The Big Boom!

A large proportion of the residents of the Bulgarian town of Kazanlak work for the arms manufacturer Arsenal. The machine guns and rockets they produce are mainly destined for Ukraine, even though most of the workers themselves are pro-Putin. Rose growers, who are also central to the regional economy, are openly racist about Roma, while depending on them to bring in the harvest. A party organized by the local motorcycle club is warmly welcomed by the community, but the daughter of a Ukrainian refugee is bullied without anyone lifting a finger. And then there are three older writers who have formed an action group against Soviet-era monuments, but are ignored by almost everyone.

Kazanlak is rife with contradictions and simmering tension. Its residents are caught between an unresolved past, a present shaped by complex geopolitics and the simple desire to earn a living and raise their children. They wait resignedly for whatever comes next, while Arsenal’s sponsorship branding is impossible to escape on the streets, and explosions from the test range echo across the surrounding fields.