No Place for You in Our Town
Nikolay Stefanov
Smarty Pants Shooter (Bulgaria)
What hides underneath the violent facade of a local gang from a decaying ex-mining town?
NO PLACE FOR YOU IN OUR TOWN pulls you into the heads of the football hooligans from the most hostile city in Bulgaria — Pernik. A once flourishing mining center, today all that’s left are jokes about its citizens’ roughness — an echo of their brave and glorious past underground. Having exclusive access, NIKOLAY STEFANOV’s camera silently follows TSETSO, a skinhead and single father, the gang leader DADO, and MIMETO, the only woman in the group, who are devoted to helping their team rise from the last league. Their usual lifestyle gets seriously challenged when TSETSO falls ill and stays in the hospitals for months, while the decaying city faces a grave water crisis caused by corruption. Will the hooligans change in the face of the challenges, looking for their place under the sun?
Director’s biography: Nikolay Stefanov / IMDb
Having graduated with an MA in Cinematography in 2003, NIKOLAY STEFANOV has worked as a cinematographer with most major production companies in Bulgaria in the last 18 years. He has extensive experience with diverse visual styles from his work for films, series, TV, and ads. Building on his cinematography background, he made a directing debut with the feature-length documentary SHEARS (2018) which was selected at European markets and festivals. Tackling important and sensitive social topics and designed for international reach, NO PLACE FOR YOU IN OUR TOWN is his current bold project.
Director’s statement
I was born and raised in Pernik, Bulgaria. Growing up there in the 90s, I often witnessed fights and crime. Coming from this background, I've thought a lot about aggression, what radicalizes people, and the changing norms of masculinity. I’ve also thought about what impact the environment one grows up in has and what gets passed on from generation to generation.
I decided to explore these issues in the form of a film. I’m digging to find out what stands behind the rough image of the Minyor Pernik gang — a living example of these very issues. I portray their reality as it is and let the audience connect the dots about their complex stories. I believe by looking in-depth at stories on a small scale we can learn a lot about the big picture.
Spending two years filming in Pernik and dealing with the past has been a challenging but profound personal journey. Yet I think this film is important and can help in understanding difficult but crucial issues that our societies have to talk about.
Producer’s biography: Ralitsa Golemanova / IMDb
RALITSA GOLEMANOVA earned a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and in European Studies at the American University in Bulgaria and an MA in Media and Communications at Erasmus University Rotterdam. She explored the political side of communications in Brussels working at European Union-related organizations. She worked in marketing, before delving into a true passion - documentary filmmaking. Building on her multidisciplinary experience, RALITSA is producing documentaries with social relevance, which have been selected at East Silver Market and Thessaloniki Doc Market, among others.
Where are we at?
Total budget: 130.000, 00 EUR
Financing in place: 50.000, 00 EUR
Sales agent: Lightdox
Territories available: World
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Production company info
SMARTY PANTS SHOOTER is an independent production house based in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was founded in 2015 by producer RALITSA GOLEMANOVA and director and cinematographer NIKOLAY STEFANOV to craft creative documentaries with social impact. Their feature documentary SHEARS (2018) was selected at East Silver Market (Ji.hlava IDFF) and at Agora Doc Market (Thessaloniki Documentary Festival) and at several international festivals, and is available on the VoD platform Cinesquare. NO PLACE FOR YOU IN OUR TOWN (2021) is in post-production, and their next documentary project is in early development.