Zift (2008)

Original title

Дзифт

Directed by

Javor Gardev

Genre

neo-noir

Country

Bulgaria

Runtime

1h 32m

Rated

C

Rating

6.2 of 10 from 58 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A man named Moth is released from prison in 1960s Sofia after being framed for a murder. He must navigate the strange new socialist reality of the city while dealing with his past.

darkly comicstylizedgrittyretrobleaktenseslow-burnunsettling

What happens

Zift (Bulgarian: Дзифт, Dzift) is a 2008 black-and-white Bulgarian drama film that combines neo-noir and black comedy with socialist retro motifs; it is based on Vladislav Todorov's 2006 same-named novel and he also wrote the script. Zift was directed by Javor Gardev and premiered on 27 June 2008 at the 30th Moscow International Film Festival, where it won a Silver George for Best Director and the Best Film Prize of the Russian Film Clubs Federation. The film stars Zachary Baharov as Moth, the main character who organizes a robbery out of love and money and is imprisoned before the 9 September coup d'état for a murder he did not commit. Moth is released from jail in the 1960s to meet the new and unfamiliar reality of socialist Sofia. Zift's name is derived from the Arabic loanword zift or dzift, meaning "asphalt", "bitumen" or "black pitch", once a popular chewing substance among the gangs in Sofia's asphalt jungle; the word is also said to be urban slang for shit. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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