Strandzha

Not far from the Black Sea lie the Strandzha Mountains, home to one of the last primeval forests in Europe. The border region, with a history that predates remembered time, has continually been the site of socio-political developments. During the Cold War, refugees from East Germany fled through the dense forests. Many people still do today, risking their lives in the hope of reaching Europe. A mystical junction once inhabited by the Thracians, whose former presence still reverberates to this very day in ghostly folkloric rituals, even as nature reclaims the land. An abandoned military base where children play; a home for mentally ill women who, forgotten by society, have developed their own customs; former soldiers who talk about dubious business dealings. This debut film by photographer Pepa Hristova is meditation about the ambivalence of a mysterious borderland straddling worlds and times, and about life on the margins of society.