A climate-fiction feature film in development, aimed to be created in a sustainable way, paving the way for sustainable filmmaking in Bulgaria.
Milestones & impact
2026-2027: Securing our first funding
EU-funded project "Climatopia Community: Youth-Led Sustainable Filmmaking"
- developing a handbook on sustainable filmmaking & piloting the handbook by filming a Climatopia proof of concept with green certification
- organising a national conference with decision-makers in 2027 to drive the green transition of the Bulgarian film industry, by sharing our experience and example.
2026: Finalist at the Female Film Club & Film Forge competition
The competition's final event took place in Cannes during the 79th Cannes Film Festival, establishing the project on an international stage and our team's presence among the industry's rising talents.
2026: Climatopia's screenwriter selected for Green Film Lab of Torino Film Lab
2025: Social Impact Award Bulgaria winner
Logline
Locked in a time-travelling escape room that teleports them into contrasting futures, two estranged lovers - a climate activist and a coal worker - must find common ground to decide the fate of a dying Earth.
Idea & Innovation
Inspired by an existing escape room
In 2022-2023, Iliyana Semerdzhieva (writer and producer of Climatopia) led a team that created an educational escape room on the topic of climate change in her hometown - Stara Zagora (a coal-dependent city). The project was funded by the EU and involved a promo video. That is how the first draft of Climatopia was given a life.
Following dedicated script development, in late 2024, Iliyana started working with Kosta Karakashyan: the film's director and co-producer.
Humanizing the climate crisis
Through cinematic, character-driven storytelling, the film humanizes the climate crisis by placing personal struggles, emotional journeys, and human resilience at the center of the narrative. By following characters whose personal conflicts mirror broader global tensions shaped by the need for climate action and social justice, the story transforms the climate crisis from an abstract global issue into an immediate and deeply personal human experience.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION & INDUSTRY IMPACT
Climatopia will be produced using a sustainable approach. A practical handbook on sustainable independent filmmaking will be piloted by the Climatopia team throughout the production process. In this way, the film will serve as a real working model for environmentally responsible practices within independent production conditions.
Following the film’s completion, the project will continue through a national conference in Bulgaria aimed at promoting sustainable filmmaking within Bulgarian practice, film education and film funding.