Balgarianovinite.com Actor Mihail Mutafov received a lifetime achievement award from Sofia Film Fest. The award was presented during the opening of the festival’s 17th edition at the Varna Festival and Congress Center.
Mutafov was unable to attend in person but sent a video message, thanking first those “rarely mentioned but essential” people working behind the scenes, as well as his collaborators over the years. He also expressed gratitude to the audience, saying that “without them, there is no cinema, no theater”.
Mutafov is a two-time Askeer award winner and an Honorary Citizen of Varna. His career spans more than five decades, leaving a lasting impact on Bulgarian theater and cinema, the festival team noted.
The festival was officially opened by Varna Deputy Mayor Snezhana Apostolova, who highlighted cinema’s social role and praised festivals like this for supporting it. She also confirmed that the municipality will continue backing such events.
The opening screening was It Was Just an Accident by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, a co-production of Iran, France, Luxembourg, and the US, which won the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
This year, the festival offers free admission and is organized under a project titled New Generation of Local Cultural Policies in Varna Municipality, funded through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (NextGenerationEU). At Opening Event in Varna, Sofia Film Fest Honors Actor Mihail Mutafov for Five-Decade Career in Theatre and Cinema 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-03-20 20:08:30 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