MONIKA POPOVA is an idiosyncratic artiste, a professor at the New Bulgarian University, the mother of three daughters, and a rompy grandma. Her journey through life and art has been a constant overcoming of barriers—both internal and external. Managing to combine being a mother, wife, professor and an artist, she gathers her family and her ceramics students together in her universe of love. The film tells of the privation, hardship, and sacrifice an artist has to make—the price of happiness, behind the limelight of éclat.

MARIA LANDOVA is the Bulgarian producer and screenwriter of over twenty documentaries, including ‘He Who Travels Alone’ (2012), ‘Salto Mortale’ (2015), ‘A Sentimental Story’ (2017), ‘The Eye of the Minotaur’ (2017), ‘Jam Session’ (2018), ‘Rock’n’roll’ (2019), ‘In the Green Room’ (2020), ‘Theodore Ushev: Unseen Connections’ (2022); and the narrative shorts ‘Christmas’ (2015) and ‘The Priest’ (2020). ‘Hala’ (2023) is her directorial debut. Her films have been shown at festivals, winning national and international awards, and have had worldwide sales.

VANIA IVANOVA graduated from the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in 1991. Between 1994 and 2011, she worked as a director at Bulgarian National Television. Her documentaries include ‘Run, Evil’(2013, a film for EBU); ‘Capture Mitak’ (2014, film for EBY), ‘Self Portrait from Behind’, ‘The Synagogue’, and ‘Hala’. She directed the children’s films: ‘Sweater for the Sun’, a puppet film; ‘Tales to Tell’; and ‘Span Man—Elbow Beard’, a series of puppet films based on folk tales; and ‘Why?’, a series of children’s educational films, awarded at the Golden Chest TV Festival.
Festivals & Awards: Official Selection, National Premiere, 2023 Burgas International Film Festival, Bulgaria