Youlia Kantcheva
Youlia Kantcheva graduated in Film and TV Directing at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofi a, Bulgaria. For twelve years she has worked as a scriptwriter and director at EKRAN Film Studio at Bulgarian National Television. Since 1992 she has been a freelance scriptwriter, director and producer. Now she is also an associate-professor at the New Bulgarian University “Visual Arts” Department, where she teaches documentary directing, scriptwriting, and fi lm editing.
To date Youlia Kantcheva has written, directed, and produced more than 18 full-length documentaries, three feature films, two TV dramas, a one-act play, a few other TV programs, and many short films. Her most recent films as an author are: “The Dark Roads the Brides of Christ Go” (documentary in a co-production with ZDF); “Without Family Resemblance” (fiction in two parts - produced by BNT); “The Road of Levski” (documentary); and “For Sale,” (documentary in post-production).
She has won scholarships which have enabled her to study the following: a six-week course, “Media in the UK”, BBC World Service Training, London, U.K.(1993) and a two-month training course for TV producers and directors in Cardiff, Wales - U.K. (1994).
In 2001-2002 she won the prominent FULBRIGHT grant for a nine-month course of lectures and research at the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television in Los Angeles .
Most of her fi lms have been selected and shown at various national and international Film and TV festivals - in Los Angeles, Berlin, Tokyo, Nyon, Paris, Krakow, New York, Augsburg, Barcelona, Bratislava, Strasbourg, Noubrandenburg, Sofi a, Varna,Plovdiv, etc. Because of her national and prestigious international awards, including the Main Prize ”SILVER DRAGON” in Krakow for the documentary, “Life Is AHead of Us,” she is invited often to be a member of professional juries, including at the PRIX EUROPA Festival for TV films.
In 2002 Y. Kantcheva’s work received a special presentation at the Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. – USA.
Youlia Kantcheva is a member of the International Documentary Association - IDA (LA), the Union of Bulgarian Journalists, and the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers.
