Angel Ivanov

An exiled filmmaker finally returns to his home country where former mysteries and afflictions of his early life come back to haunt him once more.

In the 17th century, a Bulgarian Christian region is selected by the Ottoman rulers to serve as an example of conversion to Islam. A Janissary who was kidnapped from the village as a boy is sent to force the reluctant inhabitants to convert. The Turkish governor seeks a peaceful solution, but ultimately torture, violence, and rebellion break out.

During World War II, a mountain village priest, Pop Vecherko, unwittingly shelters a disguised partisan and helps run an underground press that prints the Communist Manifesto under the guise of hagiography. When a misdelivered package reaches the Synod and triggers mass arrests of clergy, a chance grenade explosion orchestrated by local children creates chaos, allowing Vecherko and his unsuspecting ally, the mayor, to slip away unnoticed.