site.btaBulgarian Actress, Theatre Director Diana Dobreva to Be Awarded by French Culture Ministry

Bulgarian actress and theatre director Diana Dobreva will be awarded the Order of Arts and Letters (l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) by the French Culture Ministry for her contribution to theatre art. The event will take place on October 15 at the French Embassy in Sofia, the Embassy said. The French Ambassador in Bulgaria, Joel Meyer, will personally present the Order to Diana Dobreva at an official ceremony. 

The honorary distinction is intended to honor people who have distinguished themselves by their creations in the fields of culture and communication or by the contribution they have made to the influence of the Arts and Letters in France and in the world.

Diana Dobreva graduated in Acting for Theatre and Cinema and Theatre Directing from the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts, French philology at St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, History of Art at the Sorbonne, Paris, and the theatre college Lyuben Grois.

She started her career as an actress in Theatre-Laboratory Sfumato, where she played for almost 10 years. Meanwhile, she starred in Bulgarian and international films among which are Monkeys in Winter and Warden of the Dead for which she was awarded The Golden Rose Award from the XXVII Bulgarian Feature Film Festival (Varna, Bulgaria) for Best Leading Female Role and the Award of Bulgarian National Film Center & Filmmakers Union (Sofia, Bulgaria) for Best Leading Female Role.

In 2006 she put on her first performance Medea which started her directing career. For Medea she has been awarded the ASKEER Award 2007 for Best Debut Performance of the Year, the Award of The Ministry of Bulgarian Culture for high creative success and the development of Bulgarian Culture, as well as the greatest honour Coup de Coeur, the Critics and Press Award for Best Performance at the International Festival in Avignon, France. Since then, she has directed many performances both in Bulgaria and abroad, with participation in many world festivals and stages in France, England, Russia, Monaco, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Romania, Macedonia, Slovakia, Albania, and Turkiye.

Since 2017, Diana Dobreva has been director of the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, where she stages the performances Caligula by Albert Camus, The Father and The Son by Florian Zeller, and Vazov's People by Alexander Sekulov.