Svetoslav Stoyanov is a director, producer, and co-founder of the production company Portokal, whose films have been internationally awarded and distributed. His directorial debut, The Last Black Sea Pirates, competed in more than 30 international festivals, including the world’s leading documentary cinema forums, such as HotDocs, DOK Leipzig and Visions du Reel. Since 2015, Svetoslav is a member of the selection committee of the international documentary competition at Sofia Film Fest. He’s a member of the Bulgarian Producers’ Association.
That said, he never parted with his first film profession, and to this day enjoys working as behind the-scenes photographer, capturing the people, process, and places on set. His BTS photography portfolio includes films such as Andrey Paounov’s Georgi and the Butterflies (Silver Wolf, IDFA (2004), The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories (International Critics' Week, Cannes Film Festival, (2007), and January (Black Nights Tallinn IFF, 2021); Pavel G. Vesnakov’s European Film Awards nominated short film Pride and his debut feature German Lessons (Cairo IFF 2020); Blaga’s Lessons, the latest film by Stephan Komandarev, whose previous works have competed at Un Certain Regard at Cannes IFF and shortlisted for the Oscar American Academy Awards; and more.
He has a master’s in film directing from the Bulgarian National Academy of Film and Theatre Arts and a master’s in psychology from Southwest University, Bulgaria.