Cinematic picture of christianisation of Bulgaria – between art and ideology
Wojciech Jóźwiak
Abstract
Bulgarian cinema devoted to history, especially the part related to 1300th anniversary of the existence of Bulgaria, became an effective tool of propaganda. By using the significant moments of the history of the Bulgarian state and the nation, the authorities influenced the historic consciousness of people while legitimizing the power and the actions taken by authorities and by posing as the continuators of the great historic deeds of the rulers from the past. In this context the christening of the country was – due to mainly ideological reasons – stripped from the religious significance and became the founding moment of state creation, uniting the Slavic and proto-Bulgarian ethnos, thus founding the Bulgarian nation which developed finally into the socialist Bulgarian People’s Republic.
