THE GOLDEN LINDEN │ International Film Festival for New European Cinema
The Golden Linden Film Festival aims to promote the European cinema in Bulgaria and to show the latest and most interesting films from various European countries. The festival has two programs: competition and additional. The selected films for the competition program are evaluated by an international jury. It is our wish that each year the additional program of the festival features films from various parts of Europe. There is a separate section featuring new Bulgarian movies presented by their creators and actors. The festival is organized with the support of the Municipality of Stara Zagora. Entrance to all festival screenings as well as all accompanying events is free of charge. All are welcome!
SPECIAL GUEST OF THE FESTIVAL 2025
FRANCO NERO: THE LIVING LEGEND OF WORLD CINEMA
Franco Nero is not merely an actor — he is a symbol. With a career spanning more than six decades and an impressive body of work of over 200 roles, he remains one of the most influential and charismatic figures in the history of European and world cinema.
Born in 1941 in Italy, Nero achieved worldwide fame in 1966 with his iconic role in Sergio Corbucci’s spaghetti western Django. The image of the silent gunslinger turned him into a pop-culture icon and opened the doors to major international cinema. Soon afterwards, John Huston entrusted him with the role of Abel in the biblical epic The Bible: In the Beginning…, while his appearance in the musical Camelot 1967 earned him a Golden Globe nomination. It was on the set of that film that he met the great love of his life — the legendary Vanessa Redgrave.
Franco Nero is known for his courage to experiment, working with the elite of auteur cinema: Luis Buñuel in Tristana, Rainer Werner Fassbinder in Querelle, and Claude Chabrol. In the 1970s, he became the face of the Italian political thriller, while in Hollywood he left a memorable mark in blockbusters such as Die Hard 2 and Force 10 from Navarone.
Even in the new century, Franco Nero has not slowed down. Quentin Tarantino paid tribute to him with an iconic appearance in Django Unchained, while his recent roles include hits such as John Wick: Chapter 2 and the horror film The Pope’s Exorcist 2023.
A Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and a star on the Walk of Fame, Franco Nero arrives in Stara Zagora as a special guest and recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the 2026 Golden Linden International Film Festival. He brings with him the spirit of cinema’s “Golden Age” and reminds us that true art has no age — it is eternal and belongs to the future.
