KVIFF 2026: Black Money for White Nights

Travel agents aren’t to be trusted at the best of times, but when one is named ‘Dream Tourism’, operates out of a shabby office, and offers expensive luxury trips to a country committing war crimes, you should really steer clear. Marina (Tanya Shahova) and Gosha (Ivan Savov), the 60-something couple at the heart of Bulgarian tragicomedy Black Money for White Nights, find this out the hard way when they lose their life savings to this dodgy company when they pay through the nose for a trip to experience the White Nights of St. Petersburg, a stunning phenomenon in the summer when the sun never fully sets. Days after they part with the cash, Russia invades Ukraine. Concerned that this might cause some logistical problems – ethical issues don’t bother them initially – the couple seek a refund, but they’re persuaded by the agent that there’s nothing to worry about. Needless to say, when the big day arrives, their transport has been cancelled and the agent has done a runner. 

Marina, a no-nonsense nurse, and Gosha, a gruff train station manager, really should have known better. After all, the pair are well-versed in the corruption rife in their nation, given they both partake in it. The nest egg they’ve been scammed out of was the summation of the bribes they’ve both taken at work for years. Marina has been fast-tracking patients for cash, while Gosha takes kickbacks to turn a blind eye to the syphoning off of diesel from his train yard. 

Both halves of the couple react differently to the swindle. Gosha is determined to get the cash back, first attempting to go through the police before defaulting to his natural instincts, circumventing the law and hiring a local gangster to retrieve the money, who, of course, wants a hefty cut. Marina is the more superstitious of the pair. Initially, she blames their bad luck on breaking her religious pendant during some celebratory sex with Gosha, and later becomes convinced it’s their love for black money that’s caused their downfall. 

A strain of dark absurdist comedy runs through this nifty little morality tale. The gags from writer-director duo Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov tend to be gentle ironies rather than laugh-out-loud zingers, and they’re almost always visual. When Marina’s younger sister, Lucy (Margita Gosheva), calls the airport to ask about their flight from Belgrade to Moscow, for example, the couple can barely hear the bad news as another passenger plane is flying overhead. Later, when Marina and Gosha share their nieces’ bunk beds at Lucy’s place, Marina complains about the white neon light coming through the window, which one assumes isn’t too different to the light they were hoping to experience in St. Petersburg. The film’s production design and costuming also offer chuckles, from the hideous forest wallpaper in Marina and Gosha’s living room, to the holiday clothes they’re stuck wearing for most of the movie (a parade of floral dresses for her, a ubiquitous bumbag for him). 

This isn’t to suggest the filmmakers are laughing at their protagonists. What makes Black Money for White Nights so winning is Grozeva and Valchanov’s humanistic approach. Moments of wry humour are always balanced by real emotional weight. The love between this sweet couple is put under strain as they begin to question their life choices, which are revealed to go beyond dodgy payoffs and move into the secrets and lies that have accrued between them over a lifetime together. It’s also a genuinely romantic film. Marina and Gosha may have made some terrible mistakes over the years, but one indisputable decision was getting together in the first place: these crazy sexagenarians are meant for each other. 

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Black Money for White Nights had its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where it competed in the Crystal Globe competition