Cinema may be magic on screen, but behind the scenes, it is a complex mosaic of thousands of decisions, tough challenges, and invaluable lessons. It was exactly this grounded experience that we wanted to share with our audience at NATFIZ.

On November 18, the team behind The Cruel Way had the honor of visiting the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts. Following the screening, we sat down to discuss the production and creative process—a moment that served as an emotional homecoming to the place where it all began for us.

The session featured the “core” of our creative team: director Deyan Bararev, screenwriters Elena Ermova, Stanislav Grozdanov, and Diliyan Pavlov, and producer Ivan Spasov. We had a candid conversation about the long journey of bringing this film to life—spanning from the initial spark of an idea to the final edit.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended—it was a pleasure meeting you all!