— I've studied and am working as a journalist in television. I have never actually wanted to become a film director but it sort of happened... I started studying Film and Television Art because of my work and I didn't know anything about cinema. But in university I got fascinated by it... My first student film was a disaster and after a couple of years I finally did my graduation film "The Radio Technician". It won a couple of prices and got selected in many festivals. Many people started to congratulate me on this film and that gave me confidence to continue my way in directing... We'll see where it goes...
I love the filming process and the amazing people that work in the film industry - the word "impossible" doesn't exist for them and that is inspiring!

— This film is inspired by real events - the events that actually went to my wedding I wanted to recreate a moment of my life that I turned from a typical procrastinator (which is a kind of a modern disease) to a more complete version of myself ( and a person that completes the things he starts)... It happened thanks to my now husband (and main actor in this short). It had to be a romantic comedy, of course. It was a challenging process and I had to learn at the moment that filming this type of story is even harder than drama because in comedy you have to build the story and the characters through unusual and humorous situations. Which is actually really hard to make in a 5-minute film.

— The idea for the film came because of a film challenge by "Stoyan Kambarev" Foundation - one of the biggest charity organizations in Bulgaria that supports young people in art. You had to pitch an idea connected to the theme "10". Three young directors were chosen to film their ideas with the support of the organizers. I was the oldest of the three (30 years old) and it was my last chance to participate in this competition so I was very happy to have that chance. Then because of the COVID-19 situation, the shooting was postponed by 2 or 3 months... But during that period I had the chance to work on the script. Then we had 5 days to shoot and edit the films which was a great challenge because the budget was exactly 0.00 aaaand because I had a 8-month-old baby at that moment. Eventually, we won the big price at a very big award ceremony held in Sofia and it was all worth it!

— When we were shooting the scene in the bar, we had a real bartender there and he made a joke with one of the actresses when he sipped real tequila instead of water in her glass - kind of a typical onset joke, I guess. On the second day of shooting we were at my home so that was kind of scary - You never want a film crew in your home, especially with our sound-sensitive neighbours like ours! But eventually everything went smoothly.

— I think that I am kind of living my dream right now - I have one film that I am submitting at festivals, editing another one and writing and pitching a new project - it is kind of everything a young director does! It is quite challenging to become a film director in Bulgaria - for many years it was a zone occupied only by a special small circle of people. Now we have more options for public funding for short films which is a great opportunity to make a film on a higher level than a student's work. You just need to have a valuable idea and work hard to develop it. On that matter, I can add to the dreams - to never lose that passion for ideas, the passion that can often keep you up at night, or that helps you get up at 5 a.m. for another 12- or more working hours day, the passion to work for at least a couple of years on the same 10 or 20 pages of script on and on again...
And, of course, as probably any young film director does, I dream to have a film selected at Cannes Film Festival!

— I don't really have a favourite film. I can say that for this project "1,2..7,8,..10 - Or how to meet your other 1/2 in 10 steps" I was inspired by the most iconic romantic films such as "Love Actually", "Bridget Jones' Diary" and Woody Allen's films. I wanted to make a comedy through intellectual "jokes" and references to famous books and films. I'm not sure that the audience can really get all of them but...
As of my favourite films - I always enjoy watching Andrei Tarkovsky's films. The shots are out of this world and have some kind of meditative effect on me. Also, his amazing way of building images for indescribable things is like a textbook for every film director.

— Well, first of all - find the right team. My first attempts in filming were not successful because I haven't found the cameraman that had the same vision as mine. Since I started working with Tsvetomir Petrovski (the DOP of all my short films), a very talented cameraman, I am absolutely sure that he will make a shot as close to what's in my head. As one of my teachers in directing, the famous Bulgarian director Georgi Dulgerov said, "Finding your DOP is the same as finding a boyfriend!" It turned out to be true!
Another advice from me - marry an actor! Then you will have as many actors as you want working for you for free! I'm kidding, of course, but that doesn't hurt! Actually, my husband is a theatre actor and director and we watch a lot of theatre which is really helpful - you can see a great deal of the actors' potential on the stage and it helps you give them more complicated tasks before the camera.
And something that was absolutely working for me - have a really short period to make a film. Whenever there was some kind of film challenge or contest, I joined! This is a sure way that you have to start and complete a film even if you're not sure exactly what will happen or you don't have the whole idea ready in your head. Directing is the only way to learn how to direct! Good luck!