Logline
Locked in a time-travelling escape room that teleports them into contrasting futures, two estranged lovers - a climate activist and a coal worker - must find common ground to decide the fate of a dying Earth.
Idea & Innovation
Inspired by an existing escape room
In 2022-2023, Iliyana Semerdzhieva (writer and producer of Climatopia) led a team that created an educational escape room on the topic of climate change in her hometown - Stara Zagora (a coal-dependent city). The project was funded by the EU and involved a promo video. That is how the first draft of Climatopia was given a life.
Following dedicated script development, in late 2024, Iliyana started working with Kosta Karakashyan: the film's director and co-producer.
Humanizing the climate crisis
Through cinematic, character-driven storytelling, the film humanizes the climate crisis by placing personal struggles, emotional journeys, and human resilience at the center of the narrative. By following characters whose personal conflicts mirror broader global tensions shaped by the need for climate action and social justice, the story transforms the climate crisis from an abstract global issue into an immediate and deeply personal human experience.
SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION & INDUSTRY IMPACT
Climatopia will be produced using fully sustainable practices, under the supervision of two sustainability consultants certified by BAFTA albert. A practical handbook on sustainable independent filmmaking will be piloted by the Climatopia team throughout the production process. In this way, the film will serve as a real working model for environmentally responsible practices within independent production conditions.
Following the film’s completion, the project will continue through a national conference in Bulgaria aimed at promoting sustainable filmmaking within Bulgarian film education.