‘The Wealth of the Poorest’ is a documentary film by the talented young Bulgarian journalist, Veselina Foteva, completed as a master degree graduation project in Media and Journalism at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Veselina was one of the participants in ‘Preserve To Pass On’, a workshop conducted by Khow-How Show-How in the village of Gorna Biqla Rechka, Bulgaria during the ‘Goatmilk Festival’ in May 2013. The Northwest region of Bulgaria is statistically considered one of the poorest areas, not only in Bulgaria but also in Europe.
In her film, Veselina (herself born and raised in the area) searches for the real value behind that poverty statistics and the stereotypes such data creates. She invited inhabitants of the village of Gorna Biqla Rechka to reflect with her on the following questions, “What does it mean to be poor or rich? Are you really poor or is it all about perception? Can you be poor if you ‘have everything’?”
By collecting personal stories and local traditions, Veslina captured the human scale of the village, revealing a stark contrast between the beauty and love in daily life of the local community and the desperate picture painted by the statistical data.
At the same time, she engaged representatives of diverse cultural and social initiatives whose educational activities generate development in the region.
As part of the documentary, Vesilina interviewed Dima Stefanova, one of the team members of Khow-How Show-How, asking her to reflect upon this reality, to talk about her own motivation to be part of “Goat Milk Festival,” and to discuss the goals of the New Culture Foundation, organizer of the event.