Vesela Yordanova Kazakova ( bg, Весела Йорданова Казакова; born 4 July 1977) is a Bulgarian actress, screenwriter, director and producer. She is best known for her roles in ''

Mila from Mars ''Mila from Mars'' ( bg, Mila ot Mars, Мила от Марс) is a 2004 Bulgarian film directed by Zornitsa Sophia. It was Bulgaria's submission to the 77th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepte ...

'' (2004) and '' Stolen Eyes'' (2005), as well as for her cinematography on films such as ''Cat in the Wall'' (2019) and ''

Women Do Cry ''Women Do Cry'' ( bg, Жените наистина плачат, italic=yes) is a 2021 Bulgarian drama film written and directed by Vesela Kazakova and Mina Mileva, and starring Maria Bakalova, Vesela Kazakova, Bilyana Kazakova, Iossif Surchad ...

'' (2021) alongside directing partner

Mina Mileva Mina Nikolova Mileva ( bg, Мина Николова Милева) is a Bulgarian director and animator. She is best known for her cinematography in ''Cat in the Wall'' (2019) and '' Women Do Cry'' (2021) alongside directing partner Vesela Kazako ...

Life and career

Kazakova was born on 4 July 1976 in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. She first appeared on stage at the age of four with her twin sister Bilyana. Both were part of the ''Kambana'' children's theatre troupe, founded by their mother Snezhina Kazakova, who was also an actress. She

majored An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

in theater at the

National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts The Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (commonly referred to as NATFIZ) is a performing, cinematic and media arts institution of higher education based in Sofia. It is the first Bulgarian university in the field of theatre ...

in the class of

Stefan Danailov Stefan Lambov Danailov ( bg, Стефан Ламбов Данаилов; 9 December 1942 – 27 November 2019) was a Bulgarian actor who served as Minister of Culture of Bulgaria (August 2005 – July 2009). The first film Danailov took p ...

. While still a student, she made her professional debut in the plays ''

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...

'', produced by Margarita Mladenova, and in ''The Night Of Rock'n'Roll'', directed by Ivaylo Hristov at Theatre 199. In 2000, she played the role of Nina in ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...

'' by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

. In this period, she gained an interest in producing independent theatre plays. For her performances in ''Stereolove'' and ''Nightsongs'', she acted as project manager, co-writer, composer and actress. In 2003, she graduated from the

University of National and World Economy The University of National and World Economy ( bg, Университет за национално и световно стопанство) is a university in Sofia, Bulgaria. Notable alumni of the university are five Prime Ministers of Bulga ...

in Sofia. In 2001, she played her first major film role in ''List otbrulen'' (''A Leaf in the Wind''), directed by Svetoslav Ovcharov. For her role as a silent young girl, she won the Nevena Kokanova prize for best young actress at the Bulgarian Golden Rose Feature Film Festival in

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

in 2002. Kazakova has won more than ten awards at Bulgarian and international festivals. In 2019, she directed ''Cat in the Wall'' alongside

. The film was presented in the official competition of the

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...

and at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

in the United States. It received the FIPRESCI prize from the

Warsaw Film Festival Warsaw Film Festival ( pl, Warszawski Festiwal Filmowy, abbreviated as WFF) is an annual film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries from all around the world. The festival ha ...

. In 2021, she paired up with Mileva again to direct ''

''. This film was selected to compete in the ''

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

'' section at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, and was also screened at South by Southwest and the

Glasgow Film Festival The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years. 2008 2008's festival took place between 14–24 Feb ...

Selected filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kazakova, Vesela Yordanova 1976 births Living people Actresses from Sofia 20th-century Bulgarian actresses 21st-century Bulgarian actresses Bulgarian film actresses Bulgarian stage actresses Bulgarian voice actresses National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts alumni University of National and World Economy alumni