Monday saw one cinematic treasure come to its conclusion while another appeared. The television cinema series, the Cinema Centre presents: Monday 8 And a Half, had its last episode while the Birth of the Museum of Cinema exhibition opened. The exhibition is in the central hall of Boyana's Cinema Centre and was opened by Bulgarian actress Paraskeva Djukelova and director Zako Heskia.

There is a symbolic meaning for this type of beginning - unity between the experienced man and the youth (Djukelova) paved the way for the memory of Bulgarian cinema, said Evgeni Michailov, director of the Boyana Cinema Centre.

The permanent museum exhibition consists of cameras, weapons and guns used in films made by the centre. All of the displayed objects were carefully chosen by a special commission approved by the Boyana film board of directors. There are also monitors installed for cinema addicts wanting to see classic films shot in the Boyana Cinema Centre. Another of the precious exhibits in the museum is the Chicago film festival's Silver Hugo prize for Metodi Andonov's film The Goat's Horn.

A small part of the exhibition is dedicated to Nevena Kokanova (a famous Bulgarian actress who died recently). The Boyana Cinema Centre, in association with the Ministry of Culture, will be issuing an annual prize for best actress and director.

The last part of the television series Monday 8 And a Half came with fireworks at 10.30pm when the team of presenters said goodbye to their audience and guests at a party in Boyana. In three years the presenters of the program showed 174 Bulgarian films and interviewed hundreds of directors. Over the years several aging cameramen and screen writers gave their last interviews on the program.

The last part of the celebration in Boyana was the projection of the film Man on a Business Trip onto a huge screen in front of the exhibition.

"The exhibition is a testimony of the high level of quality cinema made in Bulgaria," said Evgeni Michailov. The combination of past and present initiated the idea for the museum of the Cinema. "That is why we went to the Ministry of Culture and the Sofia Municipality to see whether a museum could be built in the heart of Sofia," he added.

According to the director of Boyana Cinema Centre the exhibition is an important part of the future of cinema since it generates suggestions and plans for future films to be made.