Apostol Karamitev(1923-1973)

Apostol Milev Karamitev (1923-1973) was a Bulgarian actor, popular throughout the 50-s,60-s and 70-s. He graduated the Italian elementary and the Italian high school "Alfredo Oriani" in his native town Burgas. Very young he was fluent in Italian, French and German languages. He graduated from The National Theater's School in 1948 under the guidance of Boyan Danovski. Later he get higher education in Academy of Theatre and Film Art, Sofia, Bulgaria and became a teacher in acting and directing there. Karamitev also specialized in Moscow, Saint Peters burg, Prague and Warsaw. His debut in cinema was in the movie Utro nad Rodinata(1951)-"Dawn over the Fatherland"(Eng). Selecting his projects with care, Apostol has worked regularly and steadily, mainly in Bulgaria, and rarely abroad, while managing to become a national icon and international symbol of Bulgaria. One of his famous role was that of the twin-brothers Radosvet and Radostin in the B&W classic Lyubimetz 13(1958)-"Favorite 13"(Eng). He is known internationally for Ritzar bez Bronya(1966)-"Knight Without Armor (Eng)-winner of "San Marco" Award in Venice, Italy.For his outstanding performance in Tova se Sluchi na Ulitzata (1956)-It Happened in the Street (Eng.), Apostol won "Best Actor"at Karlovi Vari International Film Festival. Later Byalata Staya(1968)-"The White Room (Eng.) was his top performance in his acting career. This movie won "Best Feature Movie" in Bombay, India in late 60-s. He died during the production of Svatbite na Yoan Assen (1975)-"The marriages of The King Yoan Assen The Second of Bulgaria"(Eng.) at the age of 50, a month after his anniversary.

A willingness to take on risky subject matter and to appear in films that experiment with narrative form and visual style is one of the most striking aspects of his filmography.