Vjera Vidov

Vjera Vidov (Zadar, Croatia, 1972) has been working as an actress–puppeteer at the Puppet Theatre Zadar since 1994. From 1996 to 1999, she attended schools in Croatia, Romania, and Germany focusing on physical theatre, acting technique develop­ment and non–verbal theatre.

After her directorial debut with the interdisci­plinary project Decipula, she wrote and directed numerous theatre plays, including Little Duck’s Christmas, Dream, Christmas Tree, Ana and She, The Boy and the Moon, The Tale of a Fisherman and a Little Fish, The Strange Adventures of Apprentice Hlapić, New Year’s Tree, and Kaštanka (directed inco–production with Puppet Theatre Zadar and the Virovitica Theatre, and also directed in Kargan with the local ensemble). Other works include Do You Know How to Whistle Johanna, I Have a Doll in the Wardrobe, and the dramatic–puppet poem In the Penal Colony. She is the co–author of the play Midnight Play and she also co–directed the play Train in the Snow.

She is one of the founders of the drama and pup­petry workshop Donatolina, which she launched in her home in 2013. She has also established international collaborations, including with Tigar Theatre (a long-time partner) and the MA compa­ny from Tokyo, for the play Stopping Rockets. The production features artists from Croatia and Japan and premiered in Tokyo.

She has won numerous acting awards, as well as an award for directing. Among her honours are the Best Animation award at the Meeting of Puppeteers and Puppet Theatres (SLUK) and the Children’s Jury Award for Best Play at the Interna­tional Puppet Festival LUTKE in Ljubljana for the play How Long is a Story. She also received the Best Female Role award at SLUK for Michelangelo Buonarroti, and the Best Role award in 2016 at the ASSITEJ festival in Čakovec for Pumpkin Soup, for which she was also nominated for the Croatian Actors’ Award. Additionally, at the International Puppet Theatre Festival PIF, she and her colleague Dominik Karakasić won the award for Shadow Animation in Jacob the Fearless.

Her play Kaštanka was performed at 26 festivals, won 35 awards, and was nominated for the Croatian Actors’ Award in 2018. The Boy and the Moon received the Best Direction award at the International Puppet Festival Lut Fest in East Sarajevo, as well as awards for Best Direction and Best Overall Performance at the 5th Winter Theatre Festival in Aleksinac, Serbia. She also won the Award for Directorial Poetics at the Children’s Festival ZajeČAR.

 

Sofija Lučić

Sofija Lučić (Vršac, Serbia, 1987) is a costume, set, and graphic designer. She completed her studies in interior architec­ture and interior design at the Faculty of Arts and Design in Belgrade. Having been active in scenography and costume design since 2009. Over 13 years of work in theatre, Sofija has contributed to 53 productions as a set designer and 37 as a costume designer. Since 2012, she has been a permanent member of the National Theatre Sterija, and she collaborates with theatres across Serbia, the region, and abroad. She has also worked as an artistic associate with the Puppet Theatre Pinoc­chio (Belgrade), the Terazije Theatre (Bel­grade), the Puppet Theatre (Niš), and the National Theatre of the Republic of Srpska (Banja Luka), among others.

She participated in the international project I Am Not Antigone, a co-production between the National Theatre Sterija and the Amsterdam Fringe Festival, as the author of the project’s complete visual identity. She also took part in the Moldovan-Romanian project America from Home, where she was responsible for the overall design concept and the transformation of the idea into a tangible visual and experiential form.

Sofija has received multiple awards for her work, most notably the costume design award Aidin Maslačak (Ida’s Dandelion) at the 8th FEDU Children’s Art Festival in Sarajevo in 2022. She has also participated in several group exhibitions.

She is an associate member of the authorial team for the permanent natural history exhibition Pharmacy on the Stairs at the Vršac City Museum, and an art associate for the permanent exhibition Life in a Fortress in Medieval Banat (Vršac City Museum, 2023).

In addition, she also works in graphic design and serves as the art editor of the First Monograph on the Vršac Actor – Ivan Vukov, published by the National Theatre Sterija. She also created the visual concept and graphic design for the book Monograph – 80 Years of the National Theatre Sterija in Vršac, whose first printed edition is expected by the end of the year.

Sofija is continuously seeking new challenges and creative opportunities in which to apply her professional skills and experience, while expand­ing her knowledge and further developing both artistically and personally.

 

Vitomir Mitrić

Vitomir Mitrić (Srbac, Republic of Srpska – Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1955) is a theatre and film director. He completed his education in Sarajevo and Novi Sad, where he earned a degree in theatre directing. Through an alternative academy, he also re­ceived training to lead workshops in forum theatre and drama in education.

As a theatre director, he has created numerous original projects, including 18 drama and puppet plays for children and 10 plays for adults. He has also directed around 80 academic performances and musical stage programs. Since 1997, he has led psychodrama workshops within pedagogical theatre, producing around 20 projects with mixed groups of children and people with developmental difficulties in East Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Trebinje, and Goražde. Within the framework of Forum The­atre and the Theatre of the Oppressed, he has con­ducted 45 five-day workshops and presentations across the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Srpska, Serbia, and Slovenia.

He served as a member of expert juries for 12 years at various theatre festivals, including the Festival of Small Stages and Monodrama of Srpska, the International Festival Interiulalka (Ukraine), the International Festival of Small Scenes and Monodrama, the Youth Festival of the Republic of Srpska, the Festival of Children’s Cre­ativity of the Republic of Srpska, and the Puppets and People Festival in Lobnya (Moscow, Russia).

He founded the Scene for Children Theatre in 1993, which later continued its work within the Forum Theatre, which he established in 2000. The Forum Theatre hosts several major events, including the International Festival of Profes­sional Puppet Theatre for Children Lut Fest, the international literary event Poetry Festival for Children and Youth (since 2002), and A Poetic Portrait of Dara Sekulić (since 2022). He is also the founder of the International Film Festival Prvi Kadar (First Frame), launched in 2007.

He has directed ten documentaries, four ani­mated films, and numerous television series and programs. He currently serves as the selector of the Interna­tional Festival of Professional Puppet Theatre for Children Lut Fest in East Sarajevo.