ALPHABET OF HOPE

A stretch of secluded, mountainous countryside near the Bulgarian- Greek-Turkish border, a few kilometres long and a few hundred metres wide. In the 1980s, when the Bulgarian state tried to convert all Turks to Christianity – demanding that they adopt Slavic names – most of its inhabitants flew to Turkey. Many of the villages near this border were abandoned. But some people stayed. The film concentrates on a few families – Christian as well as Muslim – and the uncertain future of their children. Since most schools were closed, the children have to drive 140 kilometres to the only school for the 16 villages of the region – at dawn, in a van, in rain or snow; on a street which we will see during the different seasons and which will become another character in the film. At “St. St. Cyril and Methodius School“, Bulgarian, Turkish and Roma children learn side by side. Their mutual respect for each other’s faith, but also a truck driver and the local doctor who introduces the film, give the parents and their children hope to be able to live together in this remote landscape.