Private Project

Welcome to Sinagovci

In the forgotten village of Sinagovci, time moves at its own pace. When the mayor—a former race car driver—donates a rusty old bus to help the villagers, it becomes a symbol of their dream to find a better place. A poet, a local painter, a tractor driver, a fortune teller, and a handful of stubborn souls set off on a surreal journey toward... somewhere else. Guidance and strange answers come from an AI virtual assistant. Some are searching for Godot; others just want a hot meal.

Blending raw poetry, humor, and melancholy, Welcome to Sinagovci is a documentary portrait of a place where reality and fantasy blur, and where, despite harsh realities, people find meaning in the mere act of being.

  • Zdravko Dragnev
    Director
  • Tzvetan Dragnev
    Director
  • Tzvetan Dragnev
    Writer
  • Galina Toneva
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 24 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 9, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    Bulgaria
  • Country of Filming:
    Bulgaria
  • Language:
    Bulgarian
  • Shooting Format:
    DIGITAL
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Zdravko Dragnev, Tzvetan Dragnev

Zdravko Dragnev graduated from FAMU film school in Prague. One of the best documentary directors in Bulgaria. Directed more than 50 films and won many awards.

Tzvetan Dragnev graduated from Film and Video Faculty of York University Toronto.
Worked as editor, camera operator in many short and feature length documentaries in Bulgaria and Canada.
His documentary film "Village People" participated in more than 30 film festivals and received awards at :

Zagreb Dox Special Mention Award 2017
Special Mention Award - Sofia International Film Festival 2017
Special Jury Award IDFF CRONOGRAF 2017
Special Mention Award - Golden Apricot Yerevan
International Film Festival 2017 and others.

Passengers 2021

BalkanBlack Box 2024

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I have always been fascinated by small communities where ordinary life intersects with extraordinary imagination. In Sinagovci, a tiny Bulgarian village, I found a world in which the mundane becomes theatrical, and the local absurdities reveal universal truths.

Welcome to Sinagovci grew from my desire to capture collective rhythms — the overlapping stories, dreams, and eccentricities of villagers who live at once in reality and in their own mythologies.
This film is an exploration of how humans inhabit small worlds, invent meaning, and dream collectively. Its form, a mixture of documentary and essayistic reflection, seeks to immerse audiences in the villagers’ lives while inviting them to reflect on the universality of longing, absurdity, and community.