Biography

Bulgarian actor and director Ivaylo Hristov was born on December 10, 1955, Sofia, Bulgaria. He graduated from the department of acting at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts, Sofia, Bulgaria. Then he worked at the Sliven drama theatre «Stefan Kirov». Since 1985 he worked as an actor at the Theatre of Bulgarian Army in Sofia. He has more than 50 roles in theatre, and more than twenty in feature films to his credit, directed stage productions «Accidental Death of an Anarchist», «Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll», «Graduate» etc. Since 1992 prof. d-r Ivaylo Hristov teaches acting at the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts, Sofia , Bulgaria. In 1988 he played the main role in Georgi Djulgerov's film "AcaDaMuS". He was a co-writer of the screenplay of this picture. His first feature «Emigrants» (2003), which he directed together with Lyudmil Todorov, won several national awards and participated in many film festivals. «Footsteps in the Sand» (2010) participated in the competition of the 32 MIFF. He is an author of the book - «The actor in cinema». One of the founders of the prestigious Bulgarian theatre awards, Askeer. Five years after the release of Footsteps in the Sand, actor/director/screenwriter Ivaylo Hristov directed Losers , an endearing coming-of-age story shot in black and white by Bulgaria's most revered cinematographer, Emil Christov. Ivaylo Hristov won the Golden George at the Moscow International Film Festival with Losers.
- IMDb mini biography by: Georgi Djulgerov <georgidjul1943@gmail.com>

My work as an actor and a professor of acting helps me in my work with the actors. Being a director helps me in my work as a screenwriter, and being a screenwriter helps me in my work as an actor, professor and director. But above all, what I enjoy most is telling stories. No matter whether I'm in the Academy hall, on stage, in front of or behind the camera, telling stories is a great occupation. Imagine what mankind would be if there were no stories!

I'm not sure how it is in other countries, but in Bulgaria youngsters face extreme difficulties in their creative development. There are very few places where they have the opportunity to realize their creative potential and find professional fulfillment. Theatres are facing financial difficulties, there are far from enough film productions, and the TV channels offer nothing sensible apart from commercials and low-quality soap operas. So my goal was to write a script that would give the young actors a chance to show off their abilities in front of the camera. May this film give them a chance! If not, at least we have a picture to keep as a memory.

There are always some important, subtle nuances lost in translation, no matter how perfect that translation may be. In Bulgarian, the word karatsi doesn't have a negative connotation. It implies irony, empathy and even concern for the person we call karak ("loser"). There is also sadness and a wry smile involved there. It is true that one of the characters says that all Bulgarians are losers, but the other one adds that there are losers in other countries as well. This refers to all of the smart, sensitive, talented people who cannot adapt and who are rejected by the system.