ÉCU-The European Independent Film Festival

IN THE PALACE Film Festival is the first and only festival of its kind in Bulgaria. Located in the quaint and romantic town of Balchik, the festival was first established in 2003.  The title of the festival originated from its venue, an architechural park, called "The Palace." "The Palace" was summer residence of the British princess and Romanian Queen, Marie of Edinburgh and constructed especially for her upon request.

Initially beginning as a forum predominantly for student films, IN THE PALACE has grown into a very competitive and prestigious event. The festival is solely dedicated to short films that are 45 minutes or less in length and last year received over 4,000 submissions. IN THE PALACE aims to showcase contemporary films not just from Bulgaria, but throughout the world, in the hopes of building a creative platform that can benefit the efforts and talents of young filmmakers and already established filmmaking professionals.

Last year's official selection consisted of 114 films of which 39 countries were represented. During the duration of the festival, festival-goers can participate in informative workshops on various subjects, as well as attend entertaining musical performances from Bulgarian musicians and bands and other international artists.

The IN THE PALACE Film Festival begins June 29th and runs until July 7th, 2012. But don't miss our special screening, "The Best of ÉCU 2012," held on July 1st. "Berlinoises" by director Rocco Labbé, which won "Best European Independent Film 2012," "A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation" directed by Martin Wallner and Stefan Leuctenberg, which won "Best Independent Animation," "The Return" directed by Blerta Zeqiri, which won "Best Director," and  "Zoltan: The Hungarian Gangster of Love" directed by Justin Reardon, which won a special jury mention will all be screened at the event. For more information, click here.