The Festival opened officially yesterday in the presence of Yordanka Fandakova, the mayor of Sofia, and Levon Hampartzoumian, the CEO of UniCredit Bulbank.

UniCredit Bulbank is the main partner of the first edition of the International Photofactory Festival. Its official opening was yesterday. The Festival presents two extraordinary exhibitions in the city of Sofia - The Man Who Protests and The Human and His Conditions.

Yordanka Fandukova, the mayor of Sofia, and Levon Hampartzoumian, the CEO of UniCredit Bulbank joined the opening. They were invited by the journalist Emi Baruh, one of the main organizers of the Festival.

“I am proud that Sofia earned the honour of hosting such a festival - a festival that unites the best examples of photographic reporting of the most prominent news agencies. The municipality is always ready to support initiatives which aim at making spaces more interesting, more pleasurable and better organized”, Yordanka Fandakova commented. She expressed gratitude to UniCredit Bulbank for the support it has provided to Photofactory.

“UniCredit Bulbank is always ready to support projects which bring us near to the European ideals”, Levon Hampartzoumian commented. He was presented as “the best photographer among bankers and the best banker among photographers”. “The protests’ topic is undoubtedly interesting, however, we shall not fail to recognize that protests merely indicate that there are issues. The active approach of each and every one of us may enable us to the find the solution to these issues”, Levon Hampartzoumian said.

Starting from today, those who want to see the exhibition The Man Who Protests are able to do so absolutely free of charge. The photographs will be on display in front of the National Theater and the Crystal garden until September 25th. After that they will be moved to 17 Oborishte Str. and to The Lovers' Bridge near the National Palace of Culture.

An exhibition with artistic photographs from the Alcobendas collection, Spain, will open simultaneously, on September 16th, in the National Art Gallery. For the first time in Bulgaria, for a month, visitors to the National Art Gallery in Sofia will have the opportunity to see neorealist photographers’ works from the middle of the 20th century.

Both exhibitions focus on the modern man with his personal and social emotions and reactions, with his urban energy and with his interpretations of reality. The third module of the festival – Photo Finish under the motto It’s Not the End for the Man Who Protests – hopes for a dialogue through a discussion and an open photo competition on the theme: The Street and Its Conditions. The exhibition will be open to the public from October 15th to November 15th in UniCredit Studio.

More information for clients:

UniCredit Bulbank, Call Centre

Phone: 0700 1 84 84

More information for media:

UniCredit Bulbank, Identity & Communications Department

Ekaterina Ancheva, Phone: + 359 2 9264 963, flbufsjob/bodifwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch

Magdalena Ivanova, Phone: + 359 2 9232 528, nbhebmfob/jwbopwbAvojdsfejuhspvq/ch