The Day Is Not Lost

Pressured to convert to Islam under the Ottoman Empire, Bulgarian Muslims have lived at the margins of the dominant Orthodox Christian culture for centuries. Because of this, the villagers of Gorno Dryanovo have forged a unique mountain community defined by deep, enduring relationships to the land and to each other.

The Day Is Not Lost offers a sensory immersion into this world, captured with the intimacy of an American filmmaker who lived for years in the village as a Peace Corps volunteer. Through a series of interconnected vignettes, the film reveals the intersection of old and new ways of navigating the world: elders track time with pocket watches from Moscow while teenagers post milestones on social media, and the call to prayer competes with the pulse of disco music.

Together, these moments show that even as time sweeps through the village, the day is never lost when it is spent together. In a media environment saturated with negative portrayals of Muslims, The Day Is Not Lost shows a humanistic reality of Muslims living in the European Union.