The shot with the wrongly closed eye of Niki Iliev in Maxim Genchev’s film “Botev” has become one of the most discussed topics in Bulgarian society. In the role of the Circassian Jambulet, the actor aims a gun and closes one eye to aim, but according to many viewers he closed the wrong eye.
In connection with Niki Iliev’s scene, which quickly became a sensation on social networks, actor and director of the Satirical Theater Kalin Sarmenov shared a post from a satirical page on his Facebook profile, under which he wrote:
“They’ve removed the barracks and look at what happens in the movies.”
Published by Kalin Sarmenov in Thursday 5 January 2023
In his defense, Niki Iliev explained that because his eyes are lighter, they are very sensitive.
“I tried with my right eye open, but I lasted two seconds and it started watering,” he added in a social media post.
Iliev called the reason for what happened a “boring story” and wrote in conclusion:
“I told you: stupidity and boredom. But if you like jokes more (I would), you can use them as much as you want. Happy New Year everyone.”
Eye jokes are very nice, but the truth is much duller and more boring (here you can keep scrolling because…
Published by Niki Iliev in Monday 9 January 2023
The film “Botev”, directed by Maxim Genchev, tells about the events of 1876, when Hristo Botev led two hundred young revolutionaries to help the Bulgarian rebels. And this Genchev tape brought with it a lot of scandals and garnered extremely negative comments. Some critics even believe that with the broadcast of this film Hristo Botev was killed again.
Maxim Genchev became famous ten years ago with the very successful commercial of retro-style sausages “Oo, Pepi”. In which he played the salami man who delivered the unforgettable line. All of Bulgaria knew and sympathized with him. But after dedicating herself to directing patriotic films, he became the most despised person in the area.
And although he worked on the film “Botev” for years, he received dozens of criticisms for his script, editing and acting. Though the film officially premiered in theaters last year on March 3, there was a lack of any kind of comment at the time. So far, it has been screened most often across the country among schoolchildren and in front of Bulgarian communities abroad. But his broadcast on January 2, 2023 on BNT proved pivotal, because 2023 is Botev’s year: January 6 marks the 175th anniversary of his birth. Probably due to the lack of real tragic events this Christmas, the whole of Bulgaria is fixated on the film.
While the passions for the film “Botev” did not subside, a new scandal arose both in society and among politicians. Two weeks after Maxim Genchev announced that he would make another historical film, the incident with the president’s daughter broke out. The head of state has been accused of nepotism. On Thursday, the parliamentary committee for culture and the media also raised the question of whether there is a person close to the presidential institution in the committee that evaluates films at the BNT and whether he represents a conflict of interest. Rumen Radev commented that his daughter had no engagement.
On December 21, Maxim Genchev himself announced on Facebook that he is starting work on a new film, and Darina Radeva will star in it. “24 Hours Ago” confirmed the participation of the president’s daughter, releasing more names in the female roles. Although Niki Iliev himself told the media that the director invited him for the main male role, but according to Maxim Genchev, no actor has yet been cast. “For the king, I don’t have a casting set yet, he’ll be the last to come out,” says the director.
