Bulgaria: Protest by Nationalists stopped the Screening of a Film part of "Sofia Pride”

A protest by extreme nationalists prevented a screening at the "Odeon" cinema on Saturday (June 10) as part of the Sofia Pride Film Fest, reported organizers from the "Deistvie" Organization. It is part of the cultural program of "Sofia Pride", the biggest event of the LGBTQ+ community in Sofia and Bulgaria. The procession will take place on June 17.

"The Sofia Police was notified of the dates and locations of the screenings on 06/04/2023. For this reason, there was a group of police officers on site, who not only did not assist the organizers of the film festival in removing the protesters from the premises of the 'Odeon' cinema, but greeted them and shook hands," the organizers of the screening say.

"Sofia Pride" adds that the protest was announced by Kristijan Szkwarek, a former candidate for MEP from the nationalist VMRO party, who recently took the role of a political analyst. People wearing t-shirts of the "Vazrazhdane" (Revival) party can also be seen among the protesters. The pro-Russian party yesterday held a protest against the new government.

"The crowd of demonstrators filled both the lobby of the cinema and the space in front of it, taking close-up pictures with phones of the faces of visitors to the screening, shouting at them 'pedophiles' and chanting 'I don't want a gay parade in my city,'" said from the "Deistvie" Organization.

The gathered protestors, as well as the refusal of cooperation by the Ministry of Interior officials, forced them to cancel the screening. In front of witnesses from the organization, the manager of the movie theater has received a threat from protesters that if he allows further screenings in the program, more such protests will follow.

The film that should have been...