Sofia, April 8 (BTA) - Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova will
receive an honorary Askeer Award as a rising international star
and ambassador of Bulgarian acting. The decision was made public
 on Thursday by the Bulgarian theatre awards foundation through
its media partner, the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). 

At the tender age of 24, Bakalova has already gained
international recognition for her appearance in the 2020 "Borat
Subsequent Moviefilm." The film has earned her the Critics'
Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress and nominations
for an Academy Award, the BAFTA Film Awards, the Golden Globe
Awards, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She is the first
Bulgarian to be nominated for these honours. 

In a message to Bakalova, the Askeer Foundation Board said they
offer her the award for "achieving something that no other
Bulgarian actor has achieved".

"You are probably already well aware that there will be much
negative noise down the road, but you listen to the silence. It
holds the answers, it is inhabited by millions of human beings
who quietly like you and appreciate what you do, millions of
people whose dream you live. Don't disappoint them! Be brave,
inspired and inspiring! Bon voyage, dear Maria!" the Askeer
Board's message reads.

Commenting on Bakalova's award, BTA Director General Kiril
Valchev described it as "recognition from the home country for
the talent of a successful actress from Eastern Europe, who
started her career in the Bulgarian acting school where tastes
often clash but are always glad to see compatriots excel".

Valchev pointed out that in the nearly 100 years of the Academy
Awards, Bakalova is only the fifth East European actress to get
a nomination for an actress in a leading or supporting role
after a 55-year break. Those before her were Polish-born
Estonian actress Miliza Korjus, nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actress in 1938 for her part in "The Great
Waltz", and Greece's Katina Paxinou, who won a supporting
actress Oscar for her appearance in "For Whom the Bell Tolls" in
 1943, and also the two Best Actress nominees, Melina Mercouri
of Greece for "Never on Sunday" in 1961 and Ida Kaminska of
Poland for "The Shop on Main Street" in 1966. 

"Maria Bakalova is the first Bulgarian actress with an Academy
Award nomination. She brings the spirit of the region where she
was born, where theatre was born with the dithyrambs in plays
honouring Dionysus in ancient Greece, and of Bulgaria, where
acting schools evolved, set up by followers of the greats in the
 art of theatre, from Stanislavsky to Brecht. That is why,
having received an Askeer, Bakalova deserves an Academy Award,"
Valchev also said.

The 30th jubilee Askeer Awards Ceremony will take place at the
Bulgarian Army Theatre on May 23, 2021. NV/LN, LG