Zornitsa Sophia’s Mother Disqualified as Bulgarian Candidate for 2023 Oscar Race

22-09-2022

Zornitsa Sophia’s Mother Disqualified as Bulgarian Candidate for 2023 Oscar Race

By Pavlina Jeleva

Mother by Zornitsa Sophia Courtesy of Golden Rose FF

SOFIA: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rejected Zornitsa Sophia’s Bulgarian/German/Croatian coproduction Mother from participating in the race for Best International Feature Film award. The reason for the refusal, stating that the amount of the English dialogue exceeds the allowed 50 percent, was officially communicated to the Bulgarian National Film Center in writing.

According to Zornitsa Sophia, the film coproduced by Bulgaria’s MQ Pictures, Germany’s Ostlicht Filmproduktion and Croatia’s Focus Media “has no more than a few minutes of English dialogue over the limit”. She complained she “was not given clear instructions by the Academy on how to calculate the English dialogue.”

Shot in 2021, both in Bulgaria and Kenya, the film tells the story of a woman struggling between her dream of having a child and the opportunity to help thousands of orphaned children in Africa.

On 5 August 2022 famous actress Maria Bakalova, member of the Academy, was appointed President of the Selection committee to the Bulgarian National Film Center, which according to the country’s legislation is responsible for the national nomination procedure.

Up to now, the Bulgarian National Film Center has not made any statement regarding the case, nor whether another title will be selected as Bulgarian candidate and when.

Published in Bulgaria