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Sofia Pride Film Fest
Tuesday, 03 June 2025 until Thursday, 12 June 2025
Sofia Pride Film Fest is the only LGBTIQ+ film festival in Bulgaria. For 14 years now we independently manage to present outstanding films. In a country which is famous with its widespread homophobia and discrimination against the LGBTIQ+ communities, the existence of the festival is groundbreaking and lifesaving for the members of the community. Even though since 2019 each screening of the film festival has been attacked verbally and sometimes physically, we manage to continue our mission to do community organising through the power of cinema.
In the 2025 edition of Sofia Pride Film Fest we will show 10 feature films and a selection of short films on the LGBTIQ+ thematic.
Sofia Pride Film Fest is part of the official program of the Sofia Pride calendar. Together with the screenings there are discussions on the topics of LGBTIQ+ rights in Bulgaria, an LGBTIQ+ opening party and the official Sofia Pride Pride month closing party.
The organiser LGBTI organisation Deystvie is an LGBTIQ+ organisation based in Bulgaria which focuses on advancing the rights of the community in Bulgaria with strategic litigation, providing pro bono legal support to the communities and community organising. It started the Sofia Pride Film Fest back in 2012 in times when LGBTIQ+ films were not shown in Bulgaria at all.
The festival awards prizes in two main categories for Feature and Short films:
- Audience Award for Best Feature Film of the festival.
- Sofia Unicorn Audience Award for Best Short Film of the festival.
The value of the prizes will be determined and publicly announced before the start of the festival.
2025 films...
The Paradise of Thorns
Thongkam and Sek, a devoted gay couple, have worked tirelessly to build a life together, including owning a house and a durian orchard in Mae Hong Son. Tragedy strikes when Sek dies suddenly in an accident, revealing that they were never legally married in Thailand, leaving Thongkam with no rights to their assets. The house and orchard now belong to Sek’s mother, who moves in with her adopted daughter Mo and gardener Jingna. Thongkam must now fight to reclaim the fruits of his love and labor.
Sally
Sally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure, she carried a secret. Revealing the romance and sacrifices of their 27 years together, Sally’s life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, tells the full story for the first time of this complicated and iconic astronaut. From National Geographic Documentary Films, Sally is directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Cristina Costantini.
SHORTS 1
Explore this year's selection of extraordinary shorts!
The Nature of Invisible Things
Gloria, a 10-year-old girl, is spending her vacation in the hospital with her mother, a working-hard nurse. While exploring the facility, Gloria meets Sofia, a girl convinced that her great-grandmother's worsening health is a result of her hospital admission. Bonding over their shared desire to leave, the two girls find solace in each other's company. As departure becomes inevitable, the girls and their mothers head to a countryside retreat to spend the final days of an unforgettable summer.
Eat The Night
Pablo, a small-time dealer, and his teenage sister Apolline have forged an unbreakable bond through their shared obsession with the online video game Darknoon. When Pablo falls for the mysterious Night, he gets swept up in their liaison, abandoning his sister to deal with the impending shutdown of their digital haven alone. As Pablo’s reckless choices provoke the wrath of a dangerous rival gang, the end of their virtual life draws near, upending their reality….
Bird
12-year-old Bailey lives with her single dad Bug and brother Hunter in a squat in North Kent. Bug doesn’t have much time for his kids and Bailey, who is approaching puberty, seeks attention and adventure elsewhere.
The Astronaut Lovers
Pedro travels from Spain to Argentina for a vacation at his family home, where he becomes attracted to his childhood friend Maxi. But their relationship is full of misunderstandings as they try to hide it from family and friends.
Soul of the Desert
In the arid landscapes of La Guajira, Colombia, Georgina, a transgender Wayúu woman in the third act of her life, knows that her time is running out and wants to change her existence. With nothing to lose, she sets out to meet her siblings, who don’t speak Spanish and barely survive on the fringes of the opaque Colombian bureaucratic system. Amid open wounds, memories, and unfathomable geographical and emotional distances, Georgina and her people agree that enough is enough. Soul of the Desert emerges as a story of resilience, a symbol of hope, and a fervent struggle for justice.
SHORTS 2
Explore this year's selection of extraordinary shorts!
Some Nights I Feel Like Walking
A band of street hustlers brave the dark corners of the Manila night time and into the outskirts of a dangerous country to fulfill their friend’s dying wish: to take his body home.
The Shameless
After fatally stabbing a police superintendent, Nadira flees a Delhi brothel and takes temporary refuge in a Northern Indian community of sex workers, assuming the Hindu name Renuka. There, she meets Devika, a young girl trapped in religiously sanctioned prostitution. Their forbidden bond pushes Devika to rebel against the centuries-old tradition to which she belongs, sparking a dangerous journey through a treacherous maze of violence and brutality in pursuit of freedom.
The Wedding Banquet
A gay man makes a deal with his lesbian friend: a green-card marriage for him, in exchange for in vitro fertilization treatments for her. Plans evolve as Min's grandmother surprises them with a Korean wedding banquet.