site.btaSofia to Host Seventh Edition of 355 Film Award

The seventh edition of one of the most anticipated competitions for young filmmakers in Bulgaria, the 355 Film Award, will start in early 2025, in which three directors will shoot 5-minute films in 5 days, and the winner will receive a statuette and BGN 15,000, the Stoyan Kambarev Foundation announced Friday.

The innovative film competition is supported by Sofia Municipality, and the National Film Centre is already a traditional main partner of the film awards.  

The competition proved that Bulgarian talents can reach international recognition, even with a film made in such a short time. The young filmmakers have complete creative freedom of theme, style and genre, and only one condition - that their films have an unexpected ending, the Foundation said.

A thirteen-member international jury votes from all over the world and selects three young filmmakers as finalists. The jury is chaired by Osvaldo De Santis, a senior consultant for Paramount Pictures and previously for 33 years president of Twenty Century Fox, Italy.

Traditionally, the final choice of the winner will be in the hands of the audience alone, who will watch the films premiere and vote live during the annual Stoyan Kambarev Foundation Awards Ceremony: the 16th Flight in Art Award, and the 7th 355 Film Award, which will take place at the end of April 2025.

"In just six years, thanks to the 355 Film Award, more than 30 new Bulgarian short films have appeared, which we produced. Some have an enviable festival life and have won international awards,” the Foundation said.