Writing

Hristo Ganev

Born 1924-08-02 · Pavel banya, Kazanlak, Bulgaria

Hristo Ganev is a Bulgarian writer and film director. He was a member of the partisan unit "Chavdar" and took active participation in the antifascist resistance during WWII. He wrote the scripts for The Swimming Pool (1977), The Big Night Bathe (1980), and On the Roofs at Night (1988), directed by his wife Binka Zhelyazkova; as well as the scripts for a lot of short animated films. He directed a documentary on the Algerian independence titled Holiday for Hope(1963) and co-directed Life Quietly Moves On...(1957) with his wife.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Zaches poster
NR

The film is a romantic comedy, inspired by the fairy-tale atmosphere of the Hofmann fantasies.

Zaches

2010

We Were Young poster
7.4

During Second World War a beautiful love between two young people burns out against the background of the Nazi reality.

We Were Young

1961

The Big Night Bathe poster
8.5

Friends of different generations, practicing different professions, spend together their summer holidays at the seaside every year. It is sunny; they look carefree and happy. They know each other very well, they are used to each other. To such an extent, that bore becomes inevitable. It is boredom that incites them to play a dangerous game. The end is dramatic: a young boy gets killed. It is the moment to draw the bottom line. The question is: Isn't the death of the spirit worse than of the body?

The Big Night Bathe

1980

Song of Man poster
6.0

Scenes from the life and revolutionary activity of poet Nikola Vaptzarov are shown against the background of political life in Bulgaria on the eve of World War II.

Song of Man

1954

On the Roofs at Night poster
8.0

Two girls with the same name—Nadezhda [Hope]—live in the same apartment. Great Nadezhda is isolated from other people. She has no other aspirations than to marry a man much older than her. Over time, she will realize that this is her father, whom her mother is hiding. A small Nadezhda is the complete opposite of a great Nadezhda. She lives for others. Take care of Grandpa. She opposes rudeness and meanness. Gradually, the two girls change places. They become two parts of one whole.

On the Roofs at Night

1988

Life Flows Slowly By... poster
7.5

The fortunes of a group of partisans after the triumph of the socialist revolution.

Life Flows Slowly By...

1957

Life Flows Slowly By... poster
7.5

The fortunes of a group of partisans after the triumph of the socialist revolution.

Life Flows Slowly By...

1957

No artwork available
5.5

A young modern woman goes to church and all hell breaks loose.

The Devil in the Church

1969

The Swimming Pool poster
7.2

Apostol, an architect on this side of forty, meets by chance Bella at a swimming pool on the night of her graduation party.

The Swimming Pool

1977

The Tenth Circle poster
8.0

For the hero of this grotesque, The Man, the nine circles of Hell are nothing more than a fun fair pavilion, a Sunday stroll in Disneyland, a trip on the roller coaster, and a ride on the Ferris wheel. There are nine circles in Hell, but life is the Ten Circle. Sartre says, "Hell - these are the others!" And maybe, we are all Hell... Jokingly, of course.

The Tenth Circle

1998

All So Much Hogwash poster
NR

Hristo Ganev's script is about the senseless war, the love that gives birth to the child of the wounded soldier and the nurse at the front...

All So Much Hogwash

2017

No artwork available
NR

It's about love. It's about hope and selflessness. Weather forecast - sunny with occasional showers.

Love with Occasional Showers

2015

A white shoulder for a black man poster
NR

A film about the tornado of feelings that rages in the head of a white man, the guide of a blind black musician. The genius, immersed in darkness, gets acquainted with the world of others through the shoulder of his guide. The characters become entangled in a complex psychological relationship and emotional clash.

A white shoulder for a black man

2024

The Merry Man poster
7.0

Everything is sunny, everything is colorful, but the most colorful is the flag of Veselyaka, with which he happily goes against the current, storms, and crowds. However, fate prepares trials for him, and each of them tears a piece of cloth from the waving flag, until in the end only the handle of the flag remains. Carrying this stick, the Jolly One joins the crowd. There are thousands like him, ferocious people with sticks.

The Merry Man

1987

Two Victories poster
7.3

The weaknesses and shortcomings in the work of some leaders in the years of the building of socialism are ridiculed.

Two Victories

1956

No artwork available
10.0

A film poem in four parts following the first four days after Algeria's independence in 1962. Footage of the nationwide celebrations is intercut with footage shot among the fighters of the Algerian Army of National Liberation, refugees exiled to the mountains of Tunisia and Morocco, and ordinary people from the towns and villages of Algeria.

A Celebration of Hope

1963

No artwork available
10.0

A film poem in four parts following the first four days after Algeria's independence in 1962. Footage of the nationwide celebrations is intercut with footage shot among the fighters of the Algerian Army of National Liberation, refugees exiled to the mountains of Tunisia and Morocco, and ordinary people from the towns and villages of Algeria.

A Celebration of Hope

1963