Haris Pašović

Haris Pašović is a theatre and film director. He was born in Sarajevo.

Background

Haris Pasovic (46) has been one of the leading theatre directors in South Eastern Europe for more than two decades. His education includes Academy of Arts in Novi Sad; Fulbright Scholarship in the USA (University of Hawaii, Honolulu, New York University and University of Wisconsin, Madison); UNESCO High Levels for Directors, Festival d’Avignon, France and other professional trainings. He is the artistic leader of the East West Theatre Company in Sarajevo.

Theatre Ex - Yugoslavia

He directed in some of the most important theatres in ex-Yugoslavia and participated in a number of festivals across the region. His productions of Wedekind’s “Spring’s Awakening” and “Calling the Birds” based on Aristophanes’ play “The Birds” (both at the Yugoslav Drama Theater, Belgrade 1987/90) have been considered as the landmarks in the theatre of the former Yugoslavia. Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” (Belgrade Drama Theatre) and Jarry’s “Ubu Roa” (National Theatre Subotica) have been also considered as the classic productions in the ex-Yugoslav theatre, the former being the last Yugoslav premiere performed on the eve of the beginning the war in the country. As the artistic leader of the theatre “Promena” (“Change”), Pasovic directed with a great success Wiess’ “Marat/Sade”; Wedensky’s “The Christmas Three at the Ivanovs”; Kis’ “Simon the Magus” on a lake surrounded by sand desert ; Bunuel’s “Hamlet” placed in the fortress sitting on the rock which dramatically rises from the Adriatic Sea (Dubrovnik Summer Festival) and many other plays.

Sarajevo 1992 - 1995

During the siege of Sarajevo (1992-95) Pasovic spent most of the time in Sarajevo directing the International Theatre Festival [http://www.mess.ba International Theatre Festival MESS] . He directed the plays and produced several shows among others “Waiting for Godot” directed by Susan Sontag. This work with Sontag has been reported across the globe. He also organized the first Sarajevo Film Festival “Beyond the End of the World” in 1993 while Sarajevo was still under the siege. [cite web| title = The Sarajevo Festival Ensemble
publisher = UNESCO| url = http://www.unesco.org/opi2/ops/renewal_cultural_life.htm
accessdate =2008-01-24 ] Pasovic managed even to tour in 1994 in several European countries (under UNESCO auspices) with the Sarajevo Festival Ensemble invited by Peter Brook and Theatre Bouffe du Nord. The Ensemble performed on tour the two productions that he directed in the besieged city : “Silk Drums” based on the Noh plays and “In the Country of last Things” based on Paul Auster’s novel.

Documentary - Film

After the war Pasovic directed several documentaries including “Greta” about Prof. Greta Ferusic who survived both the Auschwitz and the siege of Sarajevo; documentary trilogy “Home,” “Love Thy Neighbor” and “Balkans – Blood and Honey” about the American journalists David Rieff, Peter Maass and Ron Haviv who reported from Bosnian war and the art documentary “A propos de Sarajevo” about the Sarajevo International Jazz Festival. These documentaries were shown at New York Jewish Film Festival at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and San Francisco Jewish Film Festival as well as the Museum of Modern Arts in Stockholm, Contemporary Arts Institute, London, festival IDFA Amsterdam, Mediterranean Film Festival, Rome, Sarajevo Film Festival, etc.

Theatre Bosnia and Herzegovina

In 2002 he made a spectacular come-back to theatre directing Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” in front of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Central Sarajevo. This was a bold futuristic production about a Muslim Romeo and a Christian Juliet which involved 25 actors and live musicians, 300 sq. m of stage, 60 member crew, arms, vehicles, fireworks, video-projections over the Parliament façade and has stopped the traffic on the main city artery for 4 hours each night of the performance. In 2004, Pasovic wrote a play “Rebellion at the National Theatre” inspired by McCoy’s novel “They Shoot the Horses, Don’t They?” and directed it at the National Theatre Sarajevo.

Awards

Pasovic has received many awards including Best Director at the International Theatre Festival MES Festival, Sarajevo; Best Director at the BITEF, Belgrade; Best Yugoslav Director, UCHIMURA Prize, Best Director at the Festival of Bosnian Theatres, etc. His shows, the actors and other artists working with Pasovic have received numerous awards as well.

East West Theatre Company - East West Center

In 2005 Pasovic established the East West Theatre Company. [cite web | title = Haris Pasovic| publisher = East West Center Sarajevo| url = http://www.eastwest.ba/eng/AboutUs/HarisPasovic.html| accessdate =2008-01-24 ]

He directed William Shakespeare's [http://www.hamlet.ba "Hamlet"] as the biggest regional co-production in the last 20 years with the international cast. [cite web | last = Arendt | first = Paul| title = Muslim Dane to tour the Balkans|work = Guardian Unlimited| publisher = Guardian News and Media Limited| date = 2005-09-20| url = http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1574007,00.html| accessdate =2008-01-24 ] «Hamlet» was named as the Theatrical Event of the Year 2005 by the most influential weekly in Bosnia «Dani» and Pasovic was named the Person of the Year 2005 /Theatre. In 2006, Pasovic has directed futuristic FAUST with the prominent regional cast and Vitrac’s “Victor or the Children in Power” at the ZKM Theatre, Zagreb, Croatia. In 2007 Pasovic adapted and directed “Class Enemy” by Nigel Williams.

Performing Arts Academy

Pasovic is co-founder of the Directing Department at the Performing Arts Academy. Several of his students are today the internationally acclaimed film directors. Pasovic lives in Sarajevo. He is a professor at the Performing Arts Academy in Sarajevo and IEDC-Bled School of Management in Slovenia.

External links

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References