Oscars: Bulgaria Submits TIFF Selection ‘Triumph’ Starring Maria Bakalova For International Film Race

Nellie Andreeva
·2 min read

Triumph, starring and produced by Maria Bakalova, a 2021 Oscar acting nominee for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, will be Bulgaria‘s International Feature Film submission for the 2025 Academy Awards.

The darkly comedic movie by award-winning Bulgarian filmmakers Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov was selected after a unanimous vote by the country’s selection committee ahead of Triumph‘s world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival later this week.

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Grozeva and Valchanov’s previous film, The Father, which featured a cameo by Bakalova, became Bulgaria’s 2021 International Oscar entry after winning the Grand Prix at the 2019 Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Triumph is the last part of a movie trilogy by Grozeva and Valchanov that includes the 2014 The Lesson, also a TIFF selection, and 2016’s Glory. It marks Bakalova’s return to Bulgarian cinema and the first film she did in her native country following her breakout role in Borat 2, which launched her Hollywood career.

The military satire is inspired by well-known, wild, real-life events from the 1990s when, in the chaotic aftermath of the fall of communism, a task force comprised of high-ranking Bulgarian army officers and psychics embarked on a top-secret military operation in the small village of Tsarichina to dig up an elusive alien artifact that would change the course of history and make Bulgaria great again.

Bakalova is starring and producing alongside frequent collaborator Julian Kostov (Shadow and Bone, The White Lotus S3). The cast includes fellow Bulgarian actors Julian Vergov and Margita Gosheva.

Coming up for Bakalova is the release of Ali Abbasi’s headline-making Donald Trump film The Apprentice, in which she plays Trump’s first wife Ivana.

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