Zlatko Paković

Zlatko Paković (born in Valjevo in 1968) is a Serbian theatre director and writer, best known for his politically engaged theatre and his interpretations of Bertolt Brecht's ''Lehrstücke'' (learning plays). His work is characterized by a pronounced sense of playful expression. Throughout his career, Paković has directed theatre productions in various countries, including Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Norway, and the Netherlands. His notable productions include ''Othello: the Illegitimate Liturgy'', ''Srebrenica'', ''When We the Murdered Rise'', ''To Kill Zoran Đinđić'', ''Pope Francis Wrestles with His Angel'', and ''Katalin Ladik Experiences a Nervous Breakdown, Quits Her Job as a Bank Clerk and Becomes a Conceptual Artist''.

Paković has received several awards for his work, including the Sterija Award and the Sterija's "Dejan Penčić Poljanski" Award from the Critics' Round Table for Best Play. For the production ''If You Stare into the Abyss for Too Long'', based on the novel by Enes Halilović, he was awarded two additional Sterija Awards. He has also received the Ahmed Vali Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014, he was awarded the International Ibsen Scholarship for his project ''Ibsen's Enemy of the People as Brecht's Learning Play''.

Education and career

Paković was born in 1968 in Valjevo, Serbia. He studied at the Faculty of Philosophy and the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, where he earned a degree in theatre and radio directing. Since 1996, he has primarily staged his own plays in various countries, including Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, the Netherlands, Norway, Bulgaria, and Cyprus. He currently lives and works in Belgrade as an writer, playwright and theatre director.

Theatrical style

Paković is an activist theatre-maker working in a Brechtian style. He refers to theatre as "a matter of radical imagination", and sees it as a tool for dissecting and exposing complex structures and ethical dilemmas that shape societies, with the aim of raising awareness and motivating audiences to take action.

Paković describes his productions as provocatio —provocations designed to awaken vocatio, a "call to responsible citizenship". His plays are known to inspire admiration, excitement, and responsibility in audiences, but have also provoked backlash from repressive institutions. A striking example is his production ''Srebrenica. When We the Murdered Rise'' in Serbia, which led to nationalist groups publicly threatening him with violence or even liquidation.

Another controversial piece, ''Pier Paolo Pasolini Directs The Last Judgment'', was banned by municipal authorities in Podgorica, Montenegro; its premiere eventually shifted underground to a private basement and was streamed online.

Religion and clerical power recur as central themes in his work. In Croatia, ''Pope Francis Wrestles with His Angel'' imagines the Pope dismantling the Vatican Bank, ordaining women as priests, and abolishing clerical celibacy—decisions taken as remedies to endemic church scandals. In Bosnia, ''Church of Bosnia'' asserts that truthfulness transcends religious divisions, dramatizing a scenario in which two women are married in a mosque under Sharia law, as an illustration of religious equality.

''Srebrenica, When We the Murdered Rise''

In 2020 the play ''Srebrenica. When We the Murdered Rise'' premiered in the Center for Cultural Decontamination in Belgrade under police protection, following reported death threats by Serbian ultranationalist groups who deny the genocide in Srebrenica. The play was produced by the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia.

This work marked the first theatrical production in Serbia to place the moral imperative of recognizing the Srebrenica genocide at the centre of its narrative.

The play was later performed in Brussels on 16 November 2022, followed by a public discussion moderated by Simon Papuashvili, programme director of the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR).

''Ibsen's an Enemy of the People as Brecht's Teaching Play''

In 2014 Paković received the International Ibsen Scholarship for the project ''Ibsen's An Enemy of the People as Brecht's teaching play''. The piece, adapted from Ibsen's ''The Pillars of Society'' and ''An Enemy of the People'' premiered on 20 December 2015 at the Center for Cultural Decontamination in Belgrade.

Directed by Paković, the production merges Ibsen's moral dramas with Brechtian epic theatre and learning-play techniques. Its stated aim is to "generate critical reflection and action against the hypocrisy of the new, morally unsound political and social classes which have emerged from wars and besmirched transitions", while influencing the values of a younger generation raised amid social fragmentation, corruption, and the erosion of public assets.

Works

Theater

* 2025: ''Citizen Matijanić'' (Hrvatsko Narodno Kazalište Split, Split, Croatia)
* 2025: ''To Serbian Youth, Dimitrije Tucović'' (Puls Teatar, Lazarevac, Serbia)
* 2024: ''Socrat is not afraid of being laughed at'' (Satirical Theatre Kerempuh, Zagreb, Croatia)
* 2024: ''Wittgenstein's Pupils'' (Domino, Festival Perforacije, Zagreb, Croatia)
* 2023: ''Katalin Ladik has a nervous breakdown, quits her job as a bank employee and becomes a conceptual artist'' (Dezső Kosztolanyi Theatre, Subotica, Serbia)
* 2023: ''What's Erasmus to Us, or We to Erasmus'' (ICAF, International Community Arts Festival, Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
* 2023: ''A Tomb for Boris Davidovich and How We Build It Today'' (Bosnian National Theatre Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
* 2022: ''Pier Paolo Pasolini directs the Last Judgment'' (City Secretariat for Culture, Podgorica, Montenegro)
* 2022: ''Poetics of Resistance by Branko Ćopić'' (Centre for Culture, Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
* 2021: ''Hamlet A.D. MMXXII'' (National Theatre Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
* 2021: ''Pope Francis wrestles with his angel'' (Bacači sjenki, Zagreb, Teatro Verrdi, Zadar, Croatia)
* 2021: ''Subotica Secession'' (Dezső Kosztolanyi Theatre, Subotica)
* 2020: ''If you stare into the abyss for too long'' (Novi Pazar Cultural Center and Regional Theatre, Serbia)
* 2020: ''Srebrenica. When We the Murdered Rise'' (Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2020: ''Church of Bosnia'' (National Theatre Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
* 2019: ''Vox dei - Civil Disobedience'' (Cultural Center Stari grad, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2018: ''Julius Caesar: res publica or cosa nostra'' (National Theatre of Bitola, North Macedonia)
* 2018: ''Krleža or what are the flags to us or we to the flags and why we cry for them so much'' (Montažstroj, Zagreb, Croatia)
* 2017: ''Fear Allah! Life and death of Ćamil Sijarić'' (Bosnian National Theatre Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
* 2017: ''Don Quixote or what the windmills are today and where the wind blows from'' (Student Cultural Center, Novi Sad, Serbia)
* 2016: ''Capitalism: demonstrated in geometrical order'' (Dezső Kosztolanyi Theatre, Subotica, Serbia)
* 2016: ''Othello – the illegitimate liturgy'' (TeatroVerrdi, Zadar, Croatia)
* 2016: ''Philosophy of Parochialism – Christmas Oratorio for Radomir Konstantinović'' (Center for Cultural Decontamination, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2015: ''Encyclopedia of the Living – an artistic intervention in Serbian and Kosovar reality'' (Center for Cultural Decontamination, Belgrade, Serbia, and Qendra Multimedia, Prishtina, Kosovo)
* 2014: ''Ibsen's An Enemy of the People as Brecht's Teaching-Play'' (Center for Cultural Decontamination, Belgrade, Serbia, and Ibsen Scholarships, Skien, Norway)
* 2014: ''What do the women on the right want?'' (Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia)
* 2012: ''To Kill Zoran Đinđić'' (Student Cultural Center, Novi Sad, Serbia)
* 2012: ''Anatomy of Nationalist Morality'' (Službeni glasnik, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2010: ''Madame Olga: in search of the Final Version of Civic drama'' (Center for Cultural Decontamination, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2009: ''Prison of the Danube Region'' (Center for Cultural Decontamination, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2009: ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' (Duško Radović Theater, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2002: ''Tonight we are listening'' (Zvezdara Theater, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2001: ''A suit makes a corpse'' (Cultural Center Valjevo, Serbia)
* 1999: ''I can't remember anything'' (Theater 199, Sofia, Bulgaria)
* 1999: ''Second Wednesday'' (The Drama theatre in Montana, Bulgaria)
* 1998: ''Mein Kampf'' (Little City Theatre "Off the Channel" Sofia, Bulgaria)
* 1997: ''Easy piece'' (Drama Theatre "Sava Ognyanov", Ruse, Bulgaria)
* 1997: ''Professional'' (Theatro Praxis, Limassol, Cyprus)
* 1996: ''The Bald Soprano'' (Serbian National Theater, Novi Sad, Serbia)

Books

* 2024: ''Dodecalogue - twelve dramatic pieces'' (Zepter Book World, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2024: ''Bloody Poems'' (Multimedia Institute, Zagreb, Croatia)
* 2022: ''Pope Francis wrestles with his angel'' (Multimedia Institute, Zagreb, Croatia)
* 2021: ''Heretical Liturgy - Ten Plays'' (Zepter Book World, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2016: ''Encyclopedia of the Living'' (Centar za kulturnu dekontaminaciju, Belgrade)
* 2015: ''On Authoritarian Conscience'' (Mostart, Zemun, 2015)
* 2013: ''Die Gemeinsame Asche'' (Dittrich Verlag, Berlin, Germany)
* 2012: ''Anatomy of Nationalist Morality and other columns'' (Službeni glasnik, Beograd, 2012)
* 2008: ''The Common Ashes'' (Geopoetika, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2002: ''A Room for one Bed'' (Otkrovenje, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 1995: ''Singing diary'' (Hipnos, Belgrade, Serbia)

Essays

* 2023: "On Theatre's Responsibility in the Spectacle of Climate Change" (''TDR The Drama Review'', Band 67, USA)

Film and television

* 2009: ''Not in Our Name'' (Screenwriter and Director of the documentary. / Women in Black, Belgrade, Serbia)
* 2006: ''Look into the Past'' (Director of the documentary series, ten episodes. (Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia)
* 1994 – 2006 ''VIN – Video Weekly'': the first independent television political magazine in Serbia. (Television Director)

Awards

* 2025 "Joakim Vujić Award" for best play and best directing, Serbia
* 2024 Sterija Award „Dejan Penčić Poljanski" from the Round table of critics, Novi Sad, Srbija
* 2023 "Amra Prutina", Award for artistic courage, Mostar. Bosnia and Herzegovina
* 2021 "Ahmed Vali" Lifetime Achievement Award, Novi Pazar, Serbia
* 2021 "Special Sterija Prize" for directing, Novi Sad, Srbija
* 2021 "Sterija Prize" for the best theatre performance, Novi Sad, Serbia
* 2021 "Joakim Vujić Award" for best play and best directing, Serbia
* 2016 Literary scholarship from the Lazareti Art Workshop, Dubrovnik, Croatia
* 2015 Literature Scholarship MuseumsQuartier, Vienna, Austria
* 2014 The International Ibsen Scholarship, Skien, Norway
* 2010 "Desimir Tošić" Prize for Journalism, Belgrade, Serbia
* 1999 Belgrade City Parliament Prize for the best short story, Serbia

References

Living people
1968 births

{{Improve categories, date=July 2025
Serbian male writers
Serbian theatre directors
Writers from Valjevo