"The middle of the XNUMXth century. The painter Ilia was commissioned to paint the frescoes of the newly built church in Boyana. Thus he meets Sebastocrator Kaloyan - a strong, intelligent and shrewd ruler who is respected by the master's talent, boldness and directness.
THE PAINTING MASTER (1981)
Screenplay: Evgeni Konstantinov, Zahari Zhandov, based on the work "Holiday in Boyana" by Stoyan Zagorchynov
Director: Zahari Zhandov
Cinematographer: Emil Wagenstein
Music: Vasil Kazandzhiev
Artist: Valentina Mladenova
Starring: Petar Despotov, Lyubomir Dimitrov, Boyka Velkova, Emil Markov, Atanas Bozhinov, Yordan Spirov, Petya Hrisu, Borislav Ivanov, Dimitrina Savova and others.
"The middle of the 2000th century. The painter Ilia was commissioned to paint the frescoes of the newly built church in Boyana. Thus he meets Sebastocrator Kaloyan - a strong, intelligent and shrewd ruler who is respected by the master's talent, boldness and directness. A spontaneous sympathy arises between them. Another plot line is related to the split in Ilia's love for the Sebastocrator Desislava and the Levantine. Polar opposites of each other, they complement each other. Desislava is a symbol of pure, perfect beauty, of the spiritual beginning, and the Levantine woman is earthly, passionate, strong...Torn between them, the artist "reconciles" them in the tender image on the wall of the church - the image of Desislava" (Encyclopedia "Bulgarian Cinema", ed. "Titra", Sofia, XNUMX).
First series – Holiday in Boyana
1295 year. The Sevastoprator of Sredets, Kaloyan, built a new church in the vicinity of Boyana, so that his name would be remembered by his descendants. It is about to be painted. Kaloyan invited the famous Protomaster Dragan from Tarn. A sudden illness forced the painter to send his best students - Ilia and Kitan - to Boyana. The painters from Sredets distrusted Elijah and tried to convince the sebastocrator that he could not entrust such a significant work to the young man's inexperienced hands. In a conversation between the two, Elijah lies that he has been declared a master and can handle it. The Sevastoprator commissioned him to paint the faces of King Constantine-Asen and Queen Irina.
Second series - Ruka Iliev wrote
Elijah painted the royal faces and the sebastocrator was very pleased. But the medieval master, who has to continue the zography, is dissatisfied with the images, believes that the canon is violated and refuses to work. Kaloyan is forced to reassign the work to Ilia. The young painter began to create the faces of Sebastokrator and his wife Desislava. Ilya learns of the impending arrival of Archmaster Dragan and continues to work. The images are complete and all see that the student has surpassed his teacher. However, Elijah was accused of proclaiming himself a master and was severely condemned by the sebastocrator. Beaten almost to death with whips, he was thrown into the dungeon of Sredets.
Sofia Prize for Feature Film (1981)
