Maria Cheresheva, Georgi Totev

WHERE SHALL WE GO?

A disillusioned Jewish peace activist retreats to her home in rural Bulgaria, finding an unlikely lifeline in a long distance friendship with a Gazan woman fighting to keep her family alive.

SYNOPSIS

Where Shall We Go? follows the story of Ruth – a Bulgarian Jewish woman who emigrated to Israel in search of her identity, only to grow disillusioned and join a peace movement. The Gaza war, however, wiped out over a decade of activism and dedication to finding routes to co-existence. Bitter and lost, Ruth returns to her hometown in rural Bulgaria with her Palestinian husband Anas, and faces the harsh reality of being a migrant in her own country. She finds refuge in an unexpected place: her relentless efforts to help her Gazan friend Rana, whom she met online in her early years in Jerusalem. Although the two had never met in person, they had built a bond that became a quiet, stubborn, deeply human act of resistance. While Ruth reconnects with her loved ones in Bulgaria, the story follows Rana's struggle to bring her family to safety that eventually leads to the family’s painful fracture across three continents. Rather than explain the conflict, the film explores what it means to stay connected when everything demands separation. Filmed across three countries and drawing on intimate private archives, Where Shall We Go? reveals the emotional landscape of displacement – fear, hesitation, exhaustion, and persistent hope.

DIRECTORS
Maria Cheresheva, Georgi Totev

PRODUCERS  Svetoslav Draganov, Georgi Totev

EDITOR
Svetoslav Draganov

PRODUCTION COMPANY
Cineaste Maudit, LENS2LENS

COUNTRY
Bulgaria

LENGTH
75 min

Maria Cheresheva

DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY

Maria Cheresheva is an award-winning Bulgarian journalist. Her work has been published in Balkan Insight, ZDF, ARTE, Deutsche Welle, Der Spiegel, and Le Monde, among other outlets. She specialises in cross-border investigations in the fields of migration, the arms trade, and global organised crime. She was part of the team behind “Scam Empire,” a cross-border investigation that was shortlisted for the 2026 European Press Prize. Among her internationally acclaimed works are the collaborative projects “Shot for Seeking Asylum”, “Europe’s Nameless Death,” and “Europe’s Black Sites,” coordinated by Lighthouse reports. Since 2016, Cheresheva has been working as a local producer in Bulgaria for ZDF and ARTE.  Where Shall We Go?  is her directorial debut.

As filmmakers and as parents, we are deeply fascinated by the fragile period when childhood quietly gives way to adulthood. We did not set out to explain a generation. We simply stayed with the same group of young people long enough to witness how time quietly transformed them, and us. What first drew us in was the extraordinary intensity of this community. They travelled together, laughed together and constantly filmed one another, convinced these friendships would last forever. As the years passed, we realised only in the editing room that we are making a film about the gradual transformation of a community. The protagonists became collaborators in the filmmaking process. Their self-shot footage was never meant as supplementary material; its raw authenticity became the backbone of the narrative structure. Filming each other in intimate moments as friends, lovers, and classmates, they captured moments no outside observer could witness. Woven together with long-term observational filmmaking, these images allow the audience to experience vulnerability and honesty that would be impossible to achieve through traditional filmmaking alone. We see their story from within. Their coming of age unfolded during one of the most turbulent periods in contemporary Hungary, culminating in a historic political transition. Rather than explaining their lives, this changing landscape quietly echoes the uncertainty of the future they inherit. Ultimately, Kinda is a film about time. At the beginning, every moment feels like eternity. By the end, six years have condensed into a single emotion: nostalgia. What once seemed infinite now survives only in memory, reminding us that the communities shaping our everyday lives rarely disappear completely, they simply become part of who we are.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Georgi Totev

DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY

Georgi Totev began his documentary career in 2013 with The Battle for Aleppo for Bulgarian National Television, launching his path into conflict reporting. He has since worked with Bulgarian outlets bTV, Dnevnik, and Capital, and international platforms including AJ+, ARTE, and ZDF. In 2015, he co-founded LENS2LENS, a documentary collective covering the world's frontlines, directing and filming works from Ukraine (The War in the East, 2015; Notes from Ukraine, 2022), Syria (Rojava Diaries, 2017), Iraq (Faces from the War, 2015), and Lebanon (On the Brink of War, 2024). He also pushes into interactive and archival formats with Almost Here and Histories from Belene. His work has earned him Person of the Year in Bulgaria and BG Press Photo honours.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Where Shall We Go? is a film born from an urgent need to preserve humanity at a time when war is trying to erase it. As filmmakers from the Balkans, we understand what it means to live in the shadow of contested histories, propaganda, and somehow normalised violence. We also know the costs of searching for nuance in a polarised world. As the political discourse around Palestine grew increasingly hostile, making this film became an act of both professional and moral urgency. Through the encounters with Ruth and Rana, we found ourselves reflecting on how people construct empathy across cultural, religious, and political boundaries. This reflection shaped every creative decision: the observational style, the use of intimate audio and video archives, and the commitment to letting the women’s voices guide the film. Where Shall We Go?  It is not a film that provides an easy answer or aims to give a detailed account of the conflict’s origins and current developments. It reveals intimate dilemmas – like those of a woman challenging her own identity and a mother forced to leave her children behind in hopes of securing a better future for them. We hope it will move audiences not just to understand, but to feel. And, perhaps, to act.

Svetoslav Draganov

PRODUCER’S BIOGRAPHY

Svetoslav Draganovis a Bulgarian filmmaker born in 1976. His works as an author, director, and producer are Life Is wonderful, isn’t it? (2021), which won the MDR Award at DOKLeipzig; The Merry Boys (2003), which was selected for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam; Young at Heart , which won the Special Prix Europa in 2003 and was presented at DOKLeipzig in 2004; Amateurs, which won the Golden Rhyton for Best Bulgarian Documentary in 2005;, Life Almost Wonderful (2013), which was presented in competition at IDFA and received Special Mentions at Zagreb Dox and the Sofia International Film Fesivalt. His debut fiction film Humble won a Special Jury Award in Sofia in 2022.

PRODUCER’S STATEMENT

When the filmmakers first approached Cineaste Maudit Production, Where Shall We Go? had already grown from a deeply personal initiative into a remarkable long-term documentary project. Developed by the new production company Lens2Lens, the film had earned the trust of its protagonists, resulting in an exceptional body of intimate observational material. We recognised not only the strength of the story but also the filmmakers' patience, integrity, and commitment to their subjects. What convinced us to join as co-producers was the film's ability to move beyond the familiar narratives surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rather than focusing on political positions, Where Shall We Go? reveals how war shapes identity, belonging, and family through the enduring friendship of two women whose lives challenge inherited divisions. The film's observational approach, enriched by years of personal archives, creates an emotional closeness rarely achieved in documentaries about conflict. It invites audiences to engage with lived experience instead of headlines, making space for empathy without simplifying reality. At Cineaste Maudit Production, we are committed to supporting director-driven films with a strong artistic vision and lasting social relevance. Joining the Where Shall We Go? Team was a natural extension of that mission. We believe this film has the power to connect with international audiences by demonstrating that solidarity, trust, and friendship can endure even in the darkest of times.

Production company profile

Cineaste Maudit production is an independent Bulgarian production company founded by Svetoslav Draganov in 1999 with the aim of producing author-driven documentaries and fiction films. The company’s previous productions include Life Is wonderful, isn’t it? (2021), which won the MDR Award winner at DOK Leipzig; The Merry Boys (2003), which was selected for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam; Young at Heart, which won the Special Prix Europa in 2003 and was presented at DOK Leipzig in 2004; Amateurs, which won the Golden Rhyton for Best Bulgarian Documentary in 2005 as well as the prize of Bulgarian film critics;Children of Drujba, which was selected for the Cottbus Film Festival and won the - 2010 Prix Europa; and Life Almost Wonderful (2013), which was presented in competition at IDFA and received Special Mentions at Zagreb Dox and the Sofia International Film Festival in 2014. The co-production Zhaleika (2016) had its premieret in the Generation section of the Berlin International Film Festival,  where it won a Special Mention, and won the Grand Prix in the International Competition at Sofia. Humble won a Special Jury Award at Sofia in 2022.

LENS2LENS is a multi-genre production company based in Sofia. Since the very beginning of our common journey, on the front lines in war-torn eastern Ukraine back in 2015, we continue working for the things we believe in. LENS2LENS is a visual storytelling collective and open platform. A place for bold ideas, artistic creativity, and bright innovations that allow us to experiment, discover new challenges and solutions, and expand our imagination.

Where are we at?

PRODUCTION BUDGET
185,731 €

NEEDED FOR COMPLETION
78,000 €

TERRITORIES AVAILABLE
Worldwide

EXPECTED RELEASE Autumn 2027

Looking at CineLink?

At CineLink, we are seeking international co-producers to complete the financing structure for Where Shall We Go?, as well as sales agents who can help position the film in the international market and develop its festival and distribution strategy. We are also interested in meeting distributors, broadcasters, and commissioning editors who are looking for distinctive, internationally relevant stories and who may become partners in bringing the film to audiences worldwide.

Previous
Previous

NO OFFENCE

Next
Next

WOMEN OF ABKELEN FOREST