The movie "The World is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner" (Bulgaria-Germany-Slovenia-Hungary 2008) begins with a roll of the dice in a German hospital. Alex, who had just survived a car accident, can hardly recall his grandfather, Bai Dan, whom he hadn't seen for over 25 years. In fact, he can hardly recall anything at all. In an attempt to accelerate his grandson recovery, Bai Dan, who 30 years earlier was named "the king of backgammon" in his local café, plays backgammon with his 30 years old grandson, who was born while he was celebrating his triumph in the backgammon tournament.
And so, a movie that begins with a roll of the dice continues with a road trip on a tandem throughout Europe. The grandson-grandfather journey will include visit to their pasts, abandoned homeland Bulgaria and all the ingredients of a good journey film: secrets, romances, adventures, encounters with colorful figures and inevitable generation gap disputes. The story ends in an intensive backgammon game where Alex returns to his grandfather regular backgammon hangout, and after a long and emotional backgammon match, he inherits his grandfather's king of backgammon crown and learns to accept the assemble his past with his present and to look forward to the salvation that lurks around the corner.
"The World is Big and Salvation Lurks around the Corner" is the directed by Stephan Komandarev and based by on the novel by Illja Trojanow. The film won the Audience Award and the Best Bulgarian Feature Film at the 2008 Sofia International Film Festival and the Audience Award at the 2008 Zurich Film Festival. In the movie's recent movie premier in Bulgaria, backgammon boards were given to the audience.
