N°68 — Stolliwood: ghetto on stage

Stolpinovo, 17th February 2026,
I come from a family of craftsmen. My father, grandfather and great-grandfather all worked as welders and blacksmiths; it’s our family tradition. Our workshop is in the garage right under our apartment.

Now it’s my turn. I’ve become a blacksmith too. But I also decided to become an actor. I really respect my family trade, but acting allows me to tell stories and give a voice to people like us.

I was born and raised here, in the Stolipinovo neighbourhood of Plovdiv, the second-largest city in Bulgaria. My neighbourhood is home to people from different minority groups; the residents are mainly Turks and Roma people. The turks are the biggest community, even though, for outsiders, this is considered the “Roma ghetto.”

Stolipinovo has a very large population and strong traditions, especially in terms of wedding celebrations, crafts, and trade. Life here is noisy, colourful, and very authentic. In the summertime, when it’s bijav season (wedding season, ed.), there’s lots of partying in the streets. It’s a huge thing in Stolipininovo.

But over the last 25 years or so, the media have portrayed our neighbourhood in a rather inaccurate way. TV crews and newspapers have often turned up, filmed uneducated people, showed mountains of rubbish lying in the streets…They only show the negative side of it. And so, Stolipinovo has become known as a problematic and isolated place to be. The human side and positive aspects have always been excluded.

When I was 15, my friends and I started filming some videos for fun, to show people what real life here is like, and we made our first short film. I thought that if someone started showing the good, true side of Stolipinovo, then people’s opinions would change.

One day, a popular travel YouTuber from the United States came to the neighbourhood, and I was asked to be his guide. When we were walking around, he asked me, “Why is there so much rubbish here?” I told him that the rubbish was there because, over time, people had become accustomed to it. There has always been a lack of bins and no proper places to dispose of waste. When the bins are completely full, people start throwing rubbish next to them. That’s how throwing rubbish on the ground became a habit.

Then, jokingly to a friend of mine, I said, “Hey, mate, why don’t we clean up Stolipinovo in one day?” After all, we live here, and if we don’t keep it clean, unfortunately no one else will. And so that’s what happened. We organized a big clean-up day, and some people from Sofia also came to help us out.

After the video was released, other YouTubers contacted me, and lots of people became interested in Stolipinovo —for real. That’s why I decided to continue filming videos on social media and talking about myself, my neighbourhood, and how I would like it to become a better place. I know, of course, that change takes time. It’s not just about me and my friends. We also need to set an example for the younger generation.

I was the first person from Stolipinovo to study acting at Plovdiv University. Now I’m part of a company called Stolliwood. America has Hollywood, India has Bollywood, we created Stolliwood. What we do is try to combine authentic Roma stories with strong, provocative social messages.

Our first big play is called “Romano Bijav” (“Romani Wedding” in English, ed.). The plot is about a groom who doesn’t want to get married, but whose parents force him to marry young because it’s important to them. I play myself—the groom—in the play. When we first started performing Romani Wedding, I was 23. According to my parents, I was already an adult and it was time for me to get married. But it still hasn’t happened.

We hold our rehearsals here in the neighbourhood; our stage is between the garden and the asphalt of a courtyard. But we’ve performed all around Bulgaria: Sofia, Varna, Burgas, etc.

I think the importance of art is that it teaches people a different way of life. It shows them other points of view. It’s a way of raising your own voice.

I use mine to inspire the Roma children living here to fight for the rights of the community. To show that the power of change can also come from the most unexpected places.

Georgi