A quiet and confined exploration of memory and the past: “Windless” at the 2025 goEast Festival of Central and Eastern European Film

In his sophomore feature Windless (2024), Bulgarian director Pavel G. Vesnakov explores topics of childhood, memory, and change. Through slow and steady shots in a 1:1 aspect ratio, the film follows a young man who has to face the town he left behind and revisit his relationship with his recently deceased father.

In a small town in Bulgaria, Kaloyan returns to clean out and finalise the sale of the apartment left after the passing of his father, Asen — both Kaloyan and his mother had left Asen and the town behind years ago to find better economic prosperity abroad in Spain. The apartment complex will soon be destroyed, along with a number of other properties as well as the cemetery, to make way for larger foreign investments and the construction of a casino, a spa complex, and a golf course, with a highway soon to follow.

Windless addresses a contemporary story and an old, ever-present problem — a small town, once probably a factory or mining stronghold, faced with population decline, old inhabitants forced to sell their homes and land, their children and grandchildren having left Bulgaria, friends and spouses long gone.

Neither old age nor death bring serenity. The heartbreaking stories of the elderly population waiting for death, unable or unwilling to leave, add a level of human suffering to the depleted environment. In an effort to clean out the cemetery, graves are dug up and bones placed in individual trash bags to be collected by living family members.

Kaloyan, or Koko as his mother and friends call him, is a stoic presence on screen who feels and looks like he doesn’t quite belong. Played by Bulgarian rap star Ognyan Pavlov (also known as Fyre), the character spends most of his time on screen silent, observing or being observed. His tough demeanour and plethora of tattoos are somewhat at odds with the sensitivity and compassion he shows, whether through an effort to prevent an old woman from committing suicide via an insulin overdose or as depicted through the single tear that falls down his face when he reflects on the relationship with his father.

Long shots establish a sense of serenity as well as uneasiness, with the tranquility reminding viewers of the lack of things happening in and around the village. The film’s 1:1 aspect ratio serves as a focaliser, enveloping half of the screen in darkness, while also giving it a dated feel. 

Koko spends parts of the film with his back to the camera, hiding his eyes, but the face of a Greco-Roman statue tattooed on the back of his clean-shaven head maintains (pupil-less) eye contact with the viewer even when Koko’s actual reaction cannot be seen. 

The central relationship of Windless, the one between Koko and his father, is as much explored as it remains unresolved. From his remarks about his father and the tone of voice, we learn enough to know that the relationship was strained at best. What Koko shares about his father serves to paint him as a tough man, always at a distance from his only child. 

The stories his father’s contemporaries and friends share are at odds with these memories. As Koko disassembles and breaks his childhood home apart piece by piece, the image of his father becomes larger and more complicated. Different from the man he knew — younger, funnier, more full of life. 

Yet such is the impact they and the time spent in the apartment have on him that Koko wants to back out of the sale. When he tells his mother that he wants to keep the apartment, she tells him that the money for the sale has already been transferred. A dream is dead before it ever had the chance to become reality.

The film doesn’t force Koko to build a bridge to his father, or the memory of him, but it opens the door. Towards the end of the film, he recounts to his friend how he used to sit on his balcony as a child and listen to the wind howl, hoping it would grow louder and louder to drone out the voices of his parents arguing. 

Now, in the almost windless night, he has to find a way to face his past without obstructions.

Windless (2024) was screened on 24 and 25 April as part of the 2025 goEast Festival of Central and Eastern European Film. It will be available to stream on Klassiki until 22 May.