Renowned co-production market Sofia Meetings concluded its 23rd edition by handing out its awards over the weekend. Taking place from 19-22 March, Sofia Meetings once again served as a launchpad for feature-film 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 valued at €10,000 and €5,000), was won by Macedonian director Vardan Tozija and producer Ivana Shekutkoska (Minimal Collective) for the project The Pot, the Lid and the Nurse, “for the tenderness of an improbable bond that heals three solitudes”.

This year, Sofia Meetings presented two new awards offering production and post-production services. First, the ArteKino International Award amounts to €5,000 for the producer of a standout project in order to support its development, sponsored by European culture channel ARTE’s foundation for the promotion of arthouse cinema. The award went to Fathers, a Bulgarian project by Martin Iliev, produced by Angel Ivanov (Handplayed). The other newly established award, sponsored by Grey Pigeon Studios, was handed to the documentary Spy Passions by director Roman Pessarov, produced by the director’s own PLONJ together with Noura Al Kadri (Hot Potato). The award includes ten full production days with full access to the studio facilities, aimed at supporting first-time filmmakers in realising a bold and production-ready cinematic vision.

Presented for the second year, the Doli Media Studio Award consists of €20,000 worth of services; this time, it was handed to Giga Makes a Sea by Serbian director Strahinja Savić and producer Andrija Lucić, of Ground. The project that took home the EWA BG Award – Industry Accreditation for Karlovy Vary IFF, presented to the best project directed or produced by a female filmmaker – was Placeholder by Serbian actress-director Višnja Sretenović and producer Biljana Prvanović (Delirium Films). Additionally, the Producers Network (Cannes Market) Award will grant Bogdan Crăciun and Eliza Ceprăzaru, of Point Film, producers of The Last Game by Romanian director Andrei Redinciuc, an accreditation for the Producers Network at the 2026 Cannes Marché du Film.

Still to be announced are the winners of the Young Producer Award – YAPIMLAB, which comes with a week’s project consultancy in Istanbul worth €5,000; the Elbur Film Award, amounting to €800 in cash and shooting equipment equal to €6,000; and the HerARTS FILM LAB Award (a 40% discount for a week-long residential development workshop in Paestum, Italy, focused on content created by women and non-binary filmmakers).

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

Cinelab Romania Award
The Pot, the Lid and the Nurse – Vardan Tozija (North Macedonia)
Production: Ivana Shekutkoska (Minimal Collective)

Artekino Award
Fathers – Martin Iliev (Bulgaria)
Production: Angel Ivanov (Handplayed)

Elbur Film & Totally Independent Productions Award
TBD

Producers Network (Cannes Market) Award
The Last Game – Andrei Redinciuc (Romania)
Production: Bogdan Crăciun, Eliza Ceprăzaru (Point Film)

YAPIMLAB Young Producer Award
TBD

HerARTS Film Lab Award
TBD

EWA BG Award
Placeholder – Višnja Sretenović (Serbia/Germany/Bulgaria/Austria/Croatia)
Production: Biljana Prvanović (Delirium Films)

Doli Media Studio Award
Giga Makes a Sea – Strahinja Savić (Serbia/Montenegro)
Production: Andrija Lucić (Ground)

Grey Pigeon Studios Award
Spy Passions – Roman Pessarov (Bulgaria)
Production: Noura Al Kadri (Hot Potato), Roman Pessarov (PLONJ)

Agora Networking Award
In Those Darkest Nights – Gözde Kural (Turkey/Bulgaria)
Production: Gözde Kural, Bulut Reyhanoğlu (Toz Film Production)
Co-producer: Svetla Tsotsorkova (Front Film)