationships.

    Bulgarian cinema is witnessing a new resurgence after the demise of communism.This change can be seen in films made by new generation directors who are quick to observe realities around them and depict what they have personally experienced.Bulgarian director Kamen Kalev is a lucky person as not only he got a chance to study at prestigious French film school FEMIS at Paris but also got a lot of critical as well as commercial success with his first film "Eastern Plays" which was part of "Quinzaine Des Réalisateurs" section at Cannes International Film Festival 2009.It can be surmised that Kamen Kalev's film "Eastern Plays" has been a success as it looks at mundane issues haunting Bulgarian society albeit from an international perspective. It is true that all nations are plagued with problems like racism, skinheads and unemployment but there are very few films which are able to combine a local point of view with that of a much broader international dynamism.This is the reason why this film's lead players speak some of their dialogs in English.Although "Eastern Plays" is a film about tough themes,it is good that it has not ignored its lighter side.This is the reason why Kamen Kalev's film does not appear as a serious film preaching hard to follow moral values.Film critic Lalit Rao got a chance to see this film at 14th International film Festival of Kerala 2009.
    9btodorov

    movie made in the streets of the city

    What I particularly liked (and I know friends of mine who did as well) in this movie is that it is not a movie about a person, or a story, but mostly an aesthetic vision of a city... which happens to be my city. The storyline is almost missing: apart from the sad coincidence that one brother took part in the beating of another, there is not much of a narrative thread and the entire movie is just a sequence of impressions of present-day Sofia, including the people living in it. Hristo Hristov became the focus of the film because he represented a particular type of Sofianites (actually he was born in Burgas but that does not make him less of a Sofianite since this is the city where he painted): artists who have received serious formation, have developed their own style, have reached the level of creators of unquestionably valuable works, and yet have found no chance to live on their art and be successful. Hristo was not the first, and will not be the last of generations of creative persons who had to find various exits from the difficult situation the last twenty years placed us all in. He chose drugs and in the real life passed away even before the movie was finished. But his sad story is one of hope, too, since the real-life Hristo, even posthumously, proved that recognition can come (and we are now expecting the long-postponed exhibition of his art), while the movie-character Hristo showed to his younger brother that there is alternative to violence and hatred, and that there is enough beauty around us to save us from despair.

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Writer/Director Kamen Kalev was inspired by the life of his friend Christo Christov, who plays himself in the film, with the locations comprised of places from Christov's life, such as his actual apartment and the workshop he worked at.
    • Goofs
      In the restaurant scene where Itso and his girlfriend order, Itso orders a Swedish beer but we see him drinking Shumensko, which in fact is a Bulgarian beer.
    • Quotes

      Fish: You know why there are no Arabs in Star Trek?

      Georgi: Why?

      Fish: Because it's in the future. Get it?

    • Connections
      References Star Trek (1966)
    • Soundtracks
      Concerto BWV 974
      Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach

      Performed by Glenn Gould

      Glenn Gould Edition

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 16, 2009 (Bulgaria)
    • Countries of origin
      • Bulgaria
      • Sweden
    • Official sites
      • Memento Films International (France)
      • Official Facebook
    • Languages
      • Bulgarian
      • Turkish
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Şark Oyunları
    • Production companies
      • Waterfront Film
      • Film i Väst
      • The Chimney Pot
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $132,547
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 23m(83 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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