One of the most acclaimed and successful Yugoslav directors, born in 1929 in Paris, embarked on a journey that would take him to the pinnacle of success. Prior to his filmmaking career, he studied film directing at the prestigious Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague from 1947 to 1948. However, his studies were cut short due to the political tensions between Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia at the time, forcing him to return to his homeland.
Undeterred, he went on to graduate with a degree in Art History from Belgrade in 1955. His filmmaking career began in 1948, initially assisting other directors and working on documentaries. He received numerous awards for his early works, including the critically acclaimed documentaries 'Let nad mocvarom' (1956),'Petar Dobrovic' (1958),'Putevi' (1959),and 'Sabori' (1963).
Following the success of his early films, he directed two more projects, 'Dvoje' (1961) and 'Dani' (1963),which received widespread acclaim. His war drama 'Tri' (1965),also known as 'Three', earned rave reviews from critics in Yugoslavia and Europe, and even received a Best Foreign Language Oscar nomination in 1966. Although it was not a commercial success at the time, it is now considered one of the best movies in Yugoslavia.
His next project, 'Skupljaci perja' (1967),also known as 'I Even Met Happy Gypsies', was a metaphorical social drama about gypsies that received even greater acclaim. It won an Oscar nomination in 1967, the Grand Jury Prize, and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, solidifying his reputation as one of the most talented and skilled European directors of the 1960s. Unlike 'Tri', it was a commercial success, translated into over 100 languages, and cemented his position as a leading figure in the film industry.
In 1977, he directed the German film 'Group Portrait with a Lady', starring Romy Schneider, which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival. Members of the Yugoslavian Board of the Academy of Film Art and Science (AFUN) voted two of his movies among the top ten best Serbian films in the 1947-1995 period - 'I Even Met Happy Gypsies' (#2) and 'Three' (#4).
As one of the founders of the New Yugoslavian Film wave, he was a professor at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade and wrote several books on film theory.
