HIMALAYAN LESSONS (2026)
My Confession
Do you know what it’s like to fight your own child? To watch all your efforts raising them, teaching them responsibility, lifting them up, crumble to dust? I do. I live it every day with our youngest son. Despite being experienced parents, everything that once worked now seems useless.
His attention is like a leaf in the wind. Every conversation turns into a power struggle. Impulsivity, emotional immaturity, obsessed with short videos… It’s exhausting. Sometimes I ask myself: Where did we go wrong?
While searching for answers, I was shocked. We are not alone. On the contrary — this is becoming the new normal. Homes where screens have replaced words. Children who cannot eat, sleep, study, or communicate without them. Parents who choose peace and quiet over quality time. How did we let this happen? Slowly, imperceptibly — like the boiling frog, unaware of the rising heat.
The Himalayas – A Stronghold of Humanity
If there’s a place that still resists this decay, it’s the Himalaya. In the shadow of the sacred peaks, time moves differently. There, the Sherpas and Tibetans continue to live as our ancestors once did — with reverence for the land and gratitude for the little things. Far from the poison of greedy algorithms exploiting human weakness.
That’s where we’ll search for answers. On October 13th, Dani and I set off — a father and son who must find each other again, together and apart. For more than a month, we will share the lives of the Sherpas, cross high mountain passes, summit 5,000-meter peaks, and hike over 100 miles at an average altitude of 12,000 feet. We will leave behind the noise, the screens, the endless rush… and look for something far more valuable — connection, awareness, humility.
A Film That Can Reach Everyone
A decade ago, I tried to tell this story in a book. Two thousand people read it — a drop in the ocean. Now, I know it’s time for something bigger. It’s time for a film. If two out of a hundred people read books, the other ninety-eight watch movies.
We will invite you into our home. We will share our struggles. We will take you to the heart of the Himalaya. You will see a child struggling with addiction. A father who refuses to give up. And a journey that just might change everything.
But to make this happen, we need your support. We believe this film relates to every family. We must start this conversation — now, before it’s too late. If you recognize yourself in this story, if you believe our children’s future should not belong to screens and algorithms — reach out.
Together, we can do more.
Enjoy the beauty of the Himalayas in the teaser below:
SCHEDULE
Preproduction
12 weeks
July - September 2025
Planning and budgeting the production, developing the script, selecting filming locations, hiring and preparing the crew, directorial preparation, purchasing and renting filming equipment, negotiating with local partners, and more. Filming in Sofia and surrounding areas.
Production
8 weeks
October - November 2025
Transporting the crew and equipment to filming locations in Nepal. Covering vast trekking distances under high-altitude conditions, ranging from 9,300 ft to 18,200 ft. Daily filming, reviewing, and archiving of recorded material. Charging filming equipment in areas without established electrical infrastructure.
Postproduction
16 weeks
December 2025 - March 2026
1 week – Reviewing and selecting filmed material
3 weeks – Video editing until Picture Lock
1 week – Final shoots in Sofia (simultaneous with editing)
2 weeks – Color correction/grading
8 weeks – Music scoring (simultaneous with grading and sound design)
3 weeks – Sound design and mixing
1 week – Mastering and final delivery
SYNOPSIS
How a child gets lost in the virtual world? Not with a scream or a runaway act, but silently — with every moment spent in the digital maze, where reality fades and fleeting pleasures replace real experiences.
Dani (13) is smart, sensitive, yet captivated by the virtual world, where escaping struggles seems easier than facing them. His parents, Stoyan and Pepi, watch helplessly as their son slips away. The harder they try to pull him back, the deeper the chasm between them grows. The attention deficit disorder diagnosis only confirms their worst fears — the problem isn’t just the screens, but something far more profound, rooted in their own lives.
Stoyan, a workaholic perpetually consumed by his job, wrestles with his own emotional immaturity. Pepi, devoted to her family to the point of self-neglect, is confronted with a terrifying diagnosis that turns the family priorities upside down. In this moment of reckoning, the family makes the most important decision of their lives — to leave their comfort zone and embark on the long-postponed journey to the Himalaya.
But this expedition isn’t just an adventure — it is their last chance to find each other again. Along the rocky trails of the towering mountains, amidst the harsh yet humble life of the Sherpa people, Dani will be forced to face himself, far from the screens and algorithms that dictate his days. In playing with new friends, in the grueling treks, in laughter and aching exhaustion, he will rediscover the simple joys he has forgotten.
Yet this journey also raises questions no one is fully prepared to answer — why has Dani’s fear of abandonment been lingering since the 2015 earthquake? How does the trauma of the past shape the present? Can a mountain heal wounds that have been unknowingly passed down through generations?
The three heroes will immerse themselves in the Sherpa culture — celebrating, mourning, sharing the joys and struggles of ordinary mountain people. Each traveler will return changed in their own way, cleansed and filled with creative energy. The film’s mission is to capture and document this transformation, to illuminate the principles of a meaningful life in a place where happiness isn’t measured in wealth, but in mutual connection and shared smiles.
“Himalayan Lessons” is not just a film about one family — it is a mirror in which every parent, every child, can see themselves. A film about the pain of losing connection with the ones you love most. And about the hope that it is never too late to find your way back to each other. A hope that will linger long after the credits roll.
Opportunities to join and support the project
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Donations – Your name will be mentioned with gratitude in the credits, and you will get early, free film prescreening. Enthusiasts will also receive membership in an exclusive group, where you can closely follow the film’s development with behind-the-scenes updates.
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Product Placement – Everything mentioned above, plus the opportunity for your product or service to be featured in the film, provided it fits the storyline and setting.
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Co-Production – Access to the film set during production, invitations to premieres and red-carpet events, as well as festival screenings.
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Investment – Once the film achieves successful distribution, investors will receive a high return on investment with priority over the production and filmmaking team in revenue distribution.