A new documentary dedicated to three Bulgarian Catholics, Petar Parchevich, Filip Stanislavov and Petar Bakshev, who left their mark on Bulgarian history in the 17th century, has begun production, said Veneta Nenkova, founder of the Bulgarian School in Rome and chairwoman of the Cultural Association Parallel 43. “Together with students from the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA), we hope to pull the curtain of our little-known past, Nenkova noted. She views Bulgarian schools abroad as the true cultural ambassadors across the world.
Nenkova recalled that the Bulgarian Sunday School in Rome has been cooperating with NATFA for years under the Erasmus programme. This year the two institutions decided to shoot a documentary together dedicated to the three Bulgarian Catholics, since 2024 marks the 350th anniversary of their death.
Born at different times but in the same period, the three Bulgarians were originally from Chiprovtsi and were among the organisers of the First Chiprovtsi Uprising, which they ultimately did not live to see.
Parchevich, Stanislavov and Bakshev studied at the Pontifical Colleges in Rome, Assisi and Loretto.
Petar Parchevich was the first Bulgarian diplomat. Philip Stanislavov was the author of first printed book in the New Bulgarian language in Rome in 1651, and Petar Bogdan Bakshev wrote a history of Bulgaria approximately 120 years before Paisius of Hilendar’s Slavo-Bulgarian History.
Nenkova explained that all this can be found in the Vatican archives. For years the Bulgarian Sunday School in Rome has worked for the restoration of Bulgarian history, such as buying back pages from the papal newspaper, she explained, adding that the whole school engaged in history through researchers such as Prof. Stanchev, a historian of the Catholic Bulgarian community.
Nenkova expressed hope that the documentary would be ready by 2024 but did not know whether it could be screened in Bulgaria. The film will be published in Bulgarian on YouTube and would certainly be presented in Italy with subtitles.
