May 12: Sofia Pride Arts Opening party
Free entrance with a registration in advance at www.huge.bg.
Line-up
DJ Soren Luka (France)
DJ Kaloo (Bulgaria)
dance performances by
Chris Arte (Greece) & Hamington Sanchez (Spain)
“Sex and madness”- a digital projection of photographs by Nikola Djukich, Serbia. Based in Novi Sad, Nikola creates photographs that tell stories of the peculiar world of human beauty and mentality. Between kitsch and grotesque, his works address the usual representation of the naked male body in a sociopolitical and aesthetic context. “Being a gay artist in Serbia is particularly difficult, because people still consider it a taboo, something crude and indecent, especially talking about erotism. I think people are still afraid and live with that 90s belief about homosexuality as a disease. But this changes step by step, and it brings about freedom of the people to share,” says the author.
Start – 10 pm, Fabrika 126
May 13: Open bachata lesson for same-sex couples
Our bachata instructors, Stunny and Yoanna, have danced at large European scenes and have a long experience at teaching, and since a year and a half they have their own dance school in Sofia with a common goal: passing their love of dancing to the people while showing them another pleasant way to have fun and discover new friends and emotions!
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Easy Club, 6 “Professor Boyan Kamenov” St, Studentski grad
May 14, May 15: Dark Age Romance
7 pm, Aether
May 18 – May 24: Love Moves
Participants include Gonzalo Orquín, Josh McKenna, Ego Rodriguez, Iskra Blagoeva, Kalin Serapionov, Natalia Lenz, Ptpetrov, Radostin Sedevchev, Sevda Semer, Yasen Zgurovski.
Opening – May 18, 7 pm, Generator
May 19: Equality Run - Couples run 3 km
During the event CheckPoint Sofia I Center for Sexual Health will provide free and anonymous testing for HIV, and GLAS Foundation will hand out informational materials and condoms. Counseling on the subject will be available by volunteers of the organizations.
The event is supported by the Physical education and sports development program of Sofia Municipality and Sofia 2018 – European Capital of Sports.
11:00 am – 1:00 pm, Zaimov park
May 19: Street Self Defence Workshop
The workshop will include theoretical and practical part and will last about 3 h.
The techniques are based on the Chinese martial art Wing Chun, and the main objective is overcoming a physically stronger aggressor/s in a close distance.
The workshop will be led by certified Wing Chun instructors C-Jey Alex Boreva and C-Hing Konstantin Krastev.
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm.
Sredets House of Culture, 2А Krakra St.
May 19: FLAPSƎ
FLAPSƎ – a wordplay of the worlds flaps – the push of bird wings during a flight, and lapse – an air current.
Development and choreography: Zhivko Zhelyazkov
Dance: Gergana Ilieva, Vasil Zelyamov
Music and sounds: Ivan Shopov
Photographer: Yana Lozeva
Graphic Design: Teodora Simova
Project coordinators: Mihail Baykov, Yana Yaneva
Producer: Atanas Maev
15 lv – regular ticket, 12 lv – students
7:30 pm.
Derida scene, Derida Dance Center
May 21 - May 27: Queens Of The New Union
+ #FiveFilms4Freedom – a selection of short movies by the British Council.
Sredets House of Culture
May 25: Voguing workshop
Queer party at 10 pm!
After the workshop we will stay for a party to show off our new voguing skills!
Sofia Pride Arts & Sofia Pride Sports are partnering for this event.
7 pm – 10 pm
10 pm – Queer Party
Fabrika Avtonomia, 149 Tsar Samuil St.
May 26: PAPAS IN MOTION
PAPAS IN MOTION by Ronald Rudol
Translation: Vladko Murdarov
Director: prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD
Scenography and costumes: Teodora Lazarova
Choreography: Zhivko Zhelyazkov
Plastics and scene fights: Vesela Hadzhinikolova
Photographer: Maria Tsvetkova
In the first act one lady claims her name is Elizabeth. She also claims her husband is not only a psychotherapist but also gay. The discovery had been by chance and after hesitating for a long time Elizabeth decides to announce it to the rest of the ladies whose men are well-disposed to men. This is the beginning. You have the opportunity to stay at the bar, or to bypass it…
Tickets at the ticket office of the learning center and on www.eventim.bg. 8 lv.
7.30 pm.
Training theater, Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts
May 27: Soccer tournament against homophobia
The Soccer tournament against homophobia will be organized in 5+1 mixed teams and small soccer goals. The football tournament is supported and subsidized by the FARE network.
The FARE network is an organization that unites everybody who works to combat inequality and discrimination in soccer and uses sports as an instrument for social inclusion.
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm.
Peace and Amity Sports complex, 83 Nikola Gabrovski, Studentski Grad
May 28 – June 10: Balkan Pride
Opening May 28, 6.30 pm.
Sredets House of Culture
May 28: A Light Inside
Finalist Fotoevidence Book Award with World Press Photo
The exhibition is part of the program of ninth edition of The Month of Photography and is presented in partnership with FotoEvidence – Documentary Photography and Social Justice. The exhibition is included in the program of Sofia Pride ArtsA Light Inside, an ongoing documentary project by photojournalist Danielle Villasana, explores the life-threatening challenges trans women face throughout Latin America.
Most trans women in Latin America die or are murdered before they reach 35. Latin America leads the world in homicides of transgender people (80% of global trans homicides occur in the region) …and the rate of HIV infection among trans women is nearly 50 times higher than the general population.
The human rights violations perpetrated against trans women throughout this region are the result of toxic societal forces. The region’s highly machismo, conservative, religious and transphobic culture ostracizes and stigmatizes them, posing a serious threat to their health, social security, life expectancy and employment prospects. With few options or economic support, the majority fall into prostitution. As trans sex workers, they’re targets of disease, violence and sexual and substance abuse. Without legal protections, many cases of violence and murder go undocumented.
While the media in Latin America often paints trans women in a negative light, Villasana has focused on their personal lives with friends, family, and partners. When photographing the streets, she strives to convey the tight-knit connections between the women, the abuse by law enforcement, and the discomforts of sex work. Media focus on the sensational obscures the humanity of trans women and fuels society’s misunderstanding and judgement. “A Light Inside” strives to counter that.
Bio:
Danielle Villasana is an independent photojournalist whose documentary work focuses on human rights, women, identity, displacement, and health across the world. She’s based in Istanbul and contributes to Redux. Danielle won the 2015 Magnum Foundation’s Inge Morath Award, is an alumna of the Eddie Adams Workshop, a past attendant of the New York Times Portfolio Review, placed as a finalist for the 2018 FotoEvidence with World Press Photo Award, was selected for the 2015-2016 Emerging Talent Roster at Getty Images Reportage, and is an IWMF fellow. Her work has been included in solo and group exhibits and has been published in The New York Times, the Washington Post, National Geographic, PRI’s The World, PBS News, ABC News, News Deeply, and Al Jazeera among others. Danielle is a member of The Everyday Project’s Community Team where she writes frequently for Re-Picture and where she recently helped build The Native and Everyday Projects mentorship program, which aims to nourish emerging photographers from underrepresented regions worldwide.
Opening and artist talk: 28 of May 2018, 6 p.m. Center for Culture and Debate “Red House”
May 29 – June 12: Peeping Toms and Jerries
Pavel Naydenov is a Bulgarian artist and musician living in Vienna. He studied pop and jazz singing at The Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in Plovdiv, and then graduated in cultural management at the same place. Now he studies “Social design and art as a city inovation” at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna.
He takes an active part in the concert activity of the Gaudeamus chorus, Plovdiv and realizes many tours and concerts in the country and abroad. In his work as an artist he focuses on topics such as affiliations, subcultures, etc. He works with found objects and images, experimental music and audio installations.
Opening: May 29, 6.30 pm.
The Fridge
May 30: I DO
7 pm.
Sabai
May 31: Star Butterfly
7 pm.
TEZGYAH
June 1: Healthy eating seminar
18:30, A Hub, 3 Hristo Belchev str.
June 1: PARTY – Rainbow Kingdom
Rainbow Kingdom is here to slay! Club One to One gives a start to Pride Week with a Pre-party for Sofia Pride 2018!
On June 1 2018 we open the club for all the people of the rainbow. A magnificent celebratory program – a one-of-a-kind show with live performances of emblematic LGBTI anthems, Rainbow Queens, Go-Go Boys, ballet and dances until dawn!
Entrance fees income will be donated to the organization of Pride 2018!
The party begins at 11:30 pm sharp!
Entrance: 10 lv.
For bookings and information:+359 877 181 343
Club One to One
Sofia, 22 Positano street
11:30 pm.
June 2 – 8: SOFIA PRIDE FILM FEST
You can learn more about the program of the film fest at: http://www.sofiapridefilmfest.com/ , and on the Facebook page of the Fest: https://www.facebook.com/SofiaPrideFilmFest/.
Dom na Kinoto,
Odeon cinema
June 2: SOFIA PRIDE FILM FEST
20 min, Bulgaria, experimental, director: Stephan Gannoff
He is young and handsome and he lives in Germany. Sometimes he is a she. He is honest with his mother. She understands him and accepts him. He has no father. He has an uncle in Bulgaria who knows only a part of his nephew – the masculine one. It’s time for the whole truth.
Whole
21 min, Bulgaria, fiction, director: Slava Doytcheva
A wedding. A girl. A closet. And the choice to be made once and for all – against the current or against herself.
6:30 PM, Dom na Kinoto
June 2: Zen Play
The illusion of reality is completely real. The man is not a man, and the woman is not a woman.
The performance is for everybody who is not scared to grow up – downwards.
Conception and choreography: Zhivko Zhelyazkov
Composer: Ivan Shopov
Visual environment: Polina Stoyanova (Jo Iyaa)
Performers: Filip Milanov, Marion Darova, Diana Aleksandrova (With the special appearance of Dinko Zhelyazkov)
Producer: Atanas Maev
7:30 pm.
Derida Scene, Derida Dance Center
June 3: „At the table“
Director and scenography: Konstantsa Getsova, Daniel Aleksandrov, dramatist Ivaylo-Valentino Uchanov and actors Mihail Milchev, Denitsa Darinova, Ahmed Yumer, Tsveta Doycheva.
7 pm.
The Red House
June 3: SOFIA PRIDE FILM FEST
9 min, Ireland, fiction, director: Kev Cahill
A pious Doctor is forced to deal with a family matter whilst hiding under the bed of a stranger.
Dream Boat
92 min, Germany, doc, director: Tristan Milewski
Once a year the DREAM BOAT sets sail for a cruise only for gay men. Far from their families and political restrictions, we follow five men from five countries on the quest for their dreams. The cruise promises seven days of sunshine, love, and freedom – but on board are also their personal stories, their doubts and uncertainties…
Berlinale 2017
8:30 pm, Odeon Cinema
June 4: SOFIA PRIDE FILM FEST
12 min, Ireland, doc, Director: Cara Holmes
The story of how Irish people fought the system, provided front-line and core services for haemophiliacs and other HIV and AIDS patients, and ultimately saved lives.
Soldiers
119 min, Romania, fiction, director: Ivana Mladenovic
Set within Bucharest’s impoverished ghetto Ferentari, Ivana Mladenovic’s intimate narrative debut navigates the unexpected relationship that blossoms between a young anthropologist named Adi and Roma guide Alberto.
20:30, Odeon Cinema
June 5: SOFIA PRIDE FILM FEST
12 min, Ireland, experimental, Director: Dearbhla Walsh
In a stunningly visual and visceral artistic exploration, choreographed by Fearghus Ó Conchúir, I’m Roger Casement dances its way through the queer legacy of the Irish revolutionary. The film is a sensuous, poetic and moving evocation of a complex history seen in contemporary bodies.
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
105 min, USA, doc, director: David France
This documentary uses never-before-seen footage and rediscovered interviews in a search for the truth behind the mysterious 1992 death of black transgender activist and Stonewall veteran Marsha P. Johnson.
8:30 pm, Odeon Cinema
June 6: SOFIA PRIDE FILM FEST
15 min, Russia, fic/doc, director: Julia Grauberger
A poetic film about an ordinary Russian girl, her 23-rd birthday and the heavy silence that rules her life.
Small Talk
88 min, Taiwan, doc, director: Hui-Chen Huang
Taiwanese filmmaker Hui-chen Huang knows her mother is a lesbian, but just about nothing else about her. They have lived like strangers under one roof for decades, and almost never talk to each other. One day Hui-chen finally summons up the courage to sit her down and make her mother talk. But is she ready to hear what she has to say?
8:30 pm, Odeon Cinema
June 6: Diabolical Reading
6 pm
Essence Bar
June 6: GGGang
Choreography and performance: Krasen Krastev
Costumes: Scilla Ilardo
Sounds: Deru, Göem, Andy Sttot
A production of Théâtre Arsenic, Lausanne
Krasen Krastev is a choreographer and a performer based in Lozana, Switzerland. He graduated the National School of Choreography in Sofia. In 1993 together with Teodora Popova and Lilia Stefcheva he creates the first contemporary dance company in Bulgaria “Amarant Dance Studio”. Krasen continues his dance education in Switzerland where he studies under world famous choreographer Maurice Béjart at his school Rudra-Béjart (Lozana). In 1996 he joins one of the best Swiss companies for contemporary dance Linga, where he works as a performer and an assistant.
9 pm
Kanaal
June 7: Big Gay Book Club
7 pm.
Rainbow Hub
June 7: SOFIA PRIDE FILM FEST
23 min, Ireland, fiction, director: Eoin Maher
Bryn, a jaded young man new to London, must spend the night with Sean, after their casual sexual encounter leaves Sean stranded.
Red Cow
90 min, Israel, fiction, director: Tsivia Barkai
As the search is on for the rare red heifer, required for Jewish purification rituals at the advent of the Messiah and the building of the Third Temple, this film is a coming-of-age story for Benny, 17, born in the Israeli settlement of Beit– El. Motherless since birth, and the only child of Joshua, a “Temple loyalist” and right-wing extremist, Benny is at a critical juncture in shaping her sexual, religious and political consciousness.
Berlinale 2018, Sofia Film Fest 2018
8:30 pm, Odeon Cinema
June 7: FB concert by I-vo
8.30 pm.
Fabrika 126
June 8: Different People, Equal Rights: discussion, organized by Friedrich Naumann Foundation
1:30 pm – 5:30 pm
French institute
June 8: PURE Pride – Performance
PURE is the second part of a trilogy inspired by Spinoza’s idea of ETERNITY, raising the questions of birth and death.
Hristiyan Bakalov graduates the National School of Choreography – Sofia in 1991 in the class of Iliyan Drangazhov and the same year he joins the troupe “The Young Ballet of France” in Paris. His career as a dancer continues in the National Choreography center “Claude Brumachon” in Nantes. With this group he embarks on world tours in Europe, Latin America, Africa and the USA for 7 years. Between 2002 and 2005, Hristiyan Bakalov plays at City Center – New York, Theater de Ranelagh in Paris, the Conservatory of Seoul, Korea, the Conservatory of Lion, France, the French Theater in the Prague, The National School of Choreography – Sofia, Ballet Arabesque – Sofia, and the Sofia National Opera.
Over the last 10 years, Hristiyan Bakalov works with renowned names in contemporary dance and theater such as Robert Wilson, Jérôme Bel, Jan Fabre, Ivo Dimchev, and many others.
In 2009 Hristiyan Bakalov moves to Brussels, participates in the creation of Volksroom, Ivo Dimchev’s space for contemporary art. Hristiyan Bakalov is also the recipient of the “Rayonnement de L’Opera de Paris” Prize. He graduated Pedagogy at the National Center for Dance in Paris.
6.30 pm.
Fabrika 126
June 8: SOFIA PRIDE FILM FEST
23 min, Ireland, fiction, Director: Michael Moody Culpepper
Based on Colm Tóibín short story, 3 Friends follows Fergus, a pensive young man, who is propelled on a powerful journey that begins at his mother’s funeral. His grief becomes a catalyst to reflect upon his life and relationships. Ultimately it is through death, joy, and sex that Fergus looks inside to define himself.
Най–обикновени бащи/The Guys Next Door
74 min, USA, doc, director: Amy Geller, Allie Humenuk
An intimate portrait of a real Modern Family: Meet Erik and Sandro, a gay couple with daughters birthed by their friend Rachel who’s married with three teenagers of her own.
7 pm, Dom na kinoto
June 8: Pre Pride Party
Entrance-free!
A part of the income will be donated for the organization of Sofia Pride 2018!
Bookings and information: +359 895 931 999
9:00 pm.
Barcode
Sofia, 95 Knyaz Boris I St.
June 9: Regional Dialogue: UTILIZING EU ACCESSION IN ADVOCATING LGBTI RIGHTS AND EQUALITY
French institute
June 9: SOFIA PRIDE 2018
At the same time and place:
Dancing Sofia
Open air dance lessons
Pure Pride March
A performance by Hristiyan Bakalov
Love March
Music performances by DJs Sex Shooters (UK) and drum band Paranaue (Greece)
June 9: SOFIA PRIDE AFTER PARTY. „PRIDE – In The Name of Love“
The official after party of Sofia Pride 2018!
Special Guests:
DJ’s SEXSHOOTERS (London)
Warming Up
DJ Tony Louis (Bulgaria)
Pixxel Alien Drag
Go-go dancers
Bookings and information: +359 893 883 773 or http://tickets.re-vault.bg
11:30 pm – 06:00 am.
PARTY HALL
Sofia, 10 Tsar Osvoboditel
June 9: Born this way!
Bookings and information: +359 877 181 343
11:00 pm.
Club One to One
Sofia, 22 Positano St
June 10: Final After Pride Party
06:00 am.
Bookings and information: +359 895 931 999
Barcode
Sofia, 95 Knyaz Boris I
June 10: LGBTI abroad
6:00 am.
Rainbow Hub