4th London / Sofia Cinema Showcase: Screening of the feature film “The Barefoot Emperor”

November 20, 2022, 7:50 p.m. in the Ondaatje Theatre, Royal Geographical Society

Registration for the event HERE

The Bulgarian Cultural Institute London is pleased to invite you to the screening of the feature film “The Barefoot Emperor”, part of the 4th London / Sofia Cinema Showcase, in the period 13-27 November 2022, live at Ondaatje Theatre, Royal Geographical Society.

Special guests at the screening: Jessica Woodworth, Stefan Kitanov

Moderated by Phillip Bergson, BBC Broadcaster and Member of the UK Critics’ Circle

After the film screening there will be a discussion with the special guests

“The Barefoot Emperor”

2019, Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria, 90 min.

with English subtitles

Director: Jessica Woodworth, Peter Brosens

Writer: Jessica Woodworth, Peter Brosens

Starring: Peter van den Begin, Lucie Debey, Udo Kier, Geraldine Chaplin

Producer: Jessica Woodworth, Peter Brosens

HOW THE LAST KING OF THE BELGIANS BECAME THE FIRST EMPEROR OF EUROPE. On his way home from a state visit to Istanbul, the KING OF THE BELGIANS suffers a gunshot wound to the ear during an unfortunate incident in Sarajevo. A few days later, he wakes up in a sanatorium on a Croatian island, once Tito’s renowned summer residence. His entourage tries in vain to protect him from the news that the recent implosion of their kingdom sparked the collapse of the European Union. The fragile King wants to return home at once to save his broken kingdom. But instead, he is condemned to a strict regime of rest and rehabilitation by the authoritarian sanatorium director, Dr. Otto Kroll. A delegation arrives from Vienna headed by the distinguished Dr. Ilse von Stroheim, one of the architects of a nationalist Nova Europa. She announces the thunderous news that the last King of the Belgians will become the first Emperor of this new Europe. The King is fed up with others determining his destiny, so he takes matters into his own hands.

Since 2000, Jessica Woodworth and Peter Brosens have been a solid team of independent filmmakers and producers. After having made numerous documentaries, including Peter’s STATE OF DOGS and Jessica’s THE VIRGIN DIARIES, they turned to fiction filmmaking. Their debut, KHADAK’, won the ‘Lion of the Future’ at the 2006 Venice Film Festival. Their second feature, ALTIPLANO, was launched at the Cannes Critics’ Week in 2009 and won the Grand Prix at the Bangkok IFF. In 2012 they completed their trilogy with THE FIFTH SEASON, which premiered in the Official Competition of the Venice Film Festival where it won two awards. In 2016 Brosens & Woodworth launched their first comedy, KING OF THE BELGIANS at the Venice Film Festival, which went on to become an international hit.