
Acting
Nevena Kokanova
Born — Died
1938-12-12 — 2000-06-03
Place of birth
Dupnitsa, Bulgaria
Known for
Acting
Credits
50 titles
Nevena Kokanova (Bulgarian: Невена Коканова) (12 December 1938 – 3 June 2000) was a Bulgarian film actress. She was known as the "first lady of Bulgarian cinema." Her mother was from a well-known Austrian aristocratic family, and her father was a political prisoner. Kokanova was born in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria and is most renowned for her role as Lisa in The Peach Thief. She started her career at 18 as an apprentice actor with the Yambol Theater in Yambol, Bulgaria. In 1975 she was a member of the jury at the 9th Moscow International Film Festival. In 1980 she starred in and co-directed Three Deadly Sins with Lyubomir Sharlandzhiev. She died in Sofia.
Known for
8.3No synopsis available yet.
Home for Our Children
1986
NRCrime thriller about a private detective who becomes involved in intrigues surrounding a missing woman and highly toxic chemicals.
Botschafter morden nicht
1970
7.1The wife of a Bulgarian POW camp's warden falls in love with a Serbian prisoner at the end of World War I.
The Peach Thief
1964
9.0The five-year-old kid Dimo must go to the kindergarten. He is not used to talking to the other kids and he has problems adjusting. His teacher gives him the task of taking care of aquarium. Dimo caused a flood, catches a old and stays at home for few days. Once day his parents take him to the zoo. His mother shows him the tiger cage and tells him that he looks as a little tiger. When Dimo goes back to the kindergarten, he makes a mess again, refuges to apologize and runs off. He walks around the streets of Sofia, plays on the swings in the park, goes to the distorted mirrors room, watches a soccer practice and becomes an unwilling participant in a TV show. The teachers in the kindergarten are worried about his disappearance. A search begins. Without suspecting anything, two young people take Dimo to a restaurant but have an accident on their way back. The young people run away and Dimo hides in telephone booth, from where he calls his house. His parents look for him with no success.
Little Tiger
1973
7.6When a road construction detour forces former lovers Boyan and Neda to cross paths after seventeen years, they are compelled to spend a day traveling together toward Sofia. Their idealistic romance in the 1950s contrasts with their current lives as disillusioned, middle-aged professionals. As they talk, they confront the personal and social choices that led to their eventual separation.
Detour
1967
NRNo synopsis available yet.
Среднощна среща
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Film credits
1980s · 12 titles
Natural minerals are found all over the world. They represent the wealth of the country they come from. This film conveys the beauty of minerals.
Crystals
1982
8.5The action takes place at the beginning of the 20th century in the provincial Bulgarian town, Turnovo. A rich young doctor suffers because of his love to his housemaid. Meanwhile the First World War is beginning.
Queen of Turnovo
1981
9.0Bulgarian prisoners of war escape from the Germans in the town of Ohrid.
Salvation
1984
7.0An older man of high social standing begins to understand that he's not as perfect as he believed.
This Fine Mature Age
1985
Bulgaria, 1930s, small provincial town. Vyara Zadgorska returned to her hometown as a doctor after six years of study in France. Along the way she meets the landowner Assen Valchev, who is fascinated by her, but she is in love with someone else - the lawyer Kiril Donchev.
Autumn Sun
1982
6.5The action takes place in Moscow, Berlin and Vienna in years 1932 and 1933, a time when the great Bulgarian revolutionary and internationalist Georgi Dimitrov was actively involved in establishing a broad alliance of democratic forces against the emerging threat of war and fascism.
The Warning
1982
7.0Pavel Pashev receives a package with three shrunk up apples - three vampire apples. According to the legend, he is doomed. Who sent the apple? For years, there has been a feud between Pavel and Kuzdo. Both of them are on age, when a man reflects on his past. Their conflict represents the different viewpoints of violence and freedom. Who is the sinner - the man who fought with honor for this world or the observer, the human register?
The Three Deadly Sins
1980
10.0The story of St. Cyrilus (Constantine The Philosopher) in his quest of enlightening the Slavic people.
Constantine The Philosopher
1983
8.3He is well educated, charming, and gallant - a dream for each lonely lady. In reality he is a skillful swindler, who robs naive women. Cheating merchants with guilty consciences are his targets as well. This is the elusive protagonist of the movie. He constantly changes his name, stages his own death, and travels from town to town. His exploits are myriad and his life is an endless adventure. Yet, he remains an amiable swindler, an unrealized actor, whose only goal is make his life more interesting.
Dangerous Charm
1984
7.9A couple of young ladies decide to obtain a driving license. The film is a true comedy of relations, caused between the driving-teacher and the beginner-drivers.
Ladies' Choice
1980
7.51929. The owners of a roadside hotel-a man and a woman-kill the merchant. To solve the murder, the investigator sends his undercover agent to the hotel. A passionate love begins between the agent and the woman. She confessed to her lover about the murder. The killer managed to escape, and the woman was sent to prison.
Forest People
1985
The lives and fates of the regular visitors of a village inn.
Evenings in Antim's Inn
1988
1970s · 16 titles
9.0The five-year-old kid Dimo must go to the kindergarten. He is not used to talking to the other kids and he has problems adjusting. His teacher gives him the task of taking care of aquarium. Dimo caused a flood, catches a old and stays at home for few days. Once day his parents take him to the zoo. His mother shows him the tiger cage and tells him that he looks as a little tiger. When Dimo goes back to the kindergarten, he makes a mess again, refuges to apologize and runs off. He walks around the streets of Sofia, plays on the swings in the park, goes to the distorted mirrors room, watches a soccer practice and becomes an unwilling participant in a TV show. The teachers in the kindergarten are worried about his disappearance. A search begins. Without suspecting anything, two young people take Dimo to a restaurant but have an accident on their way back. The young people run away and Dimo hides in telephone booth, from where he calls his house. His parents look for him with no success.
Little Tiger
1973
7.0Having remained alone in his village house, old Gatyo must move in with his son and daughter-in-law in their flat in the city. They receive him with great understanding and sympathy but cannot find the key to his heart. Torn out of his natural environment and left bewilderingly rootless, this good man cannot adapt himself to the urban way of life. He does not like the mayonnaise he is offered, does not know how to use the lift. The people hurrying in the streets seem to him indifferent, and some even sly and deceitful. He sees the city as a place full of hostile people and inanimate objects. He badly misses the warm human touch of his village. Death is the only possible solution to the tragic conflict of this peasant, crucified between the archaic and the modern, and unable to adapt to the urban lifestyle.
Rootless Tree
1974
6.4Maria is having great difficulty getting on with her parents because of their blind, consumerist approach to life. Traumatized by continuous family dramas, having experienced the disappointments of firs love, Maria decides to go up the mountain to a holiday home. There she meets a conceited architect, a shy teacher, a jurist, and a timid journalist (all of them representatives of the intelligentsia) who are domineered by the manager of the holiday home and his 'problems'. Maria's resignation changes into a rebellion against impersonal submission and sheep-like compliance with those who hold power.
Love
1972
9.0The main character is a commander of a nuclear powered submarine. Once a very promising hydroacoustics expert, he sacrificed his scientific career to devoting himself to serving his homeland as a warrior. Gradually, he figures out that the worth of mastering the art of war is in its non-appliance.
Cyclops
1976
7.4The charming young man Ran is a director in a school in his hometown. His classmate Mariana is his wife. At the first glance, things are like, as they ought to be. In the world of untold words and timid gestures something important is missing - the understanding. He cannot succumb to the routine, hypocrisy and egoism. Ran sees every moment of his everyday life as a part of everlasting human strive for beauty and perfection, which brings him many troubles and causes conflicts with his colleagues and his friends. The intrigues and betrayal of a part of his colleagues during the visitation of a school inspector make him lose his patience. On a public place, he slaps the inspector who destroys the human dignity of the others. There is a court against Ran. He must leave the school. He leaves his wife Mariana who does not understand him. These misfortunes do not stop his search for real values, real work, real love, in another place, another town, another school.
Don't Go Away!
1976
8.5A family evacuates to the Bulgarian countryside during World War II
Memories of the Twin Sister
1976
7.0The action centers on Ran and his schoolmates who are in the last year of school. They are only a few days away from the day when they will have to make a decisive choice: what are they going to be, and what is more important, how are they going to live? In the whirlpool of meetings with different people and mainly with three women, the filmmakers are trying to see the future of their main character. His schoolmate Mariana wants to lead him into family life. The pop singer Neli is the very incarnation of adventurism. However, he is most deeply touched by the salesgirl in the near-by coffee shop Tintyava. This is a wordless affair in which each glance exchanged betrays the piercing excitement of impossible love.
The Boy Turns Man
1972
7.4The film belongs to the 'migration cycle' in the Bulgarian cinema. It is about the drama of a group of women who have been left alone in their 'female kingdom' - a village deserted by its entire men folk.
Matriarchy
1977
7.7The middle-aged poor painter Tsokov doesn't believe in marriage, something completely unacceptable in a cramped socialist society.
The Last Bachelor
1974
10.0A story about three brothers, Petar, Angel and Vasil, each one joins the fight against fascism in his own way.
Circles of Love
1972
8.3The film takes us back into the times of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom - 13th century. The Bulgarian Emperor - Tsar Ioan Assen - is trying through several marriages to enlarge the State and to support the peace in it.
The Weddings of Ioan Assen
1975
6.4A former history teacher, currently a house painter is broke before the New Year. Faith meets him with the rich man, who wants his living room to be painted by 4 o'clock for a hefty pay. The father and his six children begin the heavy task with a song. When all is done, the rich man calls that he is going to pay the house painter on the 2nd of January. The father decides to celebrate New Year no matter what.
My Father, the Painter
1974
The young partisan Nestor makes attempt to escape from prison, but is shot in the chest. After a few tense hours, the surgeon professor Andronikov removes the bullet, however Nestor is to be tortured in the police station. The professor makes his case in front of the health minister who promises to help him. The minister wants Nestor to express regret for his actions and offer the authorities certain information.
A Human Heart
1972
7.0In a bustling European city, Bulgarian agent Pavlov, under suspicion of double-dealing in a Western spy center, is exonerated and assigned to lead a covert operation alongside colleague Robert Houston. Tasked with recruiting a Bulgarian contact as part of a larger plan to neutralize missile sites at home, Pavlov and Houston are sent to Bulgaria, where their mutual distrust fuels a dangerous game.
A Strange Duel
1971
Near a large Bulgarian city begins the construction of a large factory. There is a fertile land in close by. Prof. Dimov, Director of the Environment Protection Institute has to submit his official approval for the civil works to begin. He and his co-worker Prof. Radev refuse.
Sunstroke
1977
7.2A young literature teacher joins an evening technical school where her students - miners, metallurgists, builders and drivers - clash with her literary ideals. To understand them, she visits their families, workplaces and reads their essays on “The Best Person I Know,” learning their hidden struggles and reexamining her own moral judgments.
The Best Person I Know!
1973
1960s · 15 titles
7.1The wife of a Bulgarian POW camp's warden falls in love with a Serbian prisoner at the end of World War I.
The Peach Thief
1964
7.6When a road construction detour forces former lovers Boyan and Neda to cross paths after seventeen years, they are compelled to spend a day traveling together toward Sofia. Their idealistic romance in the 1950s contrasts with their current lives as disillusioned, middle-aged professionals. As they talk, they confront the personal and social choices that led to their eventual separation.
Detour
1967
8.5In a large provincial town, two friends Nasko and Raycho meet Emil, a conductor in the opera, who introduces them to Ana, an opera singer. Nasko and Ana fall in love. Nasko has to write a story for the newspaper about the irregular enrollment in college of Aneliya, the daughter of the local bigwig. A well-known director arrives from the capital for an opera premiere and makes advances to Ana. Aneliya comes to demand an explanation in Nasko's home. Ana finds her there and decides to take her revenge on him. She becomes intimate with the director. The story about the Aneliya case is ready, but as desk editor is drunk, Nasko fakes his OK signature. He sham is discovered. The relationships between the erstwhile friends are marred by insincerity, falsehood, tacit intrigues. Nasko plucks up courage to tell his friends the truth. In this way, he wins back Ana's love and he boy's trust.
Karambol
1966
6.3A humble scientist from Padua proves that the Earth revolves and that it is not the center of the universe.
Galileo
1968
5.6Boris Morev dreams of money and power, he’ll do everything to reach the top, including leaving his beloved Irina, to marry the daughter of the local tobacco factory owner. With the death of his father-in-law and the illness of his wife, Morev becomes the new owner of "Nicotiana" and rules with an iron fist, resulting in massive labour strikes and murder. He ropes Irina back into his life, first as a mistress and later as his second wife, but his ambitions still come first as he plans on emerging as the biggest tobacco seller once the war is over. Irina’s love for Boris is fading and she finds a lover in one of the Germans Boris is trying to strike a deal with. Set against the backdrop of World War II and communist partisans fighting against the Nazi-allied Bulgarian monarchy, the film is a screen adaptation of the Bulgarian classic novel "Tobacco" released in 1954.
Tobacco
1962
8.5Ani, a charming young girl, is a driver at Sofia Airport. She sends a letter to her boyfriend Boyan, a worker at a large construction site. The letter contains a single word "yes". Boyan starts preparing for a wedding. The Soviet pilot Andrey will soon return home after several years spent working with his Bulgarian colleagues. They arrange a farewell tour of Bulgaria for him on which Ani has to drive him. Because of mistaken jealousy, Boyan tears up his sweetheart's letter.
Be Happy, Ani!
1961
7.8Three separate novels are dealing with the never-ending problem of men's infidelity. How should women behave when men take a fancy to them? The picture ends in funny, sometimes comical, yet wise answer
Men on a Business Trip
1969
6.0A newly established communist authorities in Yugoslavia face the moral challenge of how to deal with warriors of defeated side and other enemies of the regime.
Before and After the Victory
1967
7.0Chased by the military police force, the partisans Boyka and Anton take refuge in a cave. A grenade explosion dislodges the rock, which seals off the passage.
On a Quiet Evening
1960
8.0Professor Dimov is a diplomat who has been recruited as a spy by a foreign intelligence service. The suspicions fall on Dr. Belcheva. Major Kalinov is entrusted with the investigation of the case. He learns that she is Dimov's mistress. Paris, France. Dimov and Belcheva go out leaving a bag with secret documents in Belcheva's hotel room. Kalinov manages to retrieve the documents. After this incident Belcheva dies in hospital from poisoning. On board the plane Kalinov exposes the professor as a spy. Bulgarian counterintelligence officers arrest him.
Dangerous Flight
1968
9.0A hairdresser Gerda has an affair with Dr Nikodimov, a married man past his prime. Savarinova has had her hair done by Gerda in fashionable style. She is ill at ease at a family party. Her sister Mina has been the cause of her anxiety, because the young scientist Belokozhov prefers young and unaffected Mina. They go out to the park and have fun by themselves. Meanwhile, Nikodimov goes to see Gerda in her flat. She tells him what has been preying on her mind during their liaison. Nikodimov's wife comes there but he turns her away. He tells Gerda that he will move in with her for good. Heartbroken, the girl turns him away. Nikodimov goes to the hospital. In his office, he takes out an ampule of cyanide and drains it with a resolute gesture. Mina and Belokozhov discuss love in the park. It starts raining. Laughing, a boy and a girl walk towards the dawn.
Taste of Almonds
1967
The upper class of the capital has been invited to a party. The guests discuss the retreat of the Germans on the Eastern Front. Havadzhieva, an attractive intellectual, recognizes that the interests of her class require action, not words.
Tango
1969
8.3Marinov is found dead, and suspects include Baev, Dimov, and Zhana. The Inspector, who deals with life’s dark side, investigates. Despite his loneliness, he shows compassion, especially towards Zhana. Ultimately, he concludes Marinov committed suicide and demonstrates that people can embrace higher morality. Based on the detective book by Bogomil Raynov.
The Inspector and the Night
1963
10.0Nine volunteers begin digging a tunnel through rugged mountain terrain. The group includes three miners. The others have come from different parts of the country for different reasons. When winter comes, a blizzard makes the road impassable and the truck with supplies cannot reach them in time. With only a hundred metres to dig, the tunnel collapsed. Everybody leaves the construction site, except the communist Damjan. In town they check in at the mine and are due to start work in two days. During these two days, one by one, they are overwhelmed with shame for leaving the tunnel, and finally return to Damjan to finish their work despite all the difficulties.
The Steep Path
1961
10.0The action takes place during the Second World War. Unexpectedly in a train compartment a fugitive - British captive - appears among the passengers. The human solidarity is stronger than the fear, and they do their best to save him.
The Longest Night
1967



