Once Upon a Time in the East

2014 • 96 minutes

About this movie

In the 90s Bulgaria joined the Eastern Bloc's race for freedom. But as thousands flooded the streets calling for democracy the shadows were giving birth to criminal enterprise. And before anyone could realize, the criminals had taken over the new 'democratic' society. The street gangs dominated, a steel hand of fear was forced on the population. And freedom had come to Bulgaria! They quietly privatized everything in their own interests. "How does one become a mafia boss?" a Bulgarian TV presenter asks, her tone one of harsh mocking. "You enter the centre of Sofia proclaiming everyone works for you now", Georgi Stoev, nonchalantly replies. "And it's impossible without the support of the police or some political party activist." As a former member of a Bulgarian gang of ex-wrestlers who terrorized the country in the early nineties he should know, but he was telling secrets that many Bulgarians didn't want told. In 2008 he was gunned down in the centre of Sofia for his indiscretions. This crime-thriller of a documentary picks up Stoev's narrative and reveals the day-to-day workings of the Bulgarian mafia and exposes the swindle that defined Bulgaria's 'liberation'. "In the murky waters the fish that swam best were the ones who swindled currency, gold, jewelry and other smuggled goods..." Those who swam the best turned out to be the leaders of the new Bulgaria. "Suddenly they woke up to their new destinies...shareholders, CEOs and owners of large companies." Through Stoev's recollections, brutally fierce reconstructions and interviews with ex-mafia members, over 20 years of Bulgarian history and gangland crime come to life. Stoev's fearlessness allows us a unique glimpse into one of the most hidden realities there is - that of the political gangster.

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