The child prodigy of communist Bulgaria lives in a small apartment in Lyulin. The state had promised Vasko to study at a prestigious music school in the West, but the death of a high-ranking party official replaces New York with Moscow. There, Vasko’s talent is forged under the strict discipline of a three-hundred-year-old school, until the next historical event turns the orbit of his family’s life again. On the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Vasko finds himself a poor emigrant in London. Thirty years later, the Bulgarian is concertmaster at the coronation of King Charles III and one of the greatest violinists of his time. Before his eyes, dictators have fallen and kings have risen, but the most important lesson learned on the journey from Lyulin to the Royal Opera House is simple and profoundly human.

Festival Selections & Awards

Master of Art 2025 – Best Documentary Award 

Apolonia Festival 2025 – Opening Film 

DokArt Festival, Berlin – Official Selection 

LORA KRUMOVA and MARIA YOTOVA are Bulgarian journalists and producers with over 20 years of experience in creating and producing journalistic TV formats. Vasko & the Violin is their debut in documentary filmmaking.