Zift is one of five films to screen at SXSW this year which is being promoted as a simultaneous premiere at the festival and on Video on Demand via IFC (like all of its fellows in the series except for Joe Swanberg’s Alexander the Last, it comes to Austin and your living room after an extensive festival run; two of the films in the series, Paper Covers Rock and Medicine for Melancholy, screened at SXSW last year). We talked to Zift director Javor Gardev talked about meeting Americans in Argentina, offered the only fast and loose plot synopsis I’ve ever seen to invoke both Casablanca and Georges Bataille, and declared himself “the king of the blurb.” We can’t argue there. The Zift trailer, and his further answers to The 5 Questions We Ask Everyone, after the jump.

Tell us about your movie. Who did you work with, why did you make it? Give us the reductive, 25-word or less, “It’s like [pop culture reference a] meets [pop culture reference b]!” pitch, then explain what the quick and dirty sell leaves out.

The movie is made after the novel Zift by Vladislav Todorov who also wrote the script. The DOP Emil Christov was the most experienced person in my crew and the composer Kalin Nikolov the youngest member of it. Nikola Toromanov and Daniela Oleg Lyahova – my closest friends and stage designers that I work with for theatrical performances — did the art direction and young Kevork Aslanyan worked on the editing. Actors Zachary Baharov, Tanya Ilieva, Vladimir Penev, Mihail Mutafov and Djoko Rosic were principal cast. Georgi Dimitrov, Ilian Djevelekov and Matey Konstantinov produced it with their “Miramar Film.”

From the very start I chose to play a contrarian. While everybody around was doing social dramas, I went for a strong genre-driven movie and suddenly this made a difference. It’s like Gilda meets Ivan Lapshin, they fall in love in Casablanca, decide to marry in Brazil, call Vladimir Lenin to deliver a speech at their wedding, Johnny Rotten to entertain them during the party, Ilya Kabakov to paint their family portrait, Michel Foucault to theorize on the meaning of their marriage, and Georges Bataille to teach them how to play golf with eyeballs. Bingo, there’s nothing left out. I am the king of the blurb!

Do you have a day job/a non-filmmaking occupation that raises money for your filmmaking efforts? Tell us about it.

Yes, I do have a day job. I make my living as stage director. I do performances. Being a director seems to be unavoidable destiny in my particular case.

Have you been to SXSW before? If so, tell us about your funniest story from the experience. If not, what are you looking forward to re: the festival and/or the city of Austin?

No, I haven’t been either to SXSW before, or to Texas. Nevertheless, my mind is not a “tabula rasa.” It’s stuffed with all sorts of political, literary and movie myths about Texas in general and Austin in particular. So, I’m in danger now, as myths are usually dispelled as soon as they clash with reality. I’m looking forward to it.

Let’s get hypothetical: You’re on death row. The night of your execution, you’re allowed to watch any two films of your choice. What would you pick for your last-night-on-Earth double feature?

So, let’s get hypothetical indeed. I am on death row and I’m allowed to watch any two films I want. Honestly, I won’t be eager to take advantage of this courtesy. I’d be very busy pissing in my pants scared shitless. Cinema (both mainstream and independent!) would be my very last concern. However, I wouldn’t object if the next door wardens watched Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Theorem or Breaking the Waves by Lars von Trier.

There’s been  some criticism that the only way to get into SXSW is by being a part of an “incestuous scene where everybody knows everybody.” So who did *you* have to sleep with to get in? (Metaphorically or literally: are there any SXSW filmmaker(s) past or present that you’re close with personally and/or professionally, and how have those relationships helped or hurt the process of producing your film and getting it seen?)

Unfortunately, I am the very last person this particular criticism applies to. I was geographically so far away from that “incestuous scene” that I even didn’t know anything about it before reading your enlightening question. I met few months ago in Argentina, Barry Jenkins, Greta Gerwig and Aaron Katz at Mar del Plata IFF. I suppose, they must be part of the independent scene you talk about. This is more or less every overseas indie I know. I hope, it’s going to change now.