SOFIA: The staff of the Bulgarian National Film Archive has joined the protests against the on-going underfunding of the cultural sector, which started on 24 November 2015 in Bulgaria.

Over 3,000 employees of libraries, museums and galleries are demanding additional government funding of 10 m EUR and a 50% increase in salaries.

The national movement is supported by the country’s two most important labour organizations: the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions and the Confederation of Labour “Podkrepa”. The demonstrations will be held in various locations across the country throughout the month of December.

Antonia Kovacheva, director of the BNFA told FNE that “the annual budget of the BNFA, a state institution with unique cultural value, is less than 200,000 EUR with a 40% share coming from its own revenues.” She added, “Our institution stores 99% from the country’s film heritage, possesses eight locations and has three film depositories. Unfortunately, most of them are in a very poor condition. The extremely low salaries do not contribute to the attraction of young people to the BNFA. We permanently suffer from a serious deficit of staff specialised both in film processing and new digital technologies.”