A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MP

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MP

Dr. Ksenia Kisselincheva

“I am the only woman who has survived as a MP for the last ten years. More importantly, I hope my personal and public integrity have survived too”.

We were sitting in the cafe lounge of Bulgarian Parliament - it was on the eve of NATO’s strikes on Yugoslavia and beneath the surface, a nonchalant atmosphere, I could sense the apprehension in the air. A sort of fever was occasionally spilling and heating up the informal discussions of the people, hanging around the lounge. Groups were changing -when the loudspeaker announced that the session would resume. Some of them hurried towards the assembly hall, while others preferred to queue up for another cup of coffee, still others played around with their mobiles, making and receiving calls. For one reason or another, my companion, Elena Poptodorova didn’t have one - perhaps she was better off not getting hooked on it. Most people inevitably realize they tend to indulge in trivial and useless conversations. Before she joined me at my table, I had been watching her talk to two sociologists, doing a survey on the forthcoming local elections. I envied her absorption in what she was doing - she seemed oblivious to the razzmatazz around her.

Her verve and vivacity was very Mediterranean, yet she appeared  to be a good and careful listener. She stayed in close eye-contact with her interviewers, giving them a reassuring nod now and then, her face suddenly lit by a generous smile. Finally, she came over to my table and apologized for making me wait.  “How does a woman feel in the world of diplomacy and politics, traditionally considered in this part of the world to be exclusively men’s territory?”

“As you might rightly guess, it is a tough choice but I have never regretted it. I am the only woman who has survived as a MP for the last ten years. Most importantly, I hope my personal and public integrity have survived too”.

Elena is widely traveled and well informed - she can draw parallels between different cultures when discussing the position of women in society. Scandinavian women are far ahead of all other Western countries in this respect, having proved and proving to be successful in all key areas of government, social affairs and the media on a par with men. While in the Balkans, the maximum a woman can hope for, is to be the deputy of a man-leader or to be entrusted with a socially oriented institution as the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Education. And when it comes to foreign policy and national security, men are reluctant to accept the presence of women. Elena quotes one of their arguments which makes me laugh. Most men believe that to have a good grasp of national security issues, you must have served in the army.

 “How has Parliament been functioning lately? What is the effectiveness of law adoption and the quality of the laws adopted?”

“The last session was extremely busy and the toughest decisions had to be taken since 1990. We adopted the energy system Act and it was adopted with a consensus among the various parliamentary groups. But there were sharp differences and disagreements when it came to the ratification of the Framework Convention for the minorities. There were even differences within the ranks of the opposition. The concept on national security also provoked a long and heated debate but it was finally adopted”.

Elena thinks that differences and controversy are part of a healthy political climate and she finds our Parliament has done some progress as far as tolerance and effectiveness go. What is alarming, in her opinion, is when partisanship gets the upper hand over national interests. When the parliamentary groups are more concerned with keeping or increasing their electorate rather than taking a responsible stand on a issue. Ms Poptodorova, apart from being a representative from the Euro Left, is a member of the Monitoring Committee to the Council of Europe. Recently, she met in Sofia her colleagues from the Monitoring Committee - there was a certain progress on their recommendations, made during their previous visit. For instance, the progress achieved was concerning the death penalty, the readiness for ratifying the Framework Convention for the Rights of Minorities, the cancellation of the Lustration clause from the Administration Act. But what the Constitutional Court failed to do is to introduce greater consistency in respect to the replacing of the members of the Higher Court Council. Otherwise, every parliamentary majority will be allowed to select the judiciary authority that suits its interests best.

“How about the image of Bulgaria abroad? Have things changed for the better in the last two years?”

“There are certain positive developments due to the stabilization of the financial system and a certain success in dealing with the criminal formations in our economic life. But sometimes the party squabbles prevent from conducting a constructive dialogue among the various political forces. This does not go unnoticed by the diplomatic corps and the international community. The image of Bulgaria cannot be created by a single party or political coalition, it cannot be usurped as its prerogative and merit. The image is created by all political forces, by all institutions, by all citizens of the country.

“How does corruption impede foreign investment?”

“There is no doubt that it is a serious impediment to inward investment. In the West there is an efficient system of supervision and control which acts as a counterbalance of corruption which unfortunately is found even in the richest and most civilized societies and organizations. The scandal in the European Commission and that in the World Olympic committee are only two recent illustrations of this pervasive phenomenon.

“How about the crisis in human values on a personal or public level? Doesn’t their degradation threaten society with chaos and disintegration?

“Yes, this is one of the most serious threats we are facing. The economy can recover within five or ten years if the right decisions are taken, but once humanitarian values have been crushed, it takes generations to make them an integral part of the social fabric.

These values, Elena admits, are the most valuable “dowry” she has received from her family. Decency and respect for others, values which have been cherished and handed from one generation to the next. She is telling me about her great grandfather, who was a MP for Stambolov’s Party and who took part in the creation of the first democratic constitution after liberation from the Turks. And she is, more or less, following in the steps of her grandfather, who was a social democrat. Also, she inherited from her family a passion for learning languages and the arts. Whenever she goes on a business trip abroad, no matter how tight her working schedule is, she always finds time to pop round to a favorite medieval cathedral or an art gallery. The world of politics is so hectic and confusing, so the soul craves for a few ecstatic instants, surrounded by the world of art.          

Sofia Western News Monthly, 1999

          

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MAGICIAN

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MAGICIAN

Dr. Xenia Kisselincheva

“How boring life would be without the lure of mystery and magic, without the lure of a beautiful illusion!”

She suddenly stopped juggling with the Chinese rings and jolted them gracefully onto a metal rod. Then she flipped the jeweled turban off her head and let her shiny black hair loose. All she craved for was a short break after the intense and demanding performance. Swaying across the semi-dark stage, she tiptoed down the steps and joined us at the table. She was relieved to be her old self, Dessie Novkova, a Capricorn, 26 years old, an eager pupil of the illustrious Astor. Before sipping her banana shake, she looked questioningly towards the maestro: “Am I getting anywhere?” He gave her a dignified nod of approval and she beamed all over. The young magician was in a special state of mind at the moment, she was getting ready for her first visit to the U.S. in a few days’ time. Dessie or Daisy, as her colleagues called her, was first going to take part in an international festival in Los Angeles, then she would perform at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, where an exclusive cast of world-famous illusionists performed every single night of the year. Dessie had done special preparation for the occasion: a one-man conjuror’s show, involving intricate fire play and an original number, displaying a fairy scene with flowers. According to Astor, the program suits her temperament very well. She would also give a few performances before the Bulgarian colony in Los Angeles.

It all started as a children’s game. When Dessie was around ten, her granny gave her an unusual present - Uncle Astor’s magic box of tricks, which was accompanied with a booklet. The little girl adored the box, she loved practicing and learning the tricks to the minutest detail. Then at bedtime, she would perform them in front of mom, dad, granny and her younger brother. At that time, she had almost lost interest in dolls, hopscotch and the like, she had definite preference for dangerous boys’ games and for molding all kinds of figurines out of clay. Later, at 14, she was keen on entering the vocational school for stone carving and sculpture modeling, which she finished with flying colors.

 During those formative years, Dessie also developed a passion for fashion design and started weaving her own patterns. They slightly reminded one of the traditional Bulgarian patterns on costumes, table cloths and rugs and when she started her own designer’s company, these hand-woven patterns gave a distinctively unique appeal to her clothes. Today, when Dessie is wholly absorbed with her vocation as a magician, her patterns still capture the imagination of other fashion designers, like Svetla Dimitrova, for instance, you can catch glimpse of them as recurring decorations in her collections.

 As Dessie explains, her particular case as far as magic art goes, contradicts in a way the folk proverb “If you can learn by watching, dogs will turn into butchers”. Her mom, who was a sound producer at the TV, first brought her to the Magic Theater of Astor. It was found right behind the Hemus hotel, it was at the bottom of a garden restaurant with folksy wooden sheds and a fountain spurting jets of water over the stone statuette of a young girl. Dessie did not miss a single show, she could see the best of Bulgarian magic art- the great Astor, Orfi, Irko, Corso, Danko...

Last year the best conjurors from the Balkans performed at the Magic Theater in Sofia, after their participation in an international festival. So, one night, a couple of years ago, when Astor was away on a tour, Dessie dared to perform some of his tricks in front a close friendly circle. She used some of his stage props / properties too. On the next day, the magus was back and Dessie expected to be severely scolded. But, instead, he asked her to repeat her performance of the previous night. He realized right away, she had the knack for it and that she had picked up much just from watching.

Then he took up training her on a regular basis and soon she was able to take part in the 5-th National Festival of Magic Art in 1997 at the Army Theater in Sofia. Getting a first prize for women was her first major success! Dessie admits that was probably the most moving instant of recognition for her - she was  uptight and slightly frightened,  aware that she was being watched and assessed by a bunch of over-critical and fussy professionals.

Later on Astor took her on as a participant in most of his shows, when touring the country. He noticed that Dessie was quick in learning new elements, mastering new secrets of the trade.  She presented her teacher’s tricks but with certain variations, in a style of her own. Soon, she was recognized by the elite community of the magicians - big shots like Orfi and Irko did not mind including her with a 10-minute performance in their grandiose shows when touring the country - Sofia, Plovdiv, Bourgas, Sunny beach, Haskovo and so on. She got engagements throughout 1997-1998.

When Astor was asked to prepare the second part of a circus spectacle, which toured round Cyprus, Dessie was also invited to take part. She was an immediate success, an enchantress captivating the foreign audience. When she came back to Sofia, she was invited to take part in a number of TV shows. But it seemed success did not go straight to her head- she organized free shows for children, for she knew they would remember the experience for good/ the rest of their life.

She continually tried to enrich her repertoire-apart from the classical Chinese rings, she included other numbers like “cutting your head”, “a burning handkerchief in a box”, etc. She tried her hand at different genres-tricks, manipulation and illusions. She learnt how to dance step and some oriental dances. Her experience as a designer helped her feel quite at home on the stage. She already has a growing number of fans. For instance, a fan of hers from Plovdiv got truly fascinated with the Chinese rings number. He had them ordered from a magic shop in Britain but he could not work out how to handle them. He implored her to show him, but Dessie would not give away the secret, it was a professional secret for the few God-elected!

And what are her plans for the future? This year in August, she dares “deep diving” on her own, by undertaking a one-woman show in California.  Next year she and Astor are planning to participate in a world festival in the U.S. Dessie intends to prepare a new number, with more manipulations involved. They are, in her words, the most difficult thing to do. There is no deceit in them - it is just a matter of dexterity and skill. As maestro Astor rightly says, it all comes not so much to speed, but to skill.

Who is her idol in the magic art? She has been lucky to watch the very best both at home and abroad. How about the fabulous David Copperfield? “What he does is very spectacular and beautiful, but it is not so hard to perform. It is a matter of a lot of technical contraptions and a lot of money. While with Astor, it is still a mystery for me. I watch him from two centimeters away, but still I can’t work out some of his tricks.”

It is said that Astor’s restaurant has one of the best variety shows in the country. There you can enjoy the full spectrum of acrobatics, juggling, tricks, dancing and pop music, all of the first order. Some clients book in advance to make sure they can entertain their friends or business partners there. And the garden restaurant has a special appeal on cool and clear summer nights. A special appeal, enhanced by the colorful lights, flickering and crisscrossing on the stage of the temple of magic art, complemented by the romantic gleam of the lanterns under the wooden sheds and finally by the lights, shimmering in the whirlpool of the fountain. In the middle of it, you can’t miss the graceful outline of the statuette. It looks as if a bathing girl suddenly turned to stone. At night she bathes in floods of light, while watching, fully absorbed the pageant of mystery, magic and beautiful illusions. Life would be so boring and bland if it is devoid of them. They also remind us of the parallel world of the supernatural, of the inscrutable puzzles of nature, of the miracles of civilization. And most of all, of our mysterious relation to God, who is maybe the greatest wizard of all, manipulating the interminable pageant of the creation.

Sofia Western News, 1999

A RETRO REVIVAL OF THE ORIENT EXPRESS ON THE EVE OF YEAR 2000

 A RETRO REVIVAL OF THE ORIENT EXPRESS ON THE EVE OF YEAR 2000 

      

Dr. Xenia Kisselincheva

If you mention Agatha Christie’s 1974 crime thriller  “Murder on the Orient Express” at any point round the planet, almost one out of five people is bound to respond they have read the novel, seen the screening of it, or, at least have heard about it. It’s no wonder, since the authoress, honored as Dame Commander of the British Empire is matched in popularity only by the Bible and Shakespeare. How does the international film co-production “Death, Fraud and Love on the Orient Express” relate to the classical thriller?

Here is what Mark Ropper, its British director has to say: “This is a contemporary action thriller, taking place on board the Orient Express on the eve of the year 2000. But I have still kept the suspense and the sinister mystery of Christie’s novel. I made it that way between myself and the actors, since I want to be watched by people of all ages across the globe, mesmerized the unfading magic of the train. According to the screenplay, I don’t have a detective like Hercule Poirot, but there is a pervading feeling that there is more going on than actually meets the eye. Besides, I have managed to model one of the characters into something like an investigator who is trying to make out who is on the train and why...”

The film, recently shot and edited in Bulgaria, has gone to the Cannes film festival, awaiting a good response by the audience, the pundits and the film companies. What is it all about? The train, zooming across Europe through the auspicious night, on the brink of the new millennium has been hijacked. Guess who is on board the train in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere? The two richest and most powerful men in the world / their prototypes might be Rupert Murdock and Bill Gates / have chosen to meet the new rising millennium in the stylish retro atmosphere of the Orient Express. The two blase tycoons are completely unawares of the threat that is creeping on them. The scheme of the international gang of hijackers is simply to take possession of their wealth. As the actor Christoff Waltz, starring as the chief villain, explains the motivation of his character: “I am after their huge wealth and I am at an inch of gaining it”. The Bulgarian actor Christo Shopov who performs in the role of the train’s manager turns out to be in the center of the clash game between the mega-rich hostages and the relentless terrorists.

The greater part of the film has been shot at the Boyana film center in Sofia. A true-to-life copy of the train has been built there, recreating in the minutest details the authentic ambience of the fabulous vehicle. This has been achieved under the guidance of the Italian stage and film designer Giovanni Natalucci. Apart from this reconstruction, the team has been shooting on King Boris’s train in the vicinity of Sofia and Dragoman.  Finally, they were also given the opportunity to do some shooting at the museum of old vehicles at the Central Railway station.

The film co-production is one of the international projects of the British producer Harry Allan Towers and it draws on the resources of talented people from across the globe. Suffice it to mention one of them, the well-known American actor Richard Greco, who stars as a film star and stunts man. With his tongue in the cheek, he loves to comment about his hero in this vein “My mission is to save beautiful girls like Joanna/ i.e. the Bulgarian actress Joanna Bukovska / and kill the wicked ones.”

But Joanna Bukovska, who stars in the lead female part, has her own version of her relationship with R. Greko within the context of the film. “As a matter of fact, I save his life with the help of acrobatic abilities.” Joanna is a charismatic film star, who made a name for herself in the first post-Communist TV series “The Danube Bridge”. While doing her studies at the Theater Academy in Sofia, she has managed to perform lead parts in three co-productions under the guidance of eminent foreign directors.

 That’s what she had to say about her experience of interacting with the director of the Orient Express thriller, tall and blue-eyed Mark Ropper, who has the bearing of a proud Viking: “This is the first director in my working experience  who knows exactly what he wants to achieve and who knows how to go about it. ” She explains further in greater detail:

“He manages very well to bring out  the subdued tension between the characters, both in terms of physical action and  through the gleam in the eye of the characters, when looking at each other. He helped me bring out a touch of Slavic sensibility in my heroine, who is a Russian ballerina. At times, she is a fearless and virtuoso acrobat, while at other times, she can be really romantic and gentle.”

After seeing the film, I made a better sense of what J. Bukovska was driving at. Nadia, her heroine is much more than the action thriller stereotype of  “an iron maiden” , flaunting about her stunningly good looks. “The calculating bitch” who is the lover of one of the moguls unexpectedly falls in love with R. Greco’s hero and displays surprising nuances of her personality.

As director Mark Ropper remarked “The performance of the Bulgarian actors hasn’t been touched by Hollywood, they still have a lot of theatre in them. There is some kind of depth to their interpretation, they seem to bring it up from their stomach. That’s why they have worked so well with the British actors.”

 Then Mark went on to greater lengths about the advantages of an international production, where each national talent invests his own unique shade of color. For instance, the director and some of the actors are British, the script writer is Canadian, the cameraman and the composer  are Italian etc.

 As Peter Jobin, the Canadian-born screenplay writer put it: “It’s a fantastic mixture of people who know what movies are all about. They kind of speak the same language, they immediately grasp what the other person is aiming at. Movie talk is like music, it transcends borders, it is team work and each person is just as important as the next.” Peter also makes it clear that he tries to tell interesting stories and to entertain people.

 He is full of amusing anecdotes about how words get redefined and rearticulated in the process of shooting a film. For example, the director might sometimes get excited or angry, waving his arms around like a conductor, caught up in a frenzy: “Why will this character do that?” The screenplay writer tries to explain, putting the logic of his creation to the test. On some occasions, he prevails over the director, on others, he backs down. Or, suddenly, another person on the team intervenes, and everybody accepts his point of view. Mr. Jobin takes another story out of the bag. “Once, I was woken up by a phone call and I was urgently summoned to the shooting site. When I arrived there, I realized the team people had got into a problem. They were sitting in the retro dining car and they were having a very hot argument. “This scene has to go there! No, it doesn’t have to. It belongs here!” and so on. The actors were sharing their thoughts and I was the guy who listened to them and said: “Well, that’s a great idea. Go on and develop it further. Or, I would say: “It doesn’t sound like that character, he won’t do this. Finally, Mark takes charge of the situation, he has the final say.”

Shooting a movie is a very complex thing, all sorts of difficulties creep up like cockroaches, out of all corners. These difficulties have to be resolved immediately, because of budget considerations. Or, because of the tight  schedule, very often you do the shooting for long hours and you have to finish in four or five weeks. Some people cannot take all the pressure, their nerves crack up. For instance, while shooting the Orient Express, an actress went into a nervous fit and had to go. They were all upset for a while, but they tried to drown their frustration into endless hours of shooting.

Mark Ropper is a straightforward and dynamic person, they all love to work with him. Nobody complained they were suppressed or snubbed by him. At the farewell cocktail at the NDK, he was all over the place. Sipping Heineken, he tried to weigh up his two year experience in Bulgaria:

 “To be honest, when we first came, the Bulgarian side wasn’t prepared for our style of working, like fast multiple camera shooting and others techniques. Since then, they have managed to catch up. Now problems are immediately dealt with, by executives like Evgeni Mihailov.”   

Suddenly, the lights went out. The film started unrolling, accompanied by whistling, booing and clapping of hands. The response was unrestrained and charmingly spontaneous like the one at a pop concert where fans and performers merge into a whole, each making part of the same ritual. The lights went on again and the ritual was over.

Before leaving, I had a last pint of beer with Peter Jobin. He tried to point out the reasons why international film teams felt happy about shooting in Bulgaria:

“Apart from the fine beer and beautiful women, we find here three important things. First, a fine studio that can accommodate building complicated sets, secondly, a countryside which gives us a great variety of choice. And, last but not least, a professional film industry that can back us up quite adequately, like producers, technicians etc., including the good choice of actors, some of them starring in leading parts. So, you can make a movie in the best professional circumstances. This is why we hang around here - we have finished one project and we are about to start working on another in a couple of weeks’ time... ”

Getting away from the razzle-dazzle of the cocktail party, I felt reassured that things were going the right way in filmmaking and international artistic cooperation. In a world, fragmented and divided along ethnic, social and religious lines, this is a bright light in the tunnel. Boyana film center was bought by an American company and now it is a most desirable venue for a cross-cultural creative activity.