Alina Șerban (born October 29, 1987) is a Romanian actress, the winner of the Best Actress Award at the German Actors Guild Awards in 2020 for her leading role in ''Gipsy Queen'', a nominee for Best Actress at the

German Film Award The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...

in 2020, a representative for

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

at The Cannes International Film Festival in 2018 for her leading role in Alone at My Wedding, and the first Roma woman theatre and film director of Romania. The first in her family to graduate high-school, she attended the

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic, and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, as the School of the Arts at New York University, Tisch ...

in New York, graduated from the I. L. Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film and has a master's degree from

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

in London. Șerban is known for writing and performing plays with

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

messages, against

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

and various other forms of

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

Biography

Alina Șerban was born in 1987 in a Romanian

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

family in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. She was 8 years old when her parents lost their home and were forced to move to her father’s extended family. A few years later her mother went to prison and Alina spent her teenage years in a children's home from where she went directly to the university. She used her diaries from those years to write the early versions of ''I Declare at My Own Risk'', ''Slumdog Roma'' and ''Two weeks, maximum one month, maybe six years'' – which she performed at the International Romani Art Festival in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 Șerban received a scholarship and moved to London for a master’s program at the

. The following year she received the "Best Romanian Student in the UK”, prize, but she could not afford the expenses associated with the trip from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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so she could not pick up the prize in person. In March 2014 the actress was invited to the

Street Child World Cup The Street Child World Cup is a football tournament ahead of the FIFA World Cup. Each event is hosted by the country of the same upcoming FIFA World Cup. Previous hosts include South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar. History ; South Africa 2010 ...

to give a speech in front of 2000 people at

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. In 2016 Alina Şerban published the first ''Collection of Roma Fairy Tales'' in Romania, as told by her aunt – Tanti Veta. She played the lead role and contributed as a script consultant for three European film projects focusing on experiences of Roma women: ''Written/Unwritten'', Alone at My Wedding and ''Gipsy Queen''. For her first leading role in cinema, Șerban starred in Marta Bergman’s feature film Alone at My Wedding, which premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2018 and earned her several Best Actress awards. She also stars as a boxer in Huseyin Tabak’s ''Gipsy Queen'', a German-Austrian production. For her performance in ‘Gipsy Queen’ she won the Best Actress Award at

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (BNFF), or PÖFF (Pimedate Ööde filmifestival), is an annual film festival held since 1997 in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. PÖFF is one of the largest film festivals in Northern Europe. In 2014, it was ...

2019, the "Best Actress" award at The German Actors Guild Awards and was nominated for the German Film Academy Award - LOLA. In 2020, Alina Șerban made her debut as a filmmaker with ''Bilet de iertare''/''Letter of Forgiveness'' - the first film about the Roma slavery written and directed from a Roma perspective. The short film was awarded a Special Mention for Best Romanian Short Film at

Transilvania International Film Festival The Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF; ) is the first international feature film festival in Romania, which is held annually in the historic capital of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca. Founded in 2002 by the Romanian Film Promotion (), TIFF ...

and Best Narrative Director at Female Voices Rock, USA.

Studies

*2006-2009 National University of Theater and Film in Bucharest (Bachelor's) *2009

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

(Open Arts program) *2011-2012

in London (MA Theatre Lab program)

Theatre

Alina Șerban became known on the alternative theater scene of Bucharest after the performance ''I Declare at My Own Risk'', a one-woman-show she had also written. The play, inspired by the autobiographical story of the actress, was performed in many European countries, including Romania, Hungary, France and Italy. In 2013 Alina Șerban performed ''I Declare at My Own Risk'' in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, at the

– RADA Festival, followed by another performance at Tara Arts in 2014. While Living in London, in 2015, Alina Șerban wrote ''Home'', a play that tells a story of different

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

looking for a better life in the UK. The play won “Stories of London” Rich Mix's competition. By the end of 2015, Șerban performed in ''Roma-Sapiens'' in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and was invited to present and perform ''I Declare at My Own Risk'' at the Stockholm Literature Festival. In 2016 Alina Șerban wrote, directed, and performed in ''The Great Shame'', a

theater play A play is a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than mere reading. The creator of a play is known as a playwright. Plays are staged at various levels, ranging fr ...

that talks about 500 years of Roma

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

in the Romanian countries and in which she included little known stories of slavery from historical documents. Her theater work continues with ''The Best Child in the World'' (2022), an autobiographical one-woman show which she wrote and directed, and which is the first play by a Roma woman director to enter the permanent repertoire of the National Theater of Bucharest. In 2023, Șerban performed ''The Best Child in the World'' at the Bohemian National Hall in New York, as a part of the Rehearsal for Trust theater festival honoring Vaclav Havel and in Chicago at the RoCo.

Awards and recognition

2024 * Ordained by the president of Romania

Klaus Iohannis Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist, and former teacher who served as the fifth president of Romania from 2014 until his resignation in 2025. Prior to entering Politics of Romania, national politics, ...

with The Order of Cultural Merit, in the rank of Knight, for artistic performances, becoming the first Roma woman who received this distinction * Selected as one of the 44 leaders in the Young European Leaders program, led by Friends of Europe 2023 * Venice Film Festival, Queer Lion Award for

Housekeeping for beginners ''Housekeeping for Beginners'' () is a 2023 drama film written, directed and edited by Goran Stolevski. It stars Anamaria Marinca, Alina Serban, Samson Selim, Vladimir Tintor, Mia Mustafi, and Dżada Selim. It is an international co-productio ...

, which also represents Macedonia’s choice for the Oscars * Selected Alumni at Berlinale Talents, Berlin * Untold Stories - Winner of Best Project Manager Award at ‘The Administration of the Romanian National Cultural Fund Gala * Winner of “Best Producer of a Romanian short film Award” at Independent Producers Indie Film Festival (Romania, Bucharest) 2022 * Winner of “Best Short Film” for ''Letter of Forgiveness'' at Ake Dikhea International Festival of Romani Film, Berlin 2021 * Winner “Best Short Film” at Torino Short Film Market, for directing ''I matter'' 2020-2021 * 4 times Winner of Best Actress Award for the leading role in ''Gipsy Queen'' including Best Actress Award at the German Actors Guild Awards * Best Actress Award at Nuremberg Film Festival 2020 * ''Alone at my wedding'' nominated to Best First Feature (Magritte du premier film) and Best Film ("Meilleur film"), Belgium 2019 * Official recognition by the Romanian Government for excellence in her artistic work and promoting the Roma culture * Special Mention at Transilvania International Film Festival and Best Narrative Director Award at Female Voices Rock, USA for ''Letter of Forgiveness'' * Tajsa Roma Cultural Heritage Prize for “Alina Șerban’s artistic work and for her engagement in the activism for Roma rights” by The European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) * Winner of Best Actress at PÖFF Black Nights Film Festival for the leading role in ''Gipsy Queen'' 2018 * Recipient of Soros Art Fellowship * Angela Award for Performance at Subtitle European Film Festival, Winner Jury Prize * Best Actress at International Women Film Festival of Salé for role in ''Alone at my wedding'' * Winner RIFF Jury Award Best Actress at Rome Independent Film Festival - for the leading role in ''Alone at my wedding''

Other projects

Cinema

Television

References

External links

*
Alina Şerban
Agence Simpson
Home by Alina Serban - Rich Mix scratch performance
YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Serban, Alina 1987 births Living people Actresses from Bucharest Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film alumni Romanian film actresses Romanian stage actresses Romanian television actresses 21st-century Romanian actresses Romani actresses Romanian Romani people