Tchavdar Georgiev
Directing
Biography
Tchavdar Georgiev is an Emmy-nominated filmmaker and a member of ACE (American Cinema Editors). He edited the two times Emmy-nominated “Valentine Road” (HBO) as well as “Finders Keepers,” both of which premiered at Sundance. He wrote, co-produced and edited “Off The Rails” (Hot Docs, Full Frame, Sundance Channel) that won many awards including DOC NYC FF. He directed and edited together with Dana Berry for Nat Geo “Finding the Next Earth” and edited the Emmy-nominated “Alien Earths.” He also edited on “The American Meme” (Tribeca FF, Hot Docs, Netflix Original). He has also written, produced, directed or edited for BBC, History Channel, USA Network, STARZ and Amazon Studios.
Known For

NUDE explores perceptions of nudity in art by chronicling the creative process of photographer David Bellemere as he's commissioned by NU Muses founder Steve Shaw to shoot a fine art calendar of nude photographs.
Nude

Russians will survive everywhere. And in the desert, and at the bottom of the sea, and in America. They will learn everything and they can teach the Americans a lot ... For example, how to catch criminals. Russian investigator Andrei Somov fell in love with an American dancer and moved with her to America for permanent residence. He wanted to work in the police, but he was not hired. Therefore, he has to wash dishes, look after the sick, clean, wash, walk other people's dogs, cook. But his dream of becoming a detective is coming true: he becomes the best detective in Los Angeles. Each episode of the film has its own plot.
Russians in the City of Angels

In 1999, Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris recruits dozens of young men and women who agree to live in underground apartments for weeks at a time while their every movement is broadcast online. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend embark on their own subterranean adventure, with cameras streaming live footage of their meals, arguments, bedroom activities, and bathroom habits. This documentary explores the role of technology in our lives, as it charts the fragile nature of dot-com economy.
We Live in Public

A "Hitlerjugend" kind of story, set in the Soviet Union during the Second World War, based on a fictitious story from the eponymous book by Vladimir Kunin.
Bastards

How does art survive in a time of oppression? During the Soviet rule artists who stay true to their vision are executed, sent to mental hospitals or Gulags. Their plight inspires young Igor Savitsky. He pretends to buy state-approved art but instead daringly rescues 40,000 forbidden fellow artist's works and creates a museum in the desert of Uzbekistan, far from the watchful eyes of the KGB. Though a penniless artist himself, he cajoles the cash to pay for the art from the same authorities who are banning it. Savitsky amasses an eclectic mix of Russian Avant-Garde art. But his greatest discovery is an unknown school of artists who settle in Uzbekistan after the Russian revolution of 1917, encountering a unique Islamic culture, as exotic to them as Tahiti was for Gauguin. They develop a startlingly original style, fusing European modernism with centuries-old Eastern traditions.
The Desert of Forbidden Art

In this documentary, recovering addict and amputee John Wood finds himself in a stranger-than-fiction battle to reclaim his mummified leg from Southern entrepreneur Shannon Whisnant, who found it in a grill he bought at an auction and believes it therefore to be his rightful property.
Finders Keepers

When the apocalypse arrives, it takes the form of a biochemical virus. All social structures break down and a new world order emerges from the heart of the desert. As chaos sets in, we follow the adventures of some unlikely survivors, all searching for the elusive cure at Phoenix Point.
Phoenix Point

Paris Hilton, the Fat Jew, and Brittany Furlan have all used social media to achieve massive internet fame. But, American Meme explores, is it worth it?
The American Meme

Five women veterans who have endured unimaginable trauma in service create a shared sisterhood to help the rising number of stranded homeless women veterans by entering a competition that unexpectedly catalyzes moving events in their own lives.
Served Like a Girl

Assembled from never before seen footage shot in 1983, this film documents controversial Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt's unlikely bid for the White House after a gunman's bullet left him partially paralyzed.
Larry Flynt for President

When a courageous young woman and a radical lawyer discover a pattern of illegal involuntary sterilizations in California’s women’s prison system, they take to the courtroom to wage a near-impossible battle against the Department of Corrections. With a growing team of investigators inside prison working with colleagues on the outside, they uncover a series of statewide crimes - from dangerously inadequate health care to sexual assault to coercive sterilizations - primarily targeting women of color. But no one believes them. This shocking legal drama captured over seven years features extraordinary access and intimate accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated women, demanding our attention to a shameful and ongoing legacy of eugenics and reproductive injustice in the United States.
Belly of the Beast

The remarkable true story of Darius McCollum, a man with Asperger's syndrome whose overwhelming love of transit has landed him in jail 32 times for the criminal impersonation of NYC subway drivers, conductors, token booth clerks, and track repairmen.
Off the Rails

After photo journalist Melissa Maldari's father disappears after a meeting with a Russian mail order bride she travels to Russia to find the truth about her father and the underworld of human trafficking.
The Nevsky Prospect

Filmmaker Alyssa Bolsey stumbles on a treasure trove of vintage cameras, old film reels, fading photos, technical drawings and boxes of documents that belonged to her great-grandfather Jacques Bolsey. Among the many boxes, she spots an old movie camera with the word "Bolex" embossed on its side and a dangling tag with the date, "1927." Entranced, she embarks on a journey to reveal how Jacques aimed to disrupt the early film industry with a motion picture camera for the masses.
Beyond the Bolex

A group of Russian musicians struggles from gig to gig in South Texas until one of them ditches the group to attempt a marriage with a wealthy farmer on his ranch. The story is inspired and is loosely based on 'Ionych', a novella by Anton Chekhov.
Bagatelle

As a child, Victor Starffin fled the Russian Revolution and settled in Japan, where he grew up to find success as a baseball superstar. However, he constantly battled to overcome many hardships such as poverty, xenophobia, and a world war. Starffin is survived by his two daughters who take us on a wild ride of shifting identities, international rivalries, tragic love, and one heck of a fastball.
Tokyo Giant: The Legend of Victor Starffin

An erotic drama that submerges an innocent new arrival to the City of Angels in the intoxicating double life of her charismatic lesbian dominatrix housemate.
Surrender
Rise Up is a journey into the heart of Jamaica - the island that gave birth to the worldwide cultural phenomenon of Reggae. In a society where talent abounds and opportunity is scarce, three distinct and courageous artists fight to rise up from obscurity and write themselves into the pages of history. With music and appearances by legends Lee "Scratch" Perry, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, and a slew of soon-to-be superstars, Rise Up follows artists in the dangerous streets, back alleys and crowded dance halls of Kingston and the countryside. These artists demonstrate the raw power of hope and courage in a land which is largely unseen, but certainly not unsung.
RiseUp
This meta-cinematic coming-of-age drama centers around two roommates who secretly dream about one another. While Rob is off shooting a film, Dylan discovers Rob's diary and begins to see his friend in a new light. The reality of their lives and the fiction of the movie-within-the-movie begin to intertwine to reveal a story about the power of friendship and creativity alike.
Pause of the Clock

James Billie is the charismatic, controversial leader of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an alligator wrestler, a Grammy-nominated record artist, and the father of Indian gaming. He also sits at the head of one of the biggest gaming operations in the world. And you've never heard of him, until now.