Every August, thousands of people gather in the Bulgarian village of Zheravna to celebrate the Festival of National Costume. In traditional dress, they sing and dance in the light of the full moon to the sound of the bagpipes. Director Ralitsa Doncheva captures the event’s sights and sounds, crafting them into this poetic short film bearing witness to ancient fire dance rituals. By superimposing the codes of experimental and ethnographic film with those of impressionist art, Let the Red Moon Burn hints at anachronism and delivers an immersive insight into this ancestral and enduring Balkan tradition. (MAS)

competition : National Short and Medium-Length Competition

Let The Red Moon Burn