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37-401: Founded in 1967, BITEF has continually followed and supported the latest theatre trends. It has become one of the most significant culture festivals of Serbia. During the 1960s, the founders of this festival ( Mira Trailović , Jovan Ćirilov and their associates) courageously followed tumultuous events in global theatre teeming with avant-garde explorations. In the 1980s, BITEF showed Belgrade

74-418: A professor of the radio direction at her alma mater . After Belgrade was freed from German occupation on 20 October 1944, Milićević, almost by chance, became the very first announcer on Radio Belgrade in the liberated city. Soon, she switched to direction, advancing to the post of program editor at the radio's drama section. She directed over 70 radio dramas , mostly by foreign authors. She entered

111-525: Is a well-known architect, who reconstructed some of downtown Belgrade's landmarks like Andrićev Venac (1976), Republic Square (1980) or Nikola Pašić Square (1987), but also projected residential blocks 28, 45 and 70 in New Belgrade (1972), Lešće cemetery (1972) and the Stepin Lug wooden area (1972). From modern perspective, it is hard to imagine how much of a courage and personal vision

148-684: Is named after her, the Mira Trailović stage, and BITEF's main award is named the Grand Prix "Mira Trailović". She bequeathed her inheritance to the Museum of the theatrical art in Belgrade. With that data, but also with the interviews with many of her collaborators and his own interviews with her, theatrical and literary critic Feliks Pašić (1939–2010) published a book Gospođa iz velikog sveta – prilozi za biografiju Mire Trailović ( A lady of

185-795: Is still debated. Under her artistic and managerial guidance, though not a directorial one, Atelje 212 also presented for the first time in Serbia works of Samuel Beckett ( Waiting for Godot ) in 1956 (first staging in Eastern Europe), William Faulkner ( Requiem for a Nun ) in 1958, Sławomir Mrożek ( The Police ) in 1960, James Joyce ( Exiles ) and Tadeusz Różewicz ( The Card Index ), both in 1962. Also, she oversaw staging of contemporary Serbian authors’ works, like those of Aleksandar Popović , starting with Ljubinko and Desanka in 1964, and Dušan Kovačević , with The Marathon Family and, especially, Radovan III , both in 1973, which

222-474: Is with Atelje's " Ubu Roi " by Alfred Jarry (1964; both starring Zoran Radmilović ), considered anthological in the history of Serbian theatre. Atelje 212 gained international reputation. It was the first theatre from Yugoslavia that was invited to the United States after World War II , and toured the world (Paris, New York, Moscow, Caracas, Mexico). Trailović retired in 1983 as a manager, as she

259-1021: The Italian president Giuseppe Saragat . Other awards include the prizes of the Association of the American Theatre Artists, German embassy in Belgrade, Bulgarian and Czechoslovakian theatrical societies, International Theatre Institute and the Polish Order of merit for culture. Feliks Pa%C5%A1i%C4%87 Feliks Pašić Феликс Пашић Born ( 1939-02-19 ) 19 February 1939 Split , Kingdom of Yugoslavia Died 31 July 2010 (2010-07-31) (aged 71) Belgrade , Serbia Occupation(s) theatre and literary critic, publicist, journalist and translator Awards Sterija Award for Best Theatre Review (1983, 1992) Sterija Award for Exceptional Contribution to

296-588: The cadet branch of the Simić family , notable in the 19th century Serbia, both in politics and culture. The branch's progenitor, Aleksa Simić (1800–1872), held the Prime Minister of Serbia post in three terms (1843–1844, 1853–1855, 1856–1857), while her great grandfather , Milan Simić (1827–80), was manager of the National Theatre in Belgrade (1871–1875, 1877–1880). Milićević was a student at

333-537: The contemporary dance were regular, choreographed by Alwin Nikolais , Merce Cunningham , Pina Bausch or Birgit Cullberg . BITEF also showed performances of the traditional, folk theatres, like Chinese Peking opera , Japanese Noh theatre, Ugandan traditional theatre or the Opera dei pupi (Sicilian marionettes theatre), but also followed the theatre's coming out of the box, that is, having performances outside of

370-648: The Beach ), Johann Kresnik , Tomaž Pandur . Some artists gained international recognition after being summoned by Trailović to the festival: Luca Ronconi (with his famous Orlando furioso ), Victor Garcia , Roberto Ciulli and his Theater an der Ruhr . Other directors and companies which performed on BITEF include Eugenio Barba , Steven Berkoff , Dejan Mijač , Pyotr Fomenko , Teatro Núria Espert , Pip Simmons Theatre Group , Ellen Stewart and La MaMa while authors Samuel Beckett , Jean Paul Sartre and Eugène Ionesco attended performances of their plays. In

407-681: The Bitef theatre is called "Mira's room" ( Mirina soba ). In March 2019, director Andraš Urban staged a text, dramatized by Vedrana Božinović, dedicated to Mira Trailović. The play, titled "M.I.R.A.", was part of the 30th anniversary of the Bitef Theatre. Trailović was portrayed by the actress Mirjana Karanović . Regarding the awards, Trailović said that she doesn't care about them but that they do flatter her. Yugoslav and Serbian awards include City of Belgrade's "Oktobarska nagrada" in 1976 (for The miracle in Šargan ), "Sedmojulska nagrada" (at

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444-606: The Second girls’ high school in Belgrade as well as the Higher Music school 's drama section. She then enrolled in several studies, which she never finished: technology, architecture (her father's wish) and art history (even though she was only one exam away from graduating). She finished the Higher Film school and finally graduated as a theatre director at the Belgrade's Faculty of Drama Arts. In 1967 she would become

481-532: The acuteness of hers, endless charm and talent for persuasion, she was nicknamed "bulldozer in a fur coat". Her activities were always followed by controversial reactions and urban myths. Refreshing spirit of the avant-garde wasn't accepted well by the Communist authorities. Press was full of malicious comments and stories how young actors were terrified of her, labeling her "a woman with 24 smiles" while her outfits during public appearances were under scrutiny to

518-1056: The avant-garde plays. Trailović herself directed over 20 plays, including some authors whose works were never before played in Serbia and Yugoslavia, like Jean-Paul Sartre ( No Exit ) in 1957, Eugène Ionesco ( The Chairs ) in 1957, Albert Camus ( The Misunderstanding ) in 1960 and Edward Albee ( Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ) in 1964. Other plays include Don Juan in Hell (by George Bernard Shaw ; 1956), Medal (adapted folk tales; 1957), L'Histoire du soldat ( Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz ; 1959), Tchin-Tchin ( François Billetdoux ; 1960), The Fantasticks ( Tom Jones ; 1962), The Cocktail Party ( T. S. Eliot ); 1965), Marat/Sade ( Peter Weiss ); 1966), Next time I'll sing to you ( James Saunders ; 1968), Jumpers ( Tom Stoppard ; 1974), The miracle in Šargan ( Ljubomir Simović ; 1975), The Mother ( Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz ; 1982), Big and Little ( Botho Strauß ; 1985), and Demons ( Lars Norén ; 1987). Major controversy, however,

555-479: The beginning of a new era in Serbian theatre. On one side, she deprovincialized the theatrical scene in Belgrade and Serbia by allowing the audience inspection into the world theatre's current events. On the other, she toured the parts of the world where Serbian language was basically never heard before. What bewildered the theatrologists is that Trailović was personally quite traditional and old fashioned, and yet she

592-585: The big world – contributions to the Mira Trailović's biography ). One day after her death, Danilo Kiš wrote her an epitaph, titled Upon hearing the news of death of Mrs. M.T. : A square in front of the BITEF Theatre, below the bohemian quarter Skadarlija , and next to the Bajloni open green market, is named in her honor, the Square of Mira Trailović. The room for the artists above the main stage in

629-451: The festival founded a theatre. The theatre was opened on 3 March 1989. It was envisioned without having a permanent staff. The idea behind the creation of BITEF teatar was to organize the BITEF festival and to expand the effects of the festival throughout the year, and not only in the period when BITEF was held, but Trailović died later that same year. Among the managers who inherited her at

666-720: The first half of the 1980s, Trailović lived in France for several years. In 1983–84 she worked in Theatre of Nations in Paris and was an artistic director of the International theatre festival in Nancy . In 1989 she founded a new theatre, "BITEF Teatar", and became its manager. Theatre is seated in the never fully finished nor consecrated German Evangelical church in Belgrade's neighborhood of Dorćol . Construction began in 1940. It

703-615: The helm of the theatre were playwright Nenad Prokić (1997–2005) and theatrical director Nikita Milivojević (2005–09). The building of the "BITEF teatar" was declared a cultural monument by the Serbian government in April 2013. She also adapted and directed over 15 TV dramas , including The Browning version by Terence Rattigan (1973), Exiles by James Joyce (1973), Nora by Henrik Ibsen (1975) and A Novel about London by Miloš Crnjanski (1988). Aired on 19 January 1972, her adaptation of Albert Camus ' The Misunderstanding

740-485: The highest reaches of the art of theatre, thus becoming one of the few festivals comprising both experimental forms and significant classic achievements. In spite of political-economic crisis and embargo, in the final decade of the 20th century, BITEF, thanks to the help of international culture centres, government and non-government organizations, managed to keep abreast with the rest of world, through promotion of new theatre trends and ultimate theatre values. In 2000, BITEF

777-494: The last detail. She herself said that "Yugoslav journalists trained her not to get accustomed to praises and compliments". Her closest collaborator Ćirilov called her "the ruler of the arts", while Ionesco, when asked what he has seen in Belgrade when he visited in 1971, replied: "I saw Mira Trailović. Isn’t that enough?". While working in Radio Belgrade, she met Dragoljub Trailović, a fellow radio announcer working at

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814-5579: The rest of the world. List of jury members for each edition of BITEF: 1st BITEF : Predrag Bajčetić , Dejan Čavić , Jovan Ćirilov , Ljubomir Draškić Boro Drašković , Borislav Mihajlović - Mihiz , Slobodan Selenić , Mira Trailović , Mlađa Veselinović 2nd BITEF :  Predrag Bajčetić, Dejan Čavić, Jovan Ćirilov, Borislav Mihajlović - Mihiz, Muharem Pervić , Mira Trailović, Milan Žmukić 3rd BITEF : Ljubomir Draškić, Hugo Klajn , Borislav Mihajlović - Mihiz, Borka Pavićević , Miodrag Pavlović , Branko Pleša , Slobodan Selenić, Pavle Stefanović , Mira Trailović, Stojan Čelić , Jovan Ćirilov, Jovan Hristić 4th BITEF : Stanislav Bajić , Predrag Bajčetić, Borislav Mihajlović - Mihiz, Slobodan Selenić, Muharem Pervić, Mira Trailović, Jovan Ćirilov, Jovan Hristić 5th BITEF : Milenko Maričić , Vasko Popa , Zoran Ratković , Pavle Stefanović, Ljuba Tadić , Milorad Vučelić 6th BITEF : Jovan Hristić, Dušan Makavejev , Miodrag Pavlović, Zoran Radmilović , Vladimir Stamenković , Ljuba Tadić, Milorad Vučelić 7th BITEF : Muharem Pervić, Milosav Buca Mirković , Petar Volk , Vladimir Stamenković, Feliks Pašić , Lojze Smasek , Božidar Božović , Žarko Komanin , Ognjen Lakićević , Dejan Penčić-Poljanski 8th BITEF : Predrag Bajčetić, Miroslav Belović , Ljubomir Draškić, Boro Drašković, Tatjana Lukjanova , Ljiljana Krstić , Jelisaveta Sablić , Petar Slovenski , Ružica Sokić , Stevo Žigon 9th BITEF : Mirjana Miočinović , Milosav Buca Mirković, Borka Pavićević, Branko Pleša, Slobodan Selenić, Vladimir Stamenković, Jovan Hristić 10th BITEF : Eli Finci , Muharem Pervić, Dejan Penčić-Poljanski, Slobodan Selenić, Vladimir Stamenković 11th BITEF: Jovan Hristić, Dalibor Foretić , Milosav Buca Mirković, Feliks Pašić, Veno Taufer 12th BITEF : France Jamnik , Jovan Hristić, Dalibor Foretić, Feliks Pašić, Mirjana Miočinović 13th BITEF : Petar Salem , Lojze Smasek, Milorad Vučelić, Slobodan Selenić, Dragan Klaić 14th BITEF : Branko Pleša, Boro Drašković, Olga Jevrić , Dragan Klaić, Dejan Mijač , Ksenija Šukuljević 15th BITEF : Aleksandar Saša Petrović , Filip David , Ljiljana Krstić, Vladan Radosavljević 16th BITEF : Milka Podrug-Kokotović , Miroslava Otašević , Arsenije Jovanović , Slobodan Stojanović , Goran Stefanovski 17th BITEF : Mira Banjac , Borka Pavićević, Nenad Prokić , Slobodan Selenić, László Végel 18th BITEF : Slobodan Glumac , Dubravka Knežević , Branka Krilović , Paolo Magelli , Vladimir Stamenković 19th BITEF : Velimir Lukić , Lada Martinec , Aleksandar Popović , Ivica Kunčević , Zlatko Sviben 20th BITEF : Vladimir Jevtović , Dejan Mijač, Miodrag Pavlović, Nenad Prokić, Jelisaveta Sablić 21st BITEF : Petar Banićević , Petar Brečić , Nenad Ilić , Ljubomir Simović 22nd BITEF : Predrag Ejdus , Anatolij Kudrajcev , Slobodan Mašić , Haris Pašović , Dragoslav Srejović 23rd BITEF : Slobodan Blagojević , Dubravka Knežević, Egon Savin , Ivana Vujić , Dalibor Foretić 24th BITEF : Dragan Klaić, Boro Drašković, Branislav Lečić , Jovan Ristić Rica , Dubravka Ugrešić 25th BITEF : Vida Ognjenović , Mario Maskareli , Predrag Perović , Lidija Pilipenko , Gorčin Stojanović 26th BITEF : Slobodan Novaković , Dara Džokić , Jagoš Marković 27th BITEF : Cvijeta Mesić , Goran Marković , Irfan Mensur , Aleksandar Milosavljević , Mileta Prodanović 28th BITEF : Tanja Bošković , Jerko Denegri , Mladen Popović , Ivana Stefanović , Alisa Stojanović 29th BITEF : Dejan Mijač, Nebojša Dugalić , Srđan Hofman , Vladimir Kopicl , Ognjenka Milićević 30th BITEF : Roman Grigorijevič-Viktjuk , Isidora Minić , Boro Drašković, Nenad Prokić, Hermann Theissenn 31st BITEF : Milorad Pavić , Nikolay Kolyada , Arthur D. Skelton , Biljana Srbljanović , Goran Stefanovski 32nd BITEF : Heinz Klunker , Mira Erceg , Branislava Liješević , Svetlana Vragova , Ivan Medenica 33rd BITEF : Mario Mattia Giorgetti , Natalija Vagapova , Jelena Šantić , Dijana Milošević , Svetislav Jovanov 34th BITEF : Renate Klett , Marina Davydova , Nina Kiraly , Sonja Vukićević , Anja Suša 35th BITEF : Ivica Buljan , Tomaž Toporišič , Roman Dolžanski , Milena Marković , Miško Šuvaković 36th BITEF : Milorad Mišković , Annie Dorsen , Rudy Engelander , Nikita Milivojević , Isidora Stanišić 37th BITEF : Pamela Howard , Milena Bogavac , Igor Bojović , Audronis Liuga , Elie Malka , Alisa Stojanović, Johanna Tomek 38th BITEF : Michael Coveney , Predrag Miki Manojlović , Marija Janković , Milica Konstantinović , Suzanne Osten 39th BITEF : Ian Herbert , Đurđija Cvetić , Ksenija Viktorovna Dragunska , Dušan Makavejev, Uglješa Šajtinac 40th BITEF : Dino Mustafić , Miloš Sofrenović , Daša Kovačević , Igor Đorđević , Egon Savin 41st BITEF : Tomi Janežič , Miloš Lolić , Olga Stanislavovna Mukhina , Milica Tomić , Kristian Seltun , Laszlo Upor 42nd BITEF : Hans-Thies Lehmann , Mia David , Marija Karaklajić , Constanza Macras , Katarina Pejović 43rd BITEF : Patrice Pavis , Roland Schimmelpfennig , Vladimir Aleksić , Oliver Frljić , Maja Pelević 44th BITEF : Nataša Rajković , Bojan Đorđev , Elena Kovalskaya , Damjan Kecojević , Gianina Carbunariu Mira Trailovi%C4%87 Mira Trailović ( Serbian Cyrillic : Мира Траиловић; née Milićević ; 22 January 1924 – 7 August 1989)

851-677: The station since 1947, and they got married. Born on 3 May 1925 in Prahovo , eastern Serbia, he left Radio Belgrade in 1955 when he became a commentator for the daily Borba until 1959 when he was appointed an editor-in-chief of Radio Television Belgrade until 1962. He later became a correspondent from Paris for the daily Politika and, as a respected journalist, was editor-in-chief of Politika Ekspres and Politika itself 1982–83. They remained married until Mira's death on 7 August 1989. Dragoljub died on 3 June 1993 in Belgrade. The couple had no children. Her sister Olga Milićević Nikolić

888-607: The theatre buildings, giving shows on stadiums, in semi-collapsed industrial zones and peers, or simply out in the open. Lyubimov's Taganka Theatre was allowed by the Soviet authorities to visit BITEF which was the first time at all they were allowed to leave the USSR , as, until that point, Lyubimov was deemed a dissident by the Soviet government. From the late 1970s, Trailović was right on time with postmodern aesthetics in scenic arts, bringing to Belgrade Robert Wilson ( Einstein on

925-572: The time the highest government award in Serbia), Statuette of Joakim Vujić in 1988, Order of Merits for the People and "Popularity Oscar" for the most popular person in culture, which proved that her popularity exceeded the artistic and theatrical circles. She received the most prominent French award Légion d'honneur in 1985, awarded to her by the French culture minister Jack Lang and was knighted by

962-533: The world of theater as an assistant director at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre . She was a co-founder of the new theatre, Atelje 212 in 1956, with Radoš Novaković (serving as manager 1956–1958) and Bojan Stupica (manager 1958–1961). Atelje 212 opened with her direction of Goethe 's Faust on 12 November 1956, with Trailović initially being an assistant manager (shortly acting in 1958) and in 1961 she became Atelje's manager, shifting its focus to

999-596: Was a Serbian dramaturg and one of the most distinguished theatre directors in the history of Serbian and Yugoslav theatre. A pioneer of the avant-garde theatre in Eastern Europe , she was one of the founders and a driving force behind the Atelje 212 theater and BITEF , one of the most important European theatre festivals Born Mira Milićević on 22 January 1924 in Kraljevo, in central Serbia , she

1036-627: Was awarded a Special Prize by the Jury of the Europe Theatre Prize , in Taormina . BITEF was the first international theatre festival to receive an award from Premio Europa per il Teatro . Important part of every edition of the BITEF festival is the jury. Since the beginning, BITEF has a competitive character, which is why the role of the jury is very important. Members of the jury are important theater creators from former Yugoslavia and

1073-613: Was caused by her staging of the Hair , which was prepared in 1968 and premiered in 1969. A rock-musical , composed by Galt MacDermot , with lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado , stirred not just the highest political and artistic circles, but also the common people. Heavily shook and agitated by the student protests of 1968 , the Communist governing class and its diehards attacked the musical as subversive, due to its hippie and anti-establishment attitude. It had such an impact, that it

1110-741: Was especially successful as it was arguably the only place where artists from both sides of the Iron Curtain could meet. Over the decades, programs encompassed various directions. On one side, the extreme experimental tendencies, like Judith Malina and The Living Theatre , Jerzy Grotowski , Richard Schechner , Tadeusz Kantor , Peter Schumann and the Bread and Puppet Theater . On the other, new directorial interpretations of classical works ( Peter Brook , Peter Stein , Ingmar Bergman , Otomar Krejča , Peter Zadek , Patrice Chéreau , Claus Peymann , Roger Planchon , Yuri Lyubimov ). Also, performances of

1147-475: Was its artistic co-director until she died. The festival, subtitled New theatre tendencies , was an effort to bring the latest movements within the avant-garde theatre to Belgrade. Trailović tenaciously travelled around the world bringing to BITEF the greatest names of the 20th century theatre, their companies and plays, so the festival gradually evolved into one of the major theatrical festivals in Europe. BITEF

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1184-401: Was needed at the time to modernize the theatre against the major opposition from the ideological, cultural and artistic establishments. As a director and manager, Trailović often appeared as a Don Quixote tilting at windmills, fighting against the "narrow minds", with the constant idea of "bringing the world to Belgrade and showing Belgrade to the world". Through Atelje 212 and BITEF, she marked

1221-497: Was projected by Otto Bartning and developed and supervised by Đorđe Staševski , who partially changed the interiors in 1943 in the projected residential section of the church, facing the Drinčićeva street. The works stopped in 1951. The building was renovated to accommodate the new theatre in 1988–89. It is considered to be the unique case that, instead of a theatre founding the festival (like Atelje 212 did with BITEF), in this case,

1258-485: Was raised by intellectual parents both of whom were professionally involved with French language . Her mother Radmila Simić (1894–1973) taught French while her father Andrej Milićević (1893–1973) worked as translator, involved with translating 36 works of French classical literature into Serbian. The couple had one more child, a daughter Olga (born 6 June 1931, in Belgrade). On her mother's side, Milićević descended from

1295-649: Was required to do so by the law, but she continued to direct. She also directed Maria by Isaac Babel in the Schiller Theater in Berlin, with German cast and Konak by Miloš Crnjanski in the National Theatre in Belgrade in 1986. Her last, unfinished project was Alban Berg 's opera Lulu , which she wanted to adapt for the Belgrade Opera . In 1967, together with Jovan Ćirilov , she founded BITEF – Belgrade International Theatre Festival, and

1332-505: Was the first TV drama in Serbia recorded in TV studio, and the first one aired in color. In her work, molded by her Balzacian talent, Trailović exhibited strong disposition towards the avant-garde repertoire, though she always rejected the term itself, asking "And what is avant-garde?". She constantly baffled and surprised, both the audience and the critics, with her ideas, innovations and seemingly inexhaustible energy and persistence. Because of

1369-528: Was the key figure in modernization of the theatre – ranging from the theatre of the absurd and docudrama to rock opera and postmodernism – which they explained with her globe-trotting and cosmopolitan spirit. BITEF remains one of the major European festivals. Founded in the mid of the Cold War , it was a unique place where theatres from the West and East could meet. The great stage in modern Atelje 212

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