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Evgenia Iroeva
decades after 1945 were avoided because of the associations, which was undesirable
for the Communist government.
Before 1980, the Bulgarian historical films about the Middle Ages were dedi¬
cated to the rulers of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom between the late twelfth cen¬
tury and the late fourteenth century (Kaloyan [‘Kaloyan’], Shishman [‘Shishman’],
Svatbite na Yoan Asen |“The Weddings of Yoan Asen’], Knyazat [The Prince], Ivaylo
[‘Ivaylo’]). These films had features characteristic of the tragedy genre as their char¬
acters were depicted in crisis situations (Milev 1982: 42-60). The first film, Kaloyan
(1963, director Dako Dakovski), presented the international recognition of the re¬
stored Bulgarian state, its expansion and the victory of the Bulgarians ruled by Tsar
Kaloyan over the knights of the Latin Emperor Baldwin in 1205. The second film,
Ivaylo (1964, Nikola Valchev), was dedicated to the leader of the peasant uprising,
who defeated the Tatars, opposed the boyars and ascended the Bulgarian throne in
1278. In the film, the image of the tsar is romanticized and interpreted in terms of
sacrifice (Doncheva 2012). Next came a movie about the last medieval Bulgarian
ruler, Ivan Shishman (Shishman, 1969, director Yuri Arnaudov), characterized by
film critics as a theatrical piece of filmmaking based on a play bearing the same name
(Milev 1982: 63-64). The Prince (director Petar Vasilev) was filmed in the same
year (1969) and was about Svetoslav Terter, who put an end to Bulgaria’s depend¬
ence on the Tatars in the early fourteenth century. The last medieval-themed movie
from this period, The Weddings of Yoan Asen (1975, Vili Tsankov) was dedicated
to the most successful ruler of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom. The film showed
common elements with previous historical movies: a tragic image of the hero sac¬
rificing his personal happiness for the interests of the state (Milev 1982: 68-69).
The screen images of the Second Bulgarian Kingdoms rulers were of loners who
were in conflict with relatives, with boyars, with diplomats, with clerics (Milev
1982: 102). The affirmation of Bulgarianness in the historical films was realized
through the opposition to foreign people (Byzantines, knights, Cumans, Tatars)
(Doncheva 2012). The boyars were often portrayed as traitors, allying with foreign
forces, while the positive characters came from the common people (Milev 1982:
104). The historical films from the period aimed to present the common people as
the “engine of history” (Bratoeva-Darakchieva 2013: 221).
‘The screenings of these historical films attracted millions of viewers. The viewers
of the film Kaloyan were 3,392,100; of Ivaylo, 2,723,857; of The Prince, 1,226,207;
and of The Weddings of Yoan Asen, 2,414,550 (Yanakiev 2003: 298-301). These
counts significantly exceeded the usual number of visitors to a movie and reveal the
significant impact of historical moviemaking on the formation of ideas about the
Middle Ages among Bulgarians during the socialist period.
Public spaces such as squares and parks have been a common place for the
erection of monuments and sculptures of figures important to the history of
the national community. The installation of these monuments has an ideologi¬
cal function, which is directly dependent on the respective policies for heroiza¬