A new documentary about actress Maria Statulova, "Dear Maria," premieres October 1 at the House of Cinema as part of "Sofia DocuMental." Director Svetoslav Draganov's film runs 76 minutes.

The film centers on the one-woman show "Blind Hope," based on Boyan Papazov's play, and the work of bringing it back to the stage. Vazkresia Vihavova directs the show, and Statulova calls their partnership a "complete symbiosis" in an interview with BNR's Irina Nedeva. Dani Radichkov wrote the film's script.

Papazov gave Statulova the play when she was 25 and acting at the Yambol Theatre. She waited until she was 50 to perform it, as a gift to herself. Growing into the role, she says, took 25 years. A text like this, she believes, can't be performed on a whim — you have to live a little first and let things happen to you.

Papazov even told her how the character should sound. "Boyan Papazov suggested I bring in a bit of my childhood Burgas dialect," the actress said. The goal wasn't to sound like an actress performing but like a real person had been picked up and set down at the table.

The play was originally called "Blind Hope," but under socialism it wasn't allowed to show a lack of hope, or to use two negatives in one sentence, Statulova recalled. So Papazov changed the title to "Hope the Blind One" — it could just as easily have been "Ivanka the Blind One" or "Draganka the Blind One," anything to get the play past the censors and onto the stage.

Dani Radichkov says the show is one of those that need saving, and bringing it back ended up telling the story of the actress's own path in theatre.

Statulova picks out one line from the whole text: "I want to be human. But now I want even more to become human."