Dušan Kovačević ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Ковачевић, ; born 12 July 1948) is a Serbian
playwright
A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays.
Etymology
The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
, scriptwriter, film director and academic best known for his theatre plays and movie scripts. He also served as the ambassador of
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
in
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
PR Serbia
, life_span = 1944–1992
, status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia
, p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia
, flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg
, p2 ...
Novi Sad
Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the P ...
, and received a bachelor's degree in dramaturgy from the
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia.
Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-ba ...
in 1973. From 1973, he worked as a dramaturge at ''TV Beograd'' for five years. Since 1998, he has been the artistic director of ''Zvezdara teatar''. In 2003 he directed his first movie, ''Profesionalac'' ('' The Professional'').
Kovačević's prolific work is well known and popular in Serbia. His comedies have been translated into 17 languages, but his work didn't become available in English until the mid-1990s. One of his plays, ''Balkan Spy'' was being rehearsed in
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
at the time of
Tiananmen Square protests
The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourt ...
, only to be cancelled by the authorities.
A declared
royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gov ...
, Dušan Kovačević is a member of the Crown Council of Aleksandar Karađorđević. He is also a member of the
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts
The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Serbica, sr-Cyr, Српска академија наука и уметности, САНУ, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU) is a national academy and the ...
. In 2020 he was awarded the Sretenje order of the Republic of Serbia.
His daughter Lena Kovačević is a jazz singer.
St. George Shoots the Dragon
''St. George Slays the Dragon'' ( sr, Свети Георгије убива аждаху, ) is a Serbian war drama film directed by Srđan Dragojević and written by Dušan Kovačević. The movie premiered on March 11, 2009.
With a budget of ar ...
(1984)
* ''Klaustofobična Komedija '' - Claustrophobic Comedy (1987)
* '' Profesionalac'' - The Professional (1990)
* ''Urnebesna Tragedija'' - Roaring Tragedy (also translated as Tragedy Burlesque; 1990)
* ''Lari Tompson, tragedija jedne mladosti'' - Larry Thompson, the Tragedy of a Youth (1996)
* ''Kontejner sa Pet Zvezdica'' - Five-Star Dumpster (1999)
* ''Doktor Šuster'' - Doctor Shoemaker (2001)
* ''Generalna proba samoubistva'' - Dress Rehearsal for a Suicide (2009)
* ''Život u tesnim cipelama'' - Life in tight shoes (2011)
* ''Kumovi'' - Godfathers (2013)
* ''Rođendan gospodina Nušića'' - The birthday of Mr Nušić (2014)
* ''Hipnoza jedne ljubavi'' - Hypnosis of one love (2016)
Emir Kusturica
Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-glo ...
, won the
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
.
His adaptation of his play called ''Proleće u januaru'' (''Spring in January).''
* ''Profesionalac,'' 2003 ('' The Professional''), also director.
* ''Sveti Georgije ubiva aždahu'', 2003 ('' St. George Kills the Dragon'')
* ''Nije loše biti čovek,'' 2021 ( Not Bad to be a Human),also director.
His adaptation of his play ''Kumovi.''