Oscar Nominee Maria Bakalova is a Bulgarian actor best known for her breakout role alongside Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. In addition to the film launching on Amazon to critical acclaim, Maria herself garnered an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actress,’ a Golden Globe nomination for 'Best Performance by an Actress Picture, Musical or Comedy', a SAG Award nomination for 'Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role, Motion Picture,' and a Critics Choice Award nomination for 'Best Supporting Actress.' She was also awarded 'Best Supporting Actress' by New York Film Critic Circle, London Film Critic Circle, and many other critics associations worldwide.

Maria stars in A24’s highly anticipated feature, Bodies Bodies Bodies, opposite Amandla Stenberg and Pete Davidson, which premiered at South by Southwest to rave reviews. Maria also shot leading roles in Judd Apatow’s pandemic comedy The Bubble, opposite Karen Gillan, Pedro Pascal, and Leslie Mann, for Netflix, and the independent feature The Honeymoon, opposite Lucas Bravo and Pico Alexander, the latter of which she also produced. She recently starred in Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova’s Women Do Cry. The film was an Official Selection of both the 2022 South by Southwest Film Festival and the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for both the Un Certain Regard Award and the Queer Palm. Other notable film credits include the Audience Award-winning Last Call, for which she received a Best Actress nomination at the Golden Rose Film Festival; Transgression, which earned her an “Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” Award at the Toronto Alternative Film Festival; and The Father, which won the Grand Prix Crystal Globe award at the 54th Karlovy Vary Film Festival and was Bulgaria's Oscar submission for best foreign-language film in 2021.