Parallel World is a 21-minute Bulgarian documentary directed by Aleksandar Valchev. It belongs to the adventure and extreme-sports genres, with particular attention to dry tooling, a climbing discipline combining technique, endurance and control in demanding conditions.
At the centre is a mountaineer who radically reassesses his priorities after the birth of his daughter. Fatherhood drives him to seek a balance between family safety and the intensity of sporting practice. He thus approaches high-level dry tooling, finding a new challenge beneath one of the world’s largest rock roofs: ‘Parallel World’, a limestone wall among the most difficult to climb.
The film’s protagonists include Viktor Varoshkin, also co-writer and producer, alongside climbers Ivaylo Angelov, Ada Varoshkina and Melina Krumova. All appear as themselves in a narrative taking place entirely in natural settings, particularly on Italian rock faces. Footage documents training, climbing attempts and intimate reflections, offering an authentic view of the physical and mental effort required by the discipline.
The message the film seeks to convey revolves around the search for a possible balance between family and sport. Parallel World is described as an ‘upside-down universe’, where every movement demands one’s utmost: an allegory of life itself when divided between personal ambitions and parental responsibilities.
The film is neither a student project nor Valchev’s directorial debut. It was completed on 20 November 2024 in Bulgaria, with filming in Italy.
Film Information
Title: Parallel World
Original title: Parallel World
Director: Aleksandar Valchev
Production: Viktor Varoshkin, Aleksandar Valchev
Country: Bulgaria
Language: Bulgarian
Running time: 21 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Sport featured: Dry tooling / climbing
Protagonist(s): Viktor Varoshkin, Ivaylo Angelov, Ada Varoshkina, Melina Krumova
Completion date: 20 November 2024
Premiere: [Not specified]
Distributor: [Not specified]
Shooting format: Digital, 16:9, colour
Director’s first film: No
Student project: No