Wings Over Mountains
The power of music to preserve memory and drive change.
Wings Over Mountains (2025) is a tobacco-hued postcard from the Eastern Rhodopes drawing connections between nature conservation, choral singing traditions and electronic music.
Created by Forests Without Frontiers in collaboration with the Bulgarian Society for Preservation of Birds, and part-funded by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, this 14-min film struck a special chord with me. Heritage, culture, and nature mixed in a film about the power of music to bring communities together.
The film follows electronic artists Nico de Transilvania (UK / Romania) and Ivan Shopov-Cooh (Bulgaria) as they explore the biodiversity and cultural richness of the region, recording local musicians and storytellers, and creating original electronic music.
The narrative challenge in this project was how to illustrate that folklore and conservation in this region are intertwined and their future is interdependent. The reward was working with beautiful footage from my homeland, and music composed specifically for the project.
The film will soon be available in festivals.
Client: Forests Without Frontiers
Partners: Birds.bg (BSPB), Cambridge Conservation Initiative
Director / Producer: Nico de Transilvania
DOP: Murray Ballard
Music by: Ivan Shopov-COOH & Nico de Transilvania
Music Co-producer: Jules Dickens - Abstract Source
Story Support: Katy Jenkins
Grade: Paul Willis
Edit: Vasil Dzhagalov
For BIRDS.bg
Production Coordinator: ELITSA IVANOVA
Conservation Officer: DR VLADIMIR DOBREV
Drone: DIMITAR GRADINAROV
Additional Footage: DR VOLEN ARKUMAREV
Todor Todorov, Rewilding Rhodopes
FOR FWF
Executive Assistant: MARIE-HELENE PALMER
Writer: JANE DUNFORD
Featuring: Dunyata Choir, Demet Choir, Iglika Choir, Todor Todorov, Daniel Ivanov
