The decision was unanimously made by a five-member selection committee appointed by the Bulgarian National Film Center.

Written by Kristina Grozeva, Decho Taralezhkov and Petar Valchanov, and inspired by true events, Triumph closes a trilogy started with The Lesson (2014) and Glory (2016), focusing on the 1990 excavations carried out for two years in search of extraterrestrial evidence in the Tsarichina village.

According to the main creative team, the absurd 165 metres long tunnel, world-known as the ‘Tsarichina Hole’, is completing the trilogy on “post-communist absurdities of Bulgaria”.    

The cast includes Maria Bakalova, Margita Gisheva, Julian Vergov, Julian Kostov, Stanislav Ganchev and Ivan Slavov.

Triumph was produced by the same team that made The Lesson and Glory: Abraxas Film (Bulgaria) in coproduction with Graal Films (Greece), with support from the Bulgarian National Film Center, Bulgarian National Television (BNT), Greek Film Center, Creative Europe MEDIA, Eurimages and American Foundation for Bulgaria.

The 2025 Oscars shortlists will be announced on 17 December 2024, the nominations will be unveiled on 17 January 2025 and the Academy Awards ceremony will take place on 2 March 2025.