UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova has been declared Honorary Citizen of Sofia.

Bokova was awarded honorary citizenship at a ceremony at the Sofia Municipality on Monday.

The event was attended by Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, Deputy Education Minister Boil Banov, and Elen Gerdzhikov, Chair of the Sofia Municipal Council.

Bokova, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, said that she had been declared honorary citizen of other cities too but the title of Honorary Citizen of Sofia was the most precious prize for her as it was her home town.

She reminded that Sofia had recently been declared UNESCO City of Cinema and stressed the leading role of Sofia in film production in Bulgaria.

Bokova also drew attention to the fact that the 100th anniversary of Bulgarian cinema was to be celebrated on Tuesday.

Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova announced that the Sofia Municipality had allocated a total of BGN 400 000 to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Bulgarian cinema.

Fandakova pointed out that the added value generated by the film industry had increased from a level of BGN 45 M in 2008 to a rate of BGN 86.3 M in 2012.

The Mayor of Sofia also informed that the Sofia Municipality had provided financial support for a total of 59 documentaries worth around BGN 1 M in the period 2009-2014.

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