>>> THE CORPSE COLLECTOR (Bulgaria)
Itzo is 35; his life is gloomy and lonely. He drives a special ambulance called a “corpse-car”. His job: to pick up the bodies of the recently deceased and transport them to the morgue. His “clients” are all homicide victims, suicides or homeless people who have succumbed to the elements. Itzo deals with grisly death every day, assisted by his fellow driver, BUDDY, a pragmatic, street-smart Gypsy.
Buddy and MIMMY - a nice, lovable ward-maid from the morgue – are Itzo’s only friends. Although it’s clear that Mimmy likes Itzo, he doesn’t really pay much attention to her. He’s had a caring mother as a child, but at times she was sadistic towards him; that’s why Itzo only falls for women who torment him.
Like Katya – a very attractive, high-maintenance woman about Itzo’s age. Katya has a 14-year-old son, MARIO, from a previous relationship. Mario shows genuine talent for fine arts, but the lack of money limits his possibilities to study and develop. Itzo befriends the boy and falls desperately in love with Katya – not only because of her beauty but because of her caustic, hard-to-please personality. Katya humiliates Itzo and obviously uses him for her own selfish ends, but he doesn’t stop loving her.
Surprisingly, Katya turns out to be a mistress of the mafia-boss ROCCO, a ruthless killer now turned politician. Paying Katya one of his regular visits, Itzo finds Rocco beating her. He tries to intervene, but even though Itzo’s a big man, his timidity and repression prevent him from defending himself. Rocco beats him too and rapes Katya whiles Itzo watches.
Meanwhile, Itzo’s problems intensify. Buddy’s 9-year-old daughter disappears and when the girl finally comes back, she tells her parents that a man from the neighborhood has molested her and beaten her up. Buddy asks for Itzo’s help in getting revenge. When Itzo suggests they call the police Buddy is contemptuous. The legal system is useless for him and his kind. The only way to deal with this is on your own.
Reluctantly supported by Itzo, Buddy sneaks up on the rapist and slays him with an axe. Buddy and Itzo use the corpse-car to drive the body to an abandoned reservoir and throw it beneath the ice. Itzo is horrified by the episode, but Buddy convinces him that this is the way real men deal with life problems.
And Itzo takes his advice. He decides to rescue Katya and Mario from Rocco, and free the world from a ruthless villain. Itzo prepares an ambush for Rocco in Katya’s empty house. When Rocco arrives, Itzo kills him with the axe. He takes Rocco’s money and loads his dead body onto the ambulance. Itzo drives Rocco to the abandoned reservoir, he breaks the ice… suddenly Rocco comes back to consciousness! Itzo apologizes uneasily, then finishes the gangster with the axe.
Itzo has no more rivals for Katya’s love but, unexpectedly, she doesn’t attract him any more. Her selfishness and vanity are finally clear and he doesn’t respond to her abuse. In a symbolic way, Itzo has killed the incarnation of his evil “father”, and this has opened his eyes to the spiritual repulsiveness of his “mother”.
Itzo breaks off his relationship with Katya, but he doesn’t betray his friendship with Mario. In order to help Mario develop his artistic talent, Itzo gives him the money he has taken from the murdered Rocco.
Finally, Itzo approaches the home of the ward-maid Mimmy. He is about to face a new, different life, unimpeded by the chains of darkness and despair.
Marin Damyanov
A writer and screenwriters, a winner of many literary awards.
First prize winner at the national round of the international screenwriting contest "Hartley-Meril" with the script "The Corpse Collector". Co-author of the script of the feature film and the TV series "The Devil Mirror" (2001), directed by Nikolay Volev
Co-author of the script of the television film "Follow me" (2003), directed by Docho Bodjakov. Co-author of the script of the feature film "Lady Z" (2005), directed by Georgi Diulgerov.
| Where have you heard about Scripteast? |
Scripeast? - I was invited by the ScripTeast organizers to submit a script for the workshop. |
| What made you interested in this program? |
The opportunity to communicate with fellow screenplay writers and gain a better understanding of what is an international criterion of a good screenplay. |
| What do you expect from this year edition of scripteast? |
Scripteast? - To improve my qualification as a screenplay writer and a teacher in screenplay writing as well as to gain a better inside into script marketing. |
| Do you have previous experience as tutor and advisor at similar workshops? |
No, I have not. |
| What is your personal defintion of a good scrtipt and what - the most- makes it succesful? |
A good script is one that makes a good movie, or the one that gains the audience interest, or the one that wins awards on Festivals, or, if possible, all this together. A successful script is the one that attracts the attention of a good film director and a good producer, the one that gains a financial support to be realized as a movie.Best regards |
Juliana Stoyanova
Associate Professor in at the Faculty of Slavic Studies at Sofia University. Her scientific publications include studies and articles on literary theory and studies and articles on psycholinguistics, contrastive linguistics, linguistic pragmatics, contemporary Bulgarian. Juliana is an author of 2 books on psycholinguistics. She also published short stories. Juliana is interested in literary theory, psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic approach to literary texts, psycholinguistics.
| Where have you heard about Scripteast? |
From my co-author, Marin Damianov. |
| What made you interested in this program? |
The opportunity to communicate with some of the best screenplay writers and gain a better understanding of what is an international criterion of a good screenplay. |
| What do you expect from this year edition of scripteast? |
To learn from good and successful screenplay writers and other movie professionals. |
| Do you have previous experience as tutor and advisor at similar workshops? |
No, I have not. |
| What is your personal defintion of a good scrtipt and what - the most- makes it succesful? |
I share my co-author's opinion on this subject, i. e.: A good script is one that makes a good movie, or the one that gains the audience interest, or the one that wins awards on Festivals, or, if possible, all this together. A successful script is the one that attracts the attention of a good film director and a good producer, the one that gains a financial support to be realized as a movie.
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