The other two nominees are Genoveva Dimitrova and Nadejda Marinchevka. Jeleva is a member of the Union of Bulgarian Filmmakers.

“The fact that a Bulgarian film critic with extensive international experience like Pavlina Jeleva is our national correspondent at Film New Europe only contributes to the popularity of FNE in our country,” Iskra Dimitrova, chief coordinator of the Bulgarian Film Academy, told FNE. “The Critics Guild of the Union of the Bulgarian filmmakers is convinced that this nomination is a positive assessment of Pavlina Jeleva’s continuous work for Film New Europe as most of the publications are carefully followed by our wider film community,” she added.

Jeleva is a film critic and journalist regularly contributing to international and Bulgarian publications. Before taking over as FNE correspondent for Bulgaria, for more than ten years she wrote the Bulgarian annual country reports for International Film Guide. As national representative on the boards of Eurimages and FIPRESCI she is known for her efforts to promote the recognition of Bulgarian cinema as part of the audiovisual sector in Eastern and Southeastern Europe.

The winners of the Bulgarian Film Academy, founded in 2010, will be announced on 6 June 2014 during an official ceremony broadcast by the Bulgarian National Television, a co-organiser of the event, supported by the National Film Center.