1. Dobrinka Tabakova, a young composer, became the only Bulgarian to receive a Grammy nomination.

Her album Tabakova: String Paths was included in the Classical Compendium category.
It was also announced as one of the four CD Albums supporting the Grammy Nomination of the ECM Records Director Manfred Eicher for "Producer of the Year, Classical".

2. “Alienation”, the debut movie of Bulgarian director Milko Lazarov received two awards at the 70th edition of the prestigious Venice Film Fest.

The movie has received the special "Europe Cinemas Label" prize, while the Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean (FEDORA) selected Lazarov as best young director.

“Alienation” became the first Bulgarian film to be invited and to premiere at the oldest international festival over the past 20 years. It was screened together with 12 movies from all over the world.

“Alienation” was also screened at the festivals in Busan, South Korea, in Brussels and Warsaw, where it won an award in the panel Competition 1-2.

The screenplay was written by Lazarov, Kitodar Todorov, and Georgi Tenev and Kaloyan Bozhilov was the cameraman. “Alienation” features actors such as Greek star Christos Stergioglou, and Bulgarians Mariana Jikich, Ovanes Torosian, Neda Iskrenova, Iva Ognyanova, Kitodar Todorov, and Dora Markova.

"Alienation" tells a story about a Greek driving an old car to Bulgaria to buy a newborn baby, waiting together with the mother, her deaf-mute brother and the midwife in a secluded house in the mountains for the birth of the baby.

Lazarov graduated from the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFA) in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he studied film and television directing. He is an executive producer and director of BNT's highly successful BBC projects The Great Bulgarians and The Big Read.

3. Spy comedy “The Color of the Chameleon” of director Emil Hristov was selected as Bulgaria’s nominee for the upcoming Annual Academy Awards' foreign-language category.

"The Color of the Chameleon", based on the “Zincograph”novel of Vladislav Todorov, centers on misfit youth turned engraving plant employee Batko Stamenov (codename: Marzipan), who is recruited by the secret police to infiltrate a book reading group.

“A darkly comic and compelling tale of a rogue Communist-era agent who builds a parallel spy network after his dismissal from state service, Hristov's directorial debut reflects his long experience as a cinematographer,” The Hollywood Reporter says about the move.

The film screened in the Discovery section at last year's Toronto festival and picked up a special mention at Thessaloniki.  “The Color of the Chameleon” won three awards at the

“Golden Rose” film festival in Bulgaria’s Varna, including “best feature film”.

4. “Sofia’s Last Ambulance” also won a prestigious German award for documentaries (the previous winner in this category being Wim Wenders’ “Pina 3D”). The prize was awarded by a 7-judge jury panel, including directors Michael Verhofen, producer Hans Robert Eisenhauer, Wieland Speck, Head of Berlinale Panorama, etc. The award was given on June 21, 2013 in Ludwigsburg by Theresia Bauer, Minister of Science, Research and Culture of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

5. "A Short Tale of Shame" (2011)  by Bulgarian short-story writer and critic Angel Igov, was included in World Literature Today’s  75 Notable Translations 2013 list. A Short Tale of Shame was published by the Rochester, NY-based Open Letter Books, supported in its series of Bulgarian fiction by the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation. The novel was translated by Angela Rodel.

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