What is Zift?

Zift (, "Dzift") is 2008 black-and-white Bulgarian film that combines neo-noir and black comedy with socialist retro motifs; it is based on Vladislav Todorov's 2006 eponymous novel who also wrote the script. Zift was directed by Javor Gardev and premiered on 27 June 2008 at the 30th Moscow International Film Festival, where it won a Silver George for Best Director and the Best Film Prize of the Russian Film Clubs Federation.

The film stars Zachary Baharov as Moth, the main character who organizes a robbery out of love and money and is imprisoned before the 9 September coup d'état for a murder he did not commit. Moth is released from jail in the 1960s to meet the new and unfamiliar reality of socialist Sofia. Zifts name is derived from the Arabic loanword zift or dzift, meaning "asphalt" "bitumen" or "black pitch", once a popular chewing substance among the gangs in Sofia asphalt jungle; the word is also claimed to be urban slang for shit.