Selected as the official representative of Bulgaria in the Best International Feature Film category at the 2023 Academy Awards. However, the film was eventually disqualified because more than 50% of the film's dialogue was in English. The selection committee was chaired by Oscar nominee Maria Bakalova.
The movie "Mother" is based on the story of a real person, the theater director Elena Panayotova, who the director Zornitsa Sophia shot in the documentary "Modus Vivendi", 2007. Elena now takes part in the feature film, playing herself at the end of the movie. This adds to the documentary-look of the movie, featuring real orphans and street children, both in Bulgaria and in Kenya, being shot on authentic locations, especially Kibera - one of the biggest slums in the world.
Aiming at authenticity, the director Zornitsa Sophia did extensive research in Kenya, some scenes in the movie are events that actually happen to her. Together with the main actress Daria Simeonova they spent time with the the orphans and street children in Bulgaria and Africa, as to bond with them and help them relax and deliver their performances. This bond didn't end with the end of the shooting.