Aleksandar Petrović (film director)

Aleksandar Petrović
Petrović in 1987
Born(1929-01-14)14 January 1929
Paris, France
Died20 August 1994(1994-08-20) (aged 65)
Paris, France
Resting placePère Lachaise Cemetery
Other namesAleksandar Petrovitch
Occupation(s)Film director and screenwriter
Years active1955–1989
AwardsCannes Palme d'Or
Pula Golden Arena for Best Director
1965 Three
1967 I Even Met Happy Gypsies
1972 The Master and Margaret
Websitewww.aleksandarpetrovic.org

Aleksandar "Saša" Petrović (14 January 1929 – 20 August 1994) was a Serbian film director. He was one of the major figures of the Yugoslav Black Wave.

Biography

After making several short films, Petrović gained international recognition when his second feature film, And Love Has Vanished, was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. Four years later, he received his first Academy Award nomination when Three was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 39th Academy Awards.[1]

Petrović's next film, I Even Met Happy Gypsies (also called Feather Gatherers), would turn out to be one of his most important. It was the first film that depicted the quotidian aspects of Romani society and everyday life. Most of the actors were themselves Romani, and it was the first feature film in the Romani language. Petrović was inspired by his experiences with the Romani in his youth, saying, "As a child, I observed them and saw in these people faith and irrationality." [2] The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1967 Academy Awards[3] and won the FIPRESCI Prize and the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival. It also received a nomination for a Golden Globe.[4] In 1967 Petrović was a member of the jury at the 17th Berlin International Film Festival.[5]

Petrović's next film, It Rains in My Village, earned him another Palme d'Or nomination and is one of his most well-known movies.[6] Petrović found inspiration for the film in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel The Possessed.[7] He followed it with another literary adaptation, The Master and Margaret, which he adapted from the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. The Italian-Yugoslav co-production was Yugoslavia's official entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 45th Academy Awards.[8]

Like Bulgakov, Petrović soon found himself the target of state repression. In 1973, he was forced to leave his post at the Belgrade Film Academy after being accused of holding anti-communist views by the government of Yugoslavia. In late December 1989, he joined the founding committee of the Democratic Party in Serbia, the first opposition anti-communist party in Serbia.[9]

Petrović also wrote hundreds of articles and several books over the course of his career, including Novi film I: 1960-1965 and Novi film II: Crni film (1965-1970).[10]

He died in Paris on 20 August 1994.

Filmography

Feature films
Year Film Other notes
1958 The Only Way Out ("The Only Exit")
(Jedini izlaz)
Director
1961 And Love Has Vanished ("When Love Has Gone")
(Dvoje)
Director, writer
Nominated—Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival
1963 Days
(Dani)
Director
1965 Three
(Tri)
Director, writer
Pula Big Golden Arena for Best Yugoslav Film
Pula Golden Arena for Best Director
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Grand Prix for Best Film Karlovy Vary International Festival
1967 I Even Met Happy Gypsies
(Skupljači perja)
Director, writer
Pula Big Golden Arena for Best Yugoslav Film
Pula Golden Arena for Best Director
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film
WON—Grand Prix Special du Jury and International Critics Award FIPRESCI at the Cannes Film Festival
1968 It Rains in My Village
(Biće skoro propast sveta)
Director, writer
Nominated—Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival
1972 The Master and Margaret
(Majstor i Margarita)
Director, Based on the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov writer in collaboration with Barbara Alberti, Amedeo Pagani
Pula Big Golden Arena for Best Yugoslav Film
Pula Golden Arena for Best Director
1977 Group Portrait with a Lady
(Grupni portret s damom)
Director, writer after the novel by Nobel prize winner Heinrich Böll,
Nominated—Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival
1981 The Falcon
(Banović Strahinja)
Writer only
1989 Migrations
(Seobe)
Director, script and dialogues in collaboration with Jacques Doniol-Valcroze
Documentaries and short films
Year Film Other notes
1955 SHOULDER TO SHOULDER ("Side by side")
(UZ DRUGA JE DRUG)
Director
1956 FLIGHT OVER THE SWAMP ("Flight Above The Marshes")
(LET NAD MOČVAROM)
Director
1957 PETAR DOBROVIĆ
Director
1958 THE ROADS
(PUTEVI)
Director
1960 THE WAR ON WAR (War Against The War")
(RAT RATU)
Director
1964 RECORD ("The Data")
(ZAPISNIK)
Director
1965 ASSEMBLIES ("Fairs")
(SABORI)
Director

References

  1. ^ "The 39th Academy Awards (1967) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-11-09.
  2. ^ "Biography - Aleksandar Petrovic".
  3. ^ "The 40th Academy Awards (1968) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
  4. ^ "Winners & Nominees 1968". Archived from the original on 2013-04-14. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  5. ^ "Berlinale 1967: Juries". berlinale.de. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
  6. ^ "BICE SKORO PROPAST SVETA".
  7. ^ hr:Bit će skoro propast svijeta
  8. ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  9. ^ Vlastimir Sudar, "A Portrait of the Artist as a Political Dissident: The Life and Work of Aleksandar Petrović" (Bristol: Intellect, 2013; ISBN 978-1-84150-545-9)
  10. ^ Đerić, Zoran (2009). Poetika srpskog filma. Banja Luka: Besjeda. p. 374.