Andronika Martonova
Education
2001 – Master's degree, NATFA "Krastyo Sarafov", Faculty of Screen Arts, majoring in Film Studies and Dramaturgy.
2006 – Doctorate / PhD (Higher Attestation Commission, code 05.08.03 Film Studies, Cinema Arts and Television), Screen Arts Sector, Institute for Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
2008 – Master's degree, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski," Faculty of Korean Studies, Center for East Asian Studies, majoring in Korean Studies – East Asian Cultural Studies.
Occupation
2006 – Senior Assistant (Research Associate II). Institute for Art Studies, BAS. Sofia.
2009 – Senior Assistant (Research Associate I). Institute for Art Studies, BAS. Sofia.
2012 – Associate Professor. Institute for Art Studies, BAS. Sofia.
2023 – Professor. Institute for Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Sofia.
2026 – Doctor of Science. Institute for Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Sofia.
Specializations
September 2001 – XIXème Université d’été francophone pour les jeunes journalistes et culturologistes: Les réalités des frontières en Europe / 19th Francophone Summer University for young journalists and culturorlogists: The realities of borders in Europe – University Marc Bloch. Strasbourg. France.
May 2009 – New perspectives for Asian Studies in The Humanities, CCK-F Humanities Spring 2009 II, granted by European Science foundation – Charles University. Prague. Czech Republic.
August 2013 – Jugoslovenska Kinoteka (Yugoslav Film Archive and Cinemateque). Belgrade, Serbia.
August–September 2017 – Educational training on Chinese culture, traditional arts, and contemporary visual forms. Confucius Institute headquarters and BLCU – Beijing Language and Culture University. Beijing and Tianjin. China.
October–November 2024 – Educational training "Seminar on Integrated Development of Intangible Cultural Heritage and Cultural Creation for the Belt and Road Countries." – Central Academy of Culture and Tourism Administration Beijing, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China. Beijing and Quanzhou, Fujian. China.
Joined the Institute of Art Studies in
2006 – Senior Assistant (Research Associate II). Institute for Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Sofia.
Publications
Monographs:
Martonova, A. The Hieroglyph of Cinema. Aesthetics and Meaning in East Asian Cinema. Panorama. 2007.
Martonova, A. Between Migration and Sedentariness: The Exotic Otherness and the New Bulgarian Cinema (Towards the Culturological Areas of Identity, Difference, and the ‘Us’/ ‘Them’. Institute for Art Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. 2021.
Studies and articles:
Martonova, A. Boys don't cry: the image of children as a social problem in Hirokazu Koreeda's films. – Central Asian Journal of Art Studies, 2, 2, T. Zhurgehov Kazakh National Academy of Arts, 2016: 55-64.
Martonova, A. Enlightenments: The Interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism on Screen. – Journal of Religion and Film, 20, 1, University of Nebraska, Omaha, USA, 2016: 1-33
Martonova, A. The Forgotten Reel: From the Archives and History of the Bulgarian-Chinese Documentary Film "With a Song Through China" (1955). In: Diplomatic, Economic, and Cultural Relations between China and the Countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Confucius Institute – St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo & Faber, 2016: 96-112 (ERIH Plus).
Martonova, A. "Your Communism is Not Our Communism": The Contexts of Post-Totalitarian Bulgarian Cinema and the Rebellious Films of Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova. – Balkanistic Forum, XXVIII, 3, South-West University "Neofit Rilski," 2019: 227-249, (SJR Scopus Q2, 0.123).
Martonova, A. Hanako: a Kabuki actress from Bulgaria and Transylvania in the early 20th century. – SOCIETAS Classica: Cultures of the Balkans, the Mediterranean, and the East, X, 1, VTU, 2020, 141-162.
Martonova, A. Refugees and Contemporary Bulgarian Cinema – Problems and Models of Representation. – Balkanistic Forum, 30, 2, South-West University "Neofit Rilski," 2021: 138-149, (SJR Scopus Q2, 0.123).
Martonova, A. The Traumatic Gaze of Film Memory: Forced Assimilation in the Focus of Post-Totalitarian Bulgarian Documentary Cinema. – Balkanistic Forum, 30, 3, South-West University "Neofit Rilski", 2021: 33-48, (SJR Scopus Q2,:0.123)
Martonova, A. In the labyrinths of modernism: cinematic parallels between Bulgaria and Japan. – In: Art Studies Readings 2023. New Art: Metamorphoses, Institute for Art Studies, BAS, 2024: 538-545, (Web of Science).
Research projects:
Encyclopedia of Bulgarian Cinema. NFK. 1999–2000.
Interpretation of Traditional Korean Cultural Values in Modern Korean Cinema. Korean Film Council (KOFIC) of the Republic of Korea. 2004 – 2006.
Bulgarian Art Archives, Resources, and Research Technologies (BAART – Part III). National Science Fund. 2009 – 2012.
100 Years of Bulgarian Feature Film – Facts, Practices, Reflections. Sofia Municipality, Culture Program. 2015.
Project "Cinema Star." National Fund ‘Culture’, " Criticism" Program. 2015-2016.
Creation and Management of a Specialized E-Library with Scientific Texts and Visual Archive in the Field of Performing and Screen Arts at NATFA – Second Stage. FNI. 2015-2018.
Establishment of a Combined Education and Research System for Root-Taking and Spreading of Korean Studies in Eastern Europe (ECERSRSKSEE). Academy of Korean Studies, Seoul – Republic of Korea. 2015–2020.
Post-Totalitarian Bulgarian Cinema – Models and Identities. National Science Fund. 2017–2021.
Cinema culture, arts, and national images in Bulgaria (KINO.BG). Formation of the public significance of film culture in the period between the two world wars. FNI. 2021–2025.
National Scientific Program for the Development and Promotion of Bulgarian Studies Abroad. Topos of Memory. The Arts in Bulgaria in the 20th Century, RP 3.1. RMS No. 205 / 7.04.20 NNP "Bulgarian Studies." 2022–2025.
Vietnam: Closer than Far Away (Visibility and Recognition of the Study of Vietnamese Language, Culture, and Society at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski). Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. 2025.
Representative participation in conferences:
Participated with reports in various international scientific forums in Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, India, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, China, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, and the Czech Republic.
Lecture courses at universities:
History of Asian Cinema, NATFA.
Visual Culture of East Asia, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski."
Visual Culture of India and Iran, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski.
South, East, and Southeast Asia in the Light of Documentary Film, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski.
History of Asian Theater, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski.
Audiovisual Creativity, New Bulgarian University.
Doctoral student training:
Baubek Nogerbek, 2012.
Zhadyra Toybaeva, 2013.
Alma Aydar, 2015.
Aybarsha Bojeeva, 2017.
Snezhana Baymuhanova, 2025.
Yerzhan Zhumabekov, 2025.
Banu Ramazanova, 2025.
Awards:
2007 – Award from the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria for outstanding scientific achievements by doctoral students who defended their theses in 2006.
2008 – Award of the Union of Bulgarian Film Makers for best book, "The Hieroglyph of Cinema."
2009 – Prof. Marin Drinov Award from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
2011 – Special Award from the Ikuo Hirayama Center (part of the Hirayama Ikuo Silk Road Museum), the Embassy of Japan in Bulgaria, and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
2015, 2016 – Nomination for the annual award in the category of Operational Criticism by the Bulgarian Film Academy (SBFD).
2022 – Nomination for the SBFDA's Vasil Gendov National Award for the book Between Migration and Sedentariness: The Exotic Otherness and the New Bulgarian Cinema (Towards the Culturological Areas of Identity, Difference, and the ‘Us’/ ‘Them’.
Main areas of scientific research:
History, theory, and aesthetics of Asian cinema; Visual culture of East, Southeast, South, and Central Asia; Contemporary achievements in Asian feature, documentary, and animated cinema; Archival science; Silent cinema in Asia; Traditional Asian arts; Cinema of Asian diasporas in the Western world; Bulgaria, the screen, and intercultural communications with the East in different historical periods.
Related activities:
Member of the Bulgarian Film Critics Association, FIPRESCI – International Federation of Film Critics, NETPAC – International Association for the Promotion of Asian Cinema.
Member of international juries at film festivals in Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, India, Kazakhstan, Poland, Russia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Thailand, and France.
