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When his wife leaves him, struggling Bulgarian photographer Zack sets out on a wild trip from London to Berlin. It is a journey that reveals the truth about his lost love – and ultimately to uncomfortable discoveries about himself.

Title18% Grey
Original title
Year of production2020
CountryBulgaria
Running Time
ScriptwriterHilary Norrish, Dolya Gavanski, Zachary Karabashliev
DirectorViktor Chouchkov
IMDB18% Grey
ScripTeast EditionVII
Creative AdvisorsMichael Schiffer, David Matamoros
Head of Studies Christian Routh
Krzysztof Kieślowski ScripTeast Award / Special Mention
Producers / co-producers / funding Ostlicht Filmproduktion, Chouchkov Brothers, Cinnamon Films, Pins & Needles Film (Service Production), Raised by Wolves, Sektor Film Skopje
Producers/ Co-producersGeorge Abrashev, Borislav Chouchkov, Viktor Chouchkov, Dolya Gavanski, Marcel Lenz
Sales agentChouchkov Brothers
DistributorChouchkov Brothers
Festivals / awardsFestival du Cinema Bulgare Paris, 2021
Nominee – Jury Prize Best Feature Film – Viktor Chouchkov
Sofia International Film Festival, 2020
Nominee – Grand Prix Interrnational Competition – Viktor Chouchkov
Tirana International Film Festival,  2021
Nominee – Best Feature Film Feature film Competition – Viktor Chouchkov
Full creditshttps://pro.imdb.com/title/tt4271826/filmmakers
Project archive18% Grey

After his wife left him, a failed photographer stumbles upon a bag of marijuana, and determined to sell it, sets off to a wild trip that may lead him to the truth about his lost love and ultimately to himself.Inseparable soul mates, Zack and Stella have left their homeland, and have come to California to study. Zack is determined to “take over the world” with his photography, but when his big dreams fail he settles for a boring printing job in a 1-Hour photo shop. Stella stays true to herself and starts working in an architectural firm.The film starts 9 days after Stella has inexplicably disappeared from Zack’s life. Devastated, he crosses the border into Tijuana (Mexico) to drown his sorrows. After few hours in dingy bars, he encounters a violent drug-related scene, and trying to save a stranger’s life, nearly loses his own. He manages to escape with the van of the “banditos” and makes it back to the US with a bag of marijuana in the trunk. He decides to quit his job and use the unintentionally smuggled weed as a means to turn his life around and win Stella back. But the only man who can help him is Danny, a compatriot, childhood friend, who lives 4 000 miles away in New York City. Before setting off for the East Coast, Zack goes into a pawnshop to get some music, but comes across an old Nikon camera and buys it. As his quest unfolds, he is waking up to the people he encounters and he starts photographing. What started as a foolish, random trip to Tijuana turns into a life-changing journey of self-discovery. The story is told in nonlinear fashion: now – Zack’s wild ride across America and past – as we see his obsessive romance with Stella. When Zack reaches New York and meets Danny, minutes before the arranged transaction the marijuana gets taken away from him and his long trip is about to end in fiasco. He fights to take back what he believes is rightfully his. In the struggle he finally faces the excruciating truth about the absence of Stella. Ultimately, he must decide: to cling to a love lost or let go and reconstruct his new self.