Balgarianovinite.com The Bulgarian co-production A Whole Person Almost won the Best Director Award in the Proxima Competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the festival said on its website on Monday. The award went to Greek director Efthimis Kosemund-Sanidis.
“I hope this film reminds people that vulnerability is not the opposite of strength, but one of its manifestations,” Kosemund-Sanidis said after receiving the award. The film marks his feature debut.
The international production, involving Bulgaria, Greece, Germany, Cyprus and Romania, was co-produced on the Bulgarian side by Red Carpet.
On Saturday, the festival said on its website that 3 Weeks After, a co-production between Serbia, Bulgaria, Italy, Croatia and Luxembourg, won the prestigious Europa Cinemas Label. The film was directed by Miroslav Terzić and made with the participation of Bulgarian partners. The Bulgarian producers were the Kalinov Brothers from Invictus.
Since 2003, the Europa Cinemas Label Award has been presented to a European film by a jury of exhibitors from the Europa Cinemas network at five major European film festivals. The award aims to boost the promotion, distribution and theatrical run of the winning films. At Karlovy Vary, it is presented to the best European film selected from the Crystal Globe Competition and the Proxima programme.
The Bulgarian National Film Center said on social media that the two awards underscored the strong international presence of Bulgarian co-productions and the high professional standard of the country’s film industry.
Two of the 12 films competing for the Crystal Globe in the festival’s main competition involved Bulgarian participation. Alongside 3 Weeks After, the competition also included Black Money for White Nights, directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov.
The 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, held from July 3 to 11, also featured another Bulgarian presence. Oscar-nominated Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova travelled to the Czech spa town for the world premiere of director Rebekah Fortune’s new film Learning to Breathe Under Water.
The premiere was held as part of the festival’s Special Screenings section.
The film’s true star, however, is young Ezra Carlisle, who plays eight-year-old Leo, The Hollywood Reporter noted. Bakalova plays his cheerful nanny, Anya.
Bakalova told The Hollywood Reporter that this is a special film. “I felt that the screenplay was extraordinary from the moment I read it. I fell in love with this story. It is universal, one of those stories in which each of us can find a piece of ourselves.”
The festival’s top prize, the Crystal Globe, went to Fruit Gathering, a co-production between Myanmar, Czechia and France. The Slovak-Czech film Lover, Not a Fighter won the top award in the Proxima Competition. Bulgarian Co-Production “A Whole Person Almost” Wins Best Director Award at Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-07-13 13:10:44 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law