25/03/2025 - The Bulgarian feature-length project Contre-Jour, directed by Antonia Milcheva, has won the top prize

The team behind Contre-Jour, directed by Antonia Milcheva, receiving the Cinelab Romania Award

The 22nd Sofia Meetings drew to a close and handed out its awards last weekend. For the second year in a row, a Bulgarian feature-length project won the top prize. This year’s edition ran from 19-23 March and acted as a launchpad for feature films, shorts and TV projects at various stages of development, including works in progress.

The Best Pitching Award, handed out by Cinelab Romania (comprising post-production lab services equal to €10,000 and €5,000 in services from Kodak Romania), was won by Bulgarian director Antonia Milcheva and producer Katya Trichkova (Contrast Films), for the project Contre-Jour. This will be Milcheva’s debut feature, and the story follows a young girl from ages 16-29, as she comes of age and faces both her dreams and disillusions. 

The UNIQA Award for Best Bulgarian or Regional Project went to The Last Fish, directed by Andrey Paounov and produced by Elitza Katzarska for Chicken Milk (Bulgaria). The award amounts to €1,000 and offers a discount on insurance services provided for film production. The Last Fish also won this year’s Elbur Film Totally Independent Productions Award, amounting to €5,000 in production and post-production services.

This year, Sofia Meetings presented two new awards offering production and post-production services. The first one, the Doli Media Studio Award, consists of €20,000 of services and was given to The Life and Times of Ion G. by Romanian director Anreea Bortun and producer Gabriela Suciu, of Atelier Films. The same project also snagged the Young Producer Award – YAPIMLAB, which comes with a week’s project consultancy in Istanbul worth €5,000, given to Suciu. The other newly established award, given to a Bulgarian production or co-production in the form of a discount on car rental services, went to Flowers of Farewell, the debut feature project by Finnish-Bulgarian filmmaker Pavel Andonov and producer Inka Hietala of Into Films.

As is customary, CHAOS presented its CHAOS VFX Award, offering the opportunity to use its technological support, and this year’s recipient was The Passport by Rakan Mayasi, and producers Zorana Mushikic and May Odeh, of Mayana Films. The project also took home the EWA BG Award – Industry Accreditation for Karlovy Vary IFF, presented to the best project directed or produced by a female filmmaker. This year’s GO – RESIDENCES Award, which amounts to €5,000 and includes two visits to the residencies for ten days, was won by Wish Me Goodnight, directed by Sofia Bablulani and produced by Francois D’Artemare (France) of Les Films de l’Après-midi. Additionally, the Producers Network (Cannes Market) Award will grant Petr Oplatka, of Stairway Films, the producer of Hotel Moldau by Czech director Jan Švejkar, an accreditation for the Producers Network at the 2025 Cannes Marché du Film.

Still to be announced are the winners of a scholarship from the Mediterranean Film Institute for participation in the MFI Script 2 Film Workshops, and the selection of one project that will be given the opportunity to be presented at Agora Crossroads in Thessaloniki.

The full list of award-winning projects is as follows:

Cinelab Romania Award
Contre-Jour – Antonia Milcheva (Bulgaria)
Producer: Katya Trichkova (Contrast Films)

UNIQA Award
The Last Fish – Andrey Paounov (Bulgaria)
Producers: Elitza Katzarska (Chicken Milk)

Chaos VFX Award
The Passport – Rakan Mayasi (Germany/Belgium/Palestine)
Producers: Zorana Mushikici, May Odeh (Mayana Films)

Elbur Film & Totally Independent Productions Award
The Last Fish – Andrey Paounov (Bulgaria)
Producers: Elitza Katzarska (Chicken Milk)

Go – Residences Award
Wish Me Goodnight – Sofia Bablulani (France)
Producer: Francois D’Artemare (Les Films de l’Après-midi)

Producers Network (Cannes Market) Award
Hotel Moldau – Jan Švejkar (Czech Republic)
Producer: Petr Oplatka (Stairway Films)

YAPIMLAB Young Producer Award
The Life and Times of Ion G. – Anreea Bortun (Romania)
Producer: Gabriela Suciu (Atelier Films)

EWA BG Award
The Passport – Rakan Mayasi
Producers: Zorana Musikic, May Odeh 

Doli Media Studio Award
The Life and Times of Ion G. – Anreea Bortun
Producer: Gabriela Suciu

Moto-Pfohe Rent-A-Car Award
Flowers of Farewell – Pavel Andonov (Finland)
Producer: Inka Hietala (Into Films)