Event

Vaklush Documentary Screening

The documentary Vaklush by Nikolay Vasilev was shot over nearly 25 years and tells the story of the life and ideas of the renowned Bulgarian spiritual teacher Vaklush Tolev.

Often called A Teacher of Wisdom, Vaklush Tolev studied theology and was a lecturer and author of many religious, cultural, philosophical and historical texts. Persecuted and imprisoned during the communist regime, he teaches that suffering is actually spiritual development and that evil is unevolved good.

Nikolay Vasilev is a prominent Bulgarian filmmaker whose documentaries have won numerous awards. His meeting with Vaklush Tolev while Vasilev was a film student, marked the beginning of more than 20 years of documenting the exceptional life of the spiritual teacher, and of the filmmakers own spiritual journey.

Vaklush premiered at the Sofia International Film Festival in 2023, where it became the most-watched documentary. Since then it has been shown in multiple festivals around the world and has won 9 awards in different countries.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker. The movie is in Bulgarian with English subtitles. Part of the ticket proceeds go to the Delancey Street Foundation, whose mission is to help turn around the lives of people in poverty, the homeless, substance abusers and former inmates.