The 2026 National Festival of Bulgarian Cinema, which presented the Vasil Gendov Awards, concluded on Sunday at the Ivan Vazov National Theatre. The event honored achievements across various cinematic genres, with 112 films submitted for consideration, including 18 feature films, 54 documentaries, 24 short features, and 16 animated films. The Best Feature Film Award was awarded to The Herd.
Additionally, Lust received the jury’s Special Award for feature film. In the acting categories, Zahari Baharov won Best Actor, and Gergana Pletnyova secured the Best Actress Award. The short feature category recognized Eraserhead in a Knitted Shopping Bag as Best Short Film, while Chapter 6 received the jury’s Special Diploma.
For documentaries, In Hell with Ivowas won Best Documentary, and Welcome to Sinagovci was honored with the jury’s Special Award. The Sofia Municipality Award, recognizing the film with the most significant social message, went to Tonislav Hristov for Truth or Dare. Nevena Semova was awarded Best Documentary Debut for Jar of Time, and the Best Animated Debut Award was given to Sofia Sokerova and Sonya Ranova for Under and Over the Bed.
Ivan Veselinov received the jury’s Special Award for the animated film Kumir (Idol). The ceremony marked a historic occasion for the national cinema, as the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented for the first time to two distinguished figures: composer Kiril Donchev and screenwriter Hristo Iliev-Charli, acknowledging their significant contributions to Bulgarian cinema.
Topics: #bulgarian #national #festival
