The new documentary film “Women in April: The Unknown Heroines of the April Uprising” was presented to the academic community in the “Prof. Marin Drinov” Hall of BAS. The Academy’s initiatives to mark the 150th anniversary of the April Uprising continue, said BAS Vice President Prof. Emmanuel Moutafov in his welcome address to the guests. “For us, the entire year is a jubilee which is why we did not limit ourselves to just the months when the uprising was raging,” he noted. The production’s consultants are Prof. Peter Stoyanovich and Assoc. Prof. Aleka Strezova from the Institute for Historical Studies of BAS.
The film’s screenwriter is Dimitar Stoyanovich, director – Boya Harizanova, cinematographer – Kaloyan Bozhilov, and composer – George Strezov. The producer is Eleni Dekidis. The film features a special appearance by Vladimir Penev.
“I realized that for a very long time, history has been written from a male perspective. In fact, very little has been said about how these heroes were led to their heroism,” said Prof. Peter Stoyanovich before the screening in BAS. “At the heart of preserving Bulgarian memory often stands the Bulgarian woman,” he emphasized. When, every year for the past 150 years, we pay tribute to the horrific and majestic events of April 1876, I would very much like, noted Prof. Stoyanovich, for us to also remember the seemingly secondary role played by women. Explaining how the idea for the film originated, he further noted that the memory of April 1876 has largely been preserved thanks to family narratives and the personal commitment of the surviving women who were the first witnesses to speak before representatives of the European press and European diplomacy. In the film, the figures of Rayna Knyaginya, Mina Balindrekova, Fota Manchova, Sofia Vrankova, Laza Bogdanova, and other Bulgarian women come to life with renewed vigor. The documentary film’s team is presenting it across the country and sharing the stories of these Bulgarian women’s heroism.
In March, at the initiative of the Assembly of Academicians and Corresponding Members (AACM) and the Board of BAS, an Academic Organizing Committee was established on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the April Uprising. To mark this significant anniversary, a national calendar was created which the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences made available to all organizers and participants in the events commemorating the anniversary.
