15 is a film that is based on the idea by Martichka Bozhilova, Boris Missirkov and Georgi Bogdanov. The film presents the last fifteen years in the life of Bulgaria and the significant changes that have been made in the post–socialist society with fifteen shorts by fifteen authors – some of the most famous Bulgarian names in the sphere of cinema, theatre and modern art that have made Bulgarian modern culture known internationally. Every novel illustrates one year of those fifteen years taken, starting from 1994 – the year which is best remembered by Bulgarians because of the sensation on the 1994 World Cup and Bulgarian team’s sudden success there, when the team won the quarter– final from the strong German team and went to the semi–final. The stories, that 15 unfolds are very different from each other – some of them cover reaction on some important international events – such as 11/9/2001, some tell about important national events, such as an interview with the Vice President or the appearance of the first Bulgarian pop–star that won international success, and some of the stories tell about private lives of ordinary people: we see how a woman cooks omelette, a blind singer tells about her life, a calendar fallen from the wall causes the chain of events concerning a whole group of people…

Bulgaria, the night of October 18,1922. A rampageous young man – an American, is forced to get off the Orient Express at a small station. The Station Master and his daughter are quite unwilling to put up the stranger. Gradually the American wins their trust. When the father finds out that his daughter has decided to go away to Paris with the American, he prepares a potion to make him fall asleep and secretly puts him on a train. In the morning all that has been left from the guest is a piece of paper with a military cross attached to it and the name «Ernest Hemingway».

A huge spruce is cut down in the mountains to be used as a Christmas tree in the centre of Sofia. As it is transported across the country it becomes the link between six stories that explore the euphoric or depressive way in which their protagonists are experiencing the festive season. In these stories, men and women of different ages are unwittingly brought up against the question of the meaning of their lives, take stock of their situations and deal with them as best they can. Some with self-conscious pride, and others with humility. All of them are essentially trying to come to terms with their own disappointments and loneliness. Fate has awarded each a different degree of good or ill fortune, a different degree of insight or blindness. But also moments when the voice of conscience suggests the most drastic courses of action... The film juxtaposes the mentalities of people from different social classes and different places to offer a vivid picture of the social climate of post-socialist Bulgaria.

Ivan and his girlfriend live a peaceful life in Sofia, Bulgaria. His best friend has moved to the United States and he and Ivan have been keeping in touch via mail. One day Ivan learns by phone that his friend has been involved in a serious car accident and is now in a coma in a New York hospital. Refused an American visa by an unsympathetic consular official, Ivan decides to send his friend a video letter containing a half-forgotten song they learned as children from the friend’s grandmother, an old folk song once believed capable of resurrecting the dead. But Ivan doesn’t remember all the words and the grandmother lives in a remote village in the Pirin mountains. Ivan is obsessed with getting the song right. He sets out on an odyssey to find the old lady.

Three young girls try to flee from unemployment in the country: they arrive in the capital city of Sofia to look for a job and a different future. The three of them try to survive, fighting a hostile reality which threatens to break their innocent and bright ideas of life, imposing on them its vicious morality. After a chance encounter, Katia finds employment as a waitress in a bar, and soon becomes involved with a pimp. With the help of her sexuality, she finds herself moving up in the world while her two friends are condemned to menial jobs. Elena falls in love with married man. Prompted by her betrayal, she gets involved into a love triangle and attempts suicide. The third girl puts up a struggle for her closest friends’ redemption.

Parts of a corpse have been found and a suspect, Plamen Goranov, brother of the murdered man, is detained. He denies any charges and for want of conclusive evidence, the investigation is about to be suspended. Then a new investigator is appointed, Alexandra Yakimova, who starts everything from scratch. In daytime she interrogates relatives, friends and colleagues of the two brothers and at night she questions the suspect. She hasn’t got much time left for her family. Solitude has been her own choice and she tries to make up for it overburdening herself with more and more work. Loneliness is also eating up Plamen, the tough rogue, who starts cherishing his encounters with the investigator for the chance to talk to her. The film follows the course of the investigation through the filter of its main subject: possible or impossible human communication.