Is This Film Propaganda? In Response to Bulgarian Criticism

I saw this film last night at the "San Diego Jewish Film Festival" for the first time. Even though I had never seen the film before, I had already heard about all the controversy and complaints from Bulgarian reviewers. That is why I was pleasantly surprised when I actually saw it.

-This is partially in response to another thread on this message board which posed the question, "is this film propaganda"??

-No this movie is not propaganda. And it is not the best movie ever made either. People, especially Bulgarians, are complaining about the film, and based on several of their reviews, they have not even watched it. As someone with a background from the region, I was actually surprised to find that the film was quite honest in its portrayal of Macedonian collaboration with Bulgarian and German fascists and the Holocaust, as well as the mixed ethnic character of the region.

Here are a few of some of the contentious points:

1. Bulgarian reviews claim that it unfairly portrays the Bulgarian occupation, assuming that it is used to depict Macedonian patriotism in the face of Bulgarian oppression. Reviews such as these are obviously by people who have not seen the film. Historically, when Bulgaria occupied Macedonia, many Macedonians accepted this as a liberation. Well, the film shows this on several occasions, in fact, it shows very little resistance to Bulgarian rule, and one of the main Bulgarian villains in the film claims to be of Macedonian origin.

2. Some reviewers claim that Bulgarians didn't send the Jews of Macedonia to the death camps in Poland. Well, they did. It's documented, and this basically reverts to Holocaust denial. Yes, the Bulgarians saved their own Jews and they are very proud of this, and should be, but that is why they get offended when the Jews of Macedonia are brought up. The saving of Bulgaria's Jews is a completely different story and has nothing to do with Yugoslav Macedonia, which is where this movie takes place.

3. Bulgarian reviewers are extremely adamant that this film portrays communist perspectives showing Macedonians as the good guys, Bulgarians as the bad guys. But throughout the entire film there is only one communist-sympathizer, and many more Bulgarian sympathizers are portrayed than anti-fascists.

4. This film is NOT about Macedonian nationalism in the face of Serbian and Bulgarian oppression. It is about soccer in wartime and love. In fact, the director did a good job to avoid taking any overtly political stances, especially considering Macedonia's narcissism in current politics.

-All in all, this movie has been unfairly criticized by many who have not even seen the film. This film is not easy to find, so why there are so many angry Bulgarians talking about the film seems fishy, considering the film is not shown in theaters or available on DVD, and I wonder if this is because the Bulgarian critics won. They seem to have assisted in this film's demise before it was even viewed. This just shows how politics can destroy art... it is equivalent to a nationalist ban of the film that actually went in to effect.

-I strongly encourage people to view this film in any way possible, so that we may have conversations and discussions on IMDB and other forums about the movie itself, such as the bad acting of the main actress and good acting by Rade Serbedzija, without talking only about its historical depictions, which, I find to be rather sound when compared with other films from the region.....