Nephila
A BOY (Black and White Drawing)is in love with A GIRL (Cardboard Cut Out Puppet), he is too shy and anxious, which makes him too incapable to express his feelings for her. THE GIRL tries to get closer to him, but after he doesn’t react to her approaches, she decides to stop trying. When she leaves, she drops a little cardboard spider, which THE BOY takes home. The Spider starts to absorb the BOY’s energy and feeds on his complex and insecurities, growing bigger and monstrous. The BOY’s reality starts to mix up with his dreams and nightmares, he gets obsessed with THE GIRL and starts waiting for the GIRL to come back, while the toxic spider continuous to spin its web over his overthinking head.
- Language English, No Dialogue
- Country Bulgaria
- Genre
- Producer Pavel Pavlov
- Cast Kristian Zahariev, Nadezhda Slavcheva
- Year of creation 2025
- Duration 00:15:10
Kristian Zahariev is born in Samokov, Bulgaria in 1999. He graduates in BA “ANIMATION” (2022) and MA “Animation Directing”(2024) in “NATFA Krastyo Sarafov”. His graduation short film “GARLIC SOUP”, written, directed and animated by him, has more than 20 selections in international animation and film festivals and won 4 awards ( WFAF Varna 2024 - Critic’s choice - Union of Bulgarian Artists; 44th VGIK International Student Festival – Special Diploma from the student jury; Golden Kouker 2025 – “SPECIAL MENTION” for Best Student Film. In the moment Kristian is a PhD candidate, in the cinema faculty, again in “NATFA”. He is an animator in some short animated films. Shows a special interest in hybrid cinema, the mix between different techniques, and mixing of different types of cinema – animation and live action/ documentary. Kristian Zahariev is also a teacher in animation workshops for kids and an assistant in NATFA “Krastyo Sarafov”
