'EASTERN WESTERN' -- INTERVIEW WITH FILMMAKERS THE GROZDANOVA SISTERS, WHO'S TRYING TO SUPPRESS 'YOU'RE NO INDIAN'? PLUS CRAIG JOHNSON ON 'RENDEZVOUS WITH A WRITER'

 

FROM BULGARIA WITH LOVE – OF THE AMERICAN WEST!

FILMMAKERS BILIANA AND MARINA GROZDANOVA ON EASTERN WESTERN

 

Eastern Western is a beautiful, inspiring immigrant story, but then, so are the lives of the sisters who made it, Biliana Grozdanova and Marina Grozdanova. Marina elaborates, “We’re from Bulgaria originally. We immigrated when we were very young with our parents, and we lived many, many different places, from Australia to Canada, Spain, and then we finally landed in the U.S. We're based in Brooklyn, New York.” Certainly a journey that might help one appreciate the United States, but why the western part of the country? “The Western, I think was the perfect genre for us to start with because it's a genre in which you can talk a lot about those issues, specifically immigration and coming to new lands.”

Biliana says, “We grew up with the ‘90s Westerns. One of the first films I remember seeing was Dances with Wolves, by Kevin Costner. Then we discovered Clint Eastwood, then we started moving backwards to Sergio Leone and Redford. The Western has been an iconography in our creative process. And as Marina said, it's the perfect genre: to tell a story of coming to America in the Western is as old as cinema. And we found that throughout these films that we love so much, you don't really hear the immigrant's perspective. Specifically the Eastern European journey to America was something that we wanted to tell, in this re-imagining of this man coming to America. The main character, Igor, he's from Bosnia and Herzegovina. So we kind of fused our two paths, from Bulgaria, from Bosnia, and made this imaginary tale.”

In the story, in the late 1800s, we find the recently widowed Igor (Igor Galijasevic), and his 2-year-old son Ivo (Leonardo Galijasevic), in a frozen Montana, trying to survive the winter on their farm, and to make a life for themselves in America. They befriend a horse breeder (Duncan Vezain) and his family, and throw in together. The tale is told chronologically, with some abrupt forward leaps.  

Henry Parke: In making this film, were there any particular filmmakers or films that were key references to you, that influenced you?

Marina Grozdanova: I would say no. I would say going into making this film, I specifically was not thinking of any films, only because when you enter a landscape such as Montana, the landscape itself is what inspires the basis of your story, and then the characters you bring into it. Maybe tangentially the cinematic practice of recent filmmaker Chloe Zhao (note: director of The Rider, Nomadland, Hamnet); she does a lot of non-actor films, and she started off by making non-actor Westerns. And perhaps that was in the back of our minds, but I would say that in making this particular movie, I would like to think that it came purely from our minds and our hearts.

Biliana Grozdanova: I echo what Marina says. We didn't set out to make a movie like any other, but deep down, my personal inspiration does come from Kevin Costner. It does come from Don Quixote, Miguel Cervantes, the first modern novel, Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses. Just as general inspiration of the myths of the West, I do think influences are in the aura of Eastern Western.

Henry Parke: Your style of filmmaking tends to be very, naturalistic, not heavily plot-driven. I was wondering how you went about writing the screenplay.

Marina Grozdanova: To be perfectly honest, our screenplay was a very, I won't say short or rough, but it was an outline. We had a starting point. We had a midpoint; I would say the end point came after a few weeks of shooting, actually. We did one test shoot, and then we did our first shoot in November of 2022. And in that time period, we had maybe half of the outline of the screenplay thought out. And as we did our first shoot, we made the story as we were getting to know our real characters, our non-actors. Igor and his real-life son are the protagonists of the film. And then we incorporated another real-life Montana family to be featured later on in the film. And so we really allowed the story to mold around them. Therefore, the screenplay started off as an outline, then it developed more in detail as we met new characters throughout the shoots.

Biliana Grozdanova: And to piggyback off of that, we fluctuate between documentary and fiction. We come from a documentary background, and we are really open to -- we say this a lot -- the magic of cinema, where you can write the best script. Of course we love scripted cinema, but always being open to improv and discovering new twists and turns for your story was something that we worked with.

Henry Parke: The first sequence that you shot were the things with Igor and his son alone?

Biliana Grozdanova: Yes. Well, actually the first day of filming was the grizzly bear. We thought, if we can get this top list, we'll be good to go.

Henry Parke: Oh my God! Traditionally in Hollywood, you do that scene last, in case your lead gets eaten by the bear.

Biliana Grozdanova: Exactly.

Henry Parke: So you took a big chance there. Shooting a Western under any circumstances is a challenge, but some of the scenes shot in the snow must have been very challenging.

Leonardo Galijaseviv as Ivo

Biliana Grozdanova: It was. Winter was our probably hardest portion because of the cold. We were working with limited hours of daylight, and as you said, naturalistic is our style. We also don't really light any of our scenes, and heavily rely on daylight and moving with the characters and flowing with the characters. So it was difficult. We were also working with kids and horses and animals, which they tell you not to do, because there are lot of factors there. But the elements in Montana very much dictate your shoot, as well as the baby. The young Evo in the film, Leonardo in real life, we were on his schedule. If he has a nap, we'll film the napping scene. If he's crying, we'll film the crying scene. That, plus winter in a tiny cold cabin, was rough. But I think that those winter images are some of my favorite images of the film.

Henry Parke:  Oh, they're just beautiful. The whole film is beautiful, and I was struck by the fact that your cinematographer and editor are the same guy, Cameron Wheeless, which is very unusual, although maybe that would help with the cutting ratio.

Biliana Grozdanova:  We are a small production team. We never hide that. We are very nimble on set and also in post-production. And it did help. We cut the film along with our cinematographer and editor, the three of us together in a room, making some really hard decisions. A lot of scenes were left on the cutting room floor because of the nature of how we film, the improvt. But it's a special way of working. Maybe we're too close to the material; maybe he's too close to the material because he shot it, but in the end, I think it really worked out having a small team.

Igor Galijaseviv

Henry Parke: Was the epilogue sequence also shot in Montana?

Marina Grozdanova: The epilogue actually is shot in Bosnia and Hetzagovina. That portion of the film came out after we shot everything, and we knew that we were not done yet with the story of this spirit of the horse, of the child that grows up. We knew that there had to be some connection to home and a return to Bosnia. Therefore, we said, let's go to Bosnia. Let's shoot the end of this film and really make it a return to home. And also demonstrate that the 1800s led the way into the 20th century. And we had to also tell the story of the beginning of the 20th century, how the World War really showcased a new use for horses. The horse, as it existed in the Western, now had to go serve and help out the forces in Europe. And we thought that that was something that had to be told to really tell the full story of the horse. And also Igor's homeland Bosnia; you know, Eastern Europe is where everything started for World War I.

Henry Parke: How many shooting days did you have?

Marina Grozdanova: We shot over the course of three different chapters. The winter, then we took eight months off, shot in the summertime. We wanted to showcase the seasons, and then the epilogue was shot in the fall in Bosnia. So we had approximately, gosh, 35 shoot days. Which is probably more than you should have for an indie feature. But we were small and nimble, so we could do that.

Henry Parke: Were you shooting film or digital?

Biliana Grozdanova: Definitely digital. We actually have a great little doc style camera that really did wonders with the style of the film, primarily filmed with one wide angle, prime lens. And really, I think we're able to capture intimacy with the characters because we got so close to them. Our cinematographer got so close to them, and the vastness of Montana, really both of those and the nature in general were captured well with the style that we chose.

Henry Parke: Any favorite memories of the shoot?

Marina Grozdanova: I would say the winter, only because it was the start of the adventure. And the start is always, at least for me, less stressful than the middle, because you don't quite realize the avalanche you're gonna be a part of. And also, I really enjoyed the challenge of filming in the snow. I did sound for about 70% of the movie, and all that snow, right next to our cinematographer. We were running through fields and that was fun.

Marina Grozdanova

Biliana Grozdanova: I would say filming with Adam the Bear, who passed recently. Adam the Bear had a very great life, was part of a sort of animal sanctuary in Montana that was really special. And working with the horses in general, and discovering things that we weren't expecting as part of this magic of cinema. You know, some of the greatest lines in the film are improvised. Like when they're having the dinner conversation, Duncan says, we have to go west. Olivia ends that with, 'you Don't forget family.' That was not scripted. And that was one of my favorite lines of the film. So the, the magic magical moments that we didn't expect are, are some of my favorites.

Henry Parke: Most of the characters use their real first names. I was wondering if that was to loosen them up, with that kind of improvised dialogue?

Biliana Grozdanova: As directors we made that choice to leave their actual names, because each character is a version of themselves 150 years in the past. To a great extent they helped us create those characters. So Igor is Igor in the past. Duncan is Duncan in the past, and the only person who doesn't carry the same name is little Evo, because he grows up and he's played by two different real-life people. Everyone else carries their own names.

Henry Parke: There’s very little music in the film, and  certainly not the sort of sweeping Western kind of score that people tend to expect. What was your intention with your score?

Biliana Grozdanova: Thank you for noticing the music. We really are proud of the choice that we made. Six out of the seven tracks in the film are by a former Yugoslavian artist, Baranko Mathia, who passed in the 2000s. He was an immigrant from former Yugoslavia to the American West, I think California. And he built custom guitars, even for Johnny Cash. He had only two albums, I believe you can find him on Spotify, but it was very unique sound, which kind of fluctuates between the East and the West. It's a little rough and analog-y, and it reminded us of certain tones of the Spaghetti Western. And the fact that he was from Eastern Europe and came to America really fit with the motifs in our film. So that's six of the tracks, and then the seventh track that is during the gun battle is actually a Bulgarian composition. We have polyphonic singers in Bulgaria that are a very special type of niche music. And that's our stamp. The only Bulgarian element in the film, besides us, is that Bulgarian composition during the gun battle.

Henry Parke: Among your previous credits is a documentary about the heavy metal band Hessler.

Marina Grozdanova: It’s called Last Kamikazes of Heavy Metal, which features Igor Galijazavic, the main character of Eastern Western. He had a heavy metal band like 12 years ago in Chicago. We met him, we toured, and it was lovely. We became really good friends and when we started Eastern Western, we knew that we wanted him to play our lead cowboy.

Henry Parke: Does he want to have an acting career now?

Marina Grozdanova: I think he really enjoyed the process, and the fact that we made a film with his son, who is already now two years older. I mean, we work in family obviously, and he really discovered his love for acting since the Kamikaze days, but specifically with Eastern Western. I hope we do get to work together again. And I hope he does get roles because he's really talented.

Henry Parke: Is there anything else that I should know about Eastern Western?

Biliana Grozdanova, right

Biliana Grozdanova: Primarily to say that this film lives in a space between fiction and documentary, and the majority of everyone you see on screen there are non-professional actors. So they really left their souls on our screen and helped us create this truly ensemble cast-based picture. So we're really proud of our cast, and also really thankful for our crew. And we hope to continue making cinema as sisters.Henry Parke: I should say something about how good Duncan, your second male lead, was. He's quite a find.

Biliana Grozdanova: Duncan is an incredible horse wrangler and rancher from Montana. All the horses on screen are Duncan's. That's his family, his wife, his daughters. He has had small roles in other pictures where he's wrangling, and maybe delivers a few lines but I know that this is his biggest role yet, and he really did an incredible job and we loved having cast him.

Marina Grozdanova: And I just want to add one last thing. Thank you so much, Henry, for this interview. As independent filmmakers, I think for all of us, other filmmakers besides us, it's a really tough moment. And I think through articles such as this, and press, l think that audiences should support independent cinema and I really hope we're moving in that direction.

Henry Parke: I sure hope so. It was a real pleasure to speak to you both and, and to see your film and I wish you all kinds of luck with it.

WHO DOESN’T WANT YOU TO SEE ‘YOU’RE NO INDIAN’?

If you’ve read my article, A Century of Tribal Disenrollment, in the September/October 2025 issue of True West – and if haven’t, HERE is the link – you’ll know that documentarian Ryan Flynn has made a fascinating and infuriating film, You’re No Indian. It reveals an insidious form of ‘cancel culture’: the widespread practice, especially among tribes which own casinos, of disenrolling members without legitimate cause, for the purpose of increasing the casino share among those remaining. About 11,000 members have been disenrolled from various tribes.

When I spoke to Ryan on Wednesday, December 10^th, he was just back from The Anchorage International Film Festival. “We had a sold-out crowd (of) about 250 people. You could feel it in the audience watching the film; they were moved. The Q and A was powerful. It was interesting; about an hour before the screening, the Film Festival received a ‘cease and desist’ from the lawyers representing Macarro.”

Mark Macarro is the Chairman of the Pechanga Band of Indians. “He's the president of the NCAI (National Congress of American Indians). He was just reelected.” As an Indigenous leader, he’s been a familiar face on television and in the news for decades. And unlike You’re No Indian Executive Producers Wes Studi and Tantoo Cardinal – Cardinal narrates the documentary – Macarro does not want you to see it.

At least they weren’t able to stop the screening. Earlier in the year, You’re No Indian was to premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. “We had sold out two screenings, and we were working on our third, and just weeks before this major film festival, they said there was a scheduling issue. And basically said, there's nothing you can say to get this film screened.

I am not going to accuse anybody of doing it, but it's not hard to think that this is part of an effort to silence us.”

You’re No Indian has since played in several film festivals. At the Red Nation International Film Festival in Hollywood, “we received the Impact Award.” And in November, they received something else. As Flynn emailed supporters, “On November 24, we received a cease-and-desist letter from attorneys representing the Pechanga Band of Indians and Chairman Mark Macarro. The letter demands that all screenings and distribution of the film be stopped, citing concerns about research and representation.” The irony is that, not only did Flynn and company reach out to Macarro during the making of the film “multiple times. We've documented every instance because we thought reaching out to him might be a part of the film. We have ourselves on camera trying to call him, emailing him, texting him.  In the film, in its current form, we say that Mark didn't respond. At an NCAI conference a couple years ago, I introduced myself, shook his hand, and he invited us to give him a call. And we did. He didn't respond. Well, he did respond <laugh>: we got a cease and desist.”

When I suggested that, at any rate, a response two years later would be useless, Flynn responded, “I disagree. Responding now, it's still useful. (If Macarro would do an interview), we will include his perspective in the film, and as I've said, we will release the entire interview, our conversation uncut, so that everybody can see exactly what the conversation was. And I think that's fair.”

“You know, this is not about Mark Macarro, or the Pechanga tribe. This is about raising awareness for disenrollment, and part of that conversation is, what are we here to protect? What are we fighting for? We're fighting for the preservation of what disenrollment claims to protect, which is culture.”

Please check out the trailer below. To find out where you can see You’re No Indian, visit the official website HERE. 

CRAIG JOHNSON ON 'RENDEZVOUS WITH A WRITER' PODCAST!

I join Bobbi Jean and Jim Bell on the first Thursday of every month for their Rendezvous With a Writer podcast, and this month we had the great pleasure of speaking with Craig Johnson about his newest Longmire novel, Return to Sender. I'm giving you a choice of links below, depending on whether you just want to hear our voices, or prefer to stare at our happy smiling faces (previewed above).

VIDEO -- RENDEZVOUS WITH A WRITER

AUDIO -- RENDEZVOUS WITH A WRITER

ONE MORE THING...

HOW COOL IS THIS! INSP has created an author page for me, linking to a bunch of my articles! https://www.insp.com/authors/henry-c-parke/

They’ve even created a Henry Parke avatar, which will never change, even if I go all Dorian Gray!

And please check out the November/December 2025 True West, featuring my article, Val Kilmer in His Cups, about the making of Tombstone from the perspective of costume designer Joseph Porro, and my review of the new Blu-Ray release, Hopalong Cassidy, the Legacy Collection, Vol. 1.

AND THAT'S A WRAP!

Have a very Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever you celebrate! And wishing you a very Happy New Year!

Henry

All Original Contents Copyright December 2025 by Henry C. Parke - All Rights Reserved