Award provided by Dolly Media Studio
For the 23rd consecutive year, the Sofia International Film Festival is organizing a competition for Bulgarian short films. It has become a tradition that supports young filmmakers in realizing their short cinematic stories. From the very beginning, one of the key highlights of the festival program and a core mission of Sofia Film Fest has been to support Bulgarian cinema in all its creative expressions.
For the sixth consecutive year, the award will be provided by Dolly Media Studio, and the winning film will be selected by the international jury of the festival.
The selection committee – directors Konstantin Bojanov, Radostina Neykova, and Orlin Milchev (last year’s winner of the Best Short Film Award) – has chosen the following 12 titles to be presented at the 29th Sofia Film Fest (listed alphabetically by title):
1. Chapter 6, directed by Ivaylo Minov – 20 min
2. The Weed’s Gardener, directed by Assia Kovanova – 12 min
3. Dear You, directed by Tanya Bozhinova – 8 min
4. Echo, directed by Angel Radev – 29 min
5. Nicole, directed by Elena Toncheva – 23 min
6. Posterity, directed by Emil Alexandrov – 20 min
7. The Spiral Between Sound and Silence, directed by Kristina Georgieva – 20 min
8. Silt, directed by Katya Simeonova – 23 min
9. What Stays After, directed by Dimitris Georgiev – 20 min
10. Dark Room, directed by Julian Rachev – 11 min
11. Hawaii, directed by Radoslav Kamburov – 13 min
12. Metamorphosis, Bulgaria–Italy, directed by Tommaso Mazzarini and Vesselin Nedelchev – 20 min
The prize is valued at €9,500 (comprising a €1,500 cash award and €8,000 in post-production services), provided by Dolly Media Studio, and is awarded to the director of the winning film.
Over the years, many of the leading names in contemporary Bulgarian cinema have participated in this competition, including Dragomir Sholev, Andrey Paounov, Boris Despodov, Svetla Tsotsorkova, Petar Valchanov, and Pavel Vesnakov. The long-standing support of this program by Jameson Irish Whiskey has also contributed to the successful development of short filmmaking in Bulgaria.
Best of luck to the selected films!