SOFIA: Nina Roza by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles has been selected as Canada’s candidate for the 99th Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards in the Best International Feature Film category. The film is a coproduction between Canada, Italy, Bulgaria, and Belgium.
Nina Roza stars Bulgarian director/actor Galin Stoev as a Bulgarian art expert immigrated to Canada, who returns to Bulgaria to investigate a young painting prodigy.
The film was shot in Bulgaria and Canada, featuring a number of Bulgarian actors: Michel Tsonchev, Sofia Stanina, Ekaterina Stanina, Svetlana Yancheva, Elena Atanasova, Tsvetan Todorov, Emil Kotev, Maria-Radena Bozhkova, Stefania Kocheva, Dimitar Nikolov, Antonio Dimitrievski, Anastasia Koleva, Mart Lachev, and Eva Shuminovska.
It was produced by Colonel Films, coproduced by UMI Films, Ginger Light, and Echo Bravo, and supported by Telefilm Canada, SODEC, the Italian Ministry of Culture, the Bulgarian National Film Center, Eurimages, the Harold Greenberg Fund, CALQ, and Radio Canada.
The film has its world premiere in the main competition of the 76th Berlin IFF, where it received the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay, and it will be released in Bulgaria on 9 October 2026, following its screening as opening film of the Golden Rose Film Festival (17 – 24 September 2026) in Varna.
