Doza shtastie

Great story inspired by real life events, combined with amazing actors and powerful pictures. Touching and with cause.

Yes, people, go watch "A Dose of Happiness"! I can't fall sleep after I've watched it because this is a true phenomenon for Bulgarian cinema. I'm ashamed I went to congratulate the cast and crew while I was crying. Terrible... A grown-up woman like me, crying like a school girl. I'm not like that. I'm a serious, controlled, all in black, pseudointellectual (without the cigarette and the vodka bottle - a joke about the other pseudointellectuals). But there's something in you, some kind of a drive that doesn't let you go free and makes you say something, but you can't because you're crying, helpless. Thank you for making me feel this helplessness! I don't like feeling that way and being that way. But this helplessness was a great moment for my body and soul! Everyone will find something for themselves in this film. Everyone will be impressed by different things. You'll see, you'll understand. Do you know what's best? I can say this is an art-house film with a solid message, beautiful and touching story. It felt like European cinema with a Hollywood ending. Because I'm sick and tired of art messed up films which you think you've understood and want to talk about but you actually can't because it was just an artistic nonsense. No! "A Dose of Happiness" is unambiguous, with psychologically real characters, there's sensitivity, emotions, and feelings! There's Love and God! There's Truth! There's Power! There's a Reason that stays with you! And Valentina Karoleva is... Words can't describe my feelings about her. And I'd better not attempt it then. Thank you, Valentina! Thank you, Yana Titova! Thank you, Aleksandar Aleksiev! Thank you, Martin Balkansky! Thank you, Dimitar Nikolov, you theatre machine! Thanks to all the people who'd given a dose of their lives to give us a dose of happiness in this times, deprived of simple reason.

Vesela Toteva believed that a film based on her book will help channel some processes which she knew can't be done only through her foundation alone (the attempts to collaborate with the state brought her disappointment after disappointment). She waited for this film like she waited for her first granddaughter. She couldn't wait for them both. I knew about her life, I've read the book, and last night we watched the film. This transition of fate into another fate, of a woman to another woman, of reality into film, it's unbelievable. Yana Titova made a marvelous job. How could a daughter play her mother suffering from addiction who only loves her daughter and heroin? What did it cost her to relive all that? Valentina Karoleva is brilliant. How could you bring all that cast, how could you shoot it like that, how could you edit it like that, how could you find a soundtrack like that, how could you do all that with a tight budget and will? I don't know. But the result is astounding. Aleksandar Aleksiev, Nadi Tsvetkova, Nicky Stoichkov, what you did gives me hope. The best way to see the power of the film is through children. We went out with eyes full of tears. A Dose of Happiness is an honest film, honest like Vesela used to be, that's why children will believe it. Like you believe a slap in the face. This is a prevention film. Watch it with your children and buy the book Disgrace and Salvation.

A film with a mission! Despite the hard subject of this movie, it's gifted with hope and light, without making it less thoughtful! It's not like any other film i've watched about drug addictions! There's no gloomy, moody colours to addition to cinematography! Those usually are seen in drugs-related movies, which I personally don't like at all! Brilliant work of the DoP Martin Balkansky. Yana Titova (director) did a fine and amazing job taking you through the real-life story that grabs you and leaves you speechless after that tough journey. And this is her debut future!! What to follow?! Valentina Karoleva is a super star! Can't believe she was able to play her mum's real story and went through that trauma from her childhood again! Amazing cast! Remarkable actors! Only thing I was missing was the massive fight with the addiction, but at the other hand this is exploited a thousand times, so actually saves you the pain. The message comes through very powerful anyway. And not to forget - this is Fully Independent Project! The producers should of been brave! Hope more people will watch it and the film will complete the mission of saving lives. Good luck!

A few words about A Dose of Happiness after its premiere last night. It's rare for a Bulgarian film to touch me emotionally. I've always wondered how come foreign cinema manage to make me laugh, cry or feel destroyed inside, while our cinema never could. A Dose of Happiness is the exception. And it deserves to be talked about. It's the story of a girl (Vesela) which falls into the hell hole of heroin addiction. The story's told directly and uncompromisingly, but gently. The film is based on the real life and struggles of Vesela Toteva (she wrote about it in her memoirs Disgrace and Salvation) which is naturally important, but no one cares what a film is based on if it fails to touch you inside. And this film did just that. Making a film on a topic such as this after Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream is very brave. But the director Yana Titova made a bold move and succeeded in this challenge seemingly impossible to achieve. How, you ask? With huge talent and a big heart. And with brains. Choosing the right people for the job. The actors are great. Even the cameo appearances are given to the right people. Ilka Zafirova, Irmena Chichikova, Cvetan Alexiev, Dimitar Nikolov, Alec Alexiev, Asen Blatechki, Lydia Indzhova, Silvia Lulcheva, Ivan Barnev, Stoyan Doychev, Filip Avramov, Stefan Valdobrev, Tnaya Shahova, the gypsy woman with one tooth whose name I forgot and her son: each one of them shines as bright as the story needs them to, so that they can't steal the moment for themselves (as it often happens on the screen and on stage). The star of the film, Valentina Karoleva who is in every scene, is natural and does not even suggest fakeness. A great role which I hope is the beginning of a great career. I can't begin to think what's it like to play your mother because she is actually the daughter of Vesela. There's something about daughters in this film, because one of the things that make it unique is the character of the daughter, Valya. Through her eyes we see her mother falling. There is a little gem in the film and her name is Aya, who is the three-year old daughter in the film. It's not necessary to be in the industry (you just have to be a parent) to know that it's difficult to direct a 3-year old child. Yana Titova succeeded. Even though the girl is her own daughter. Kudos to both of them. The camera work is exceptional. I can forgive the self-indulgence wide shots, but they were compensated with clever visual storytelling elsewhere. Very effective transitions from different scenes, years and conditions. I want to congratulate the producers that they believed in Yana and invested time, love and life for this film to appear. An African proverb springs to mind: "It takes a whole village to raise a child." I have the feeling that everyone involved went all in with heart and soul to have this film produced and give us the chance to talk about it. I didn't see the film being supported by the National Film Centre or the Bulgarian National Television which is hard to explain given how socially important the film is. I hope it reaches as many Bulgarian students as possible because a film like that will be far more effective than a class on drug prevention. Because it's not patronizing. Hour in a half in the cinema can spare someone years of their lives, to give hope to another and even safe a life. Art can work in that way, sometimes. Congratulations to Yana Titova! This film gives hope to the independent young people in Bulgarian cinema and to us, the viewers.