Can Refugees Bring This Bulgarian Town Back From the Brink?

Earlier this week, a minibus smuggling migrants crashed in southern Bulgaria, leaving several dead and others injured. The collision occurred on a motorway close to the Greek and Turkish borders of the country, which serves as a major port of entry for asylum seekers and is currently struggling to accommodate rising nationalistic politics.

A quick scan over headlines in the country paints a chaotic picture of political protest and opposition over the acceptance of refugees, even though the latest data from the Interior Ministry suggests a sharp decline in the number of migrants crossing Bulgarian borders. As Europe continues to grapple with the issue, a new documentary by filmmaker Tonislav Hristov taps into how the refugee crisis plays out on a local level. The lens is focused on a small border town in the hilly countryside of Bulgaria, where a local mayoral election ignites differing attitudes to Middle Eastern asylum-seekers among its 40 or so residents.