Sofija "Soja" Jovanović was the first Yugoslavian woman director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

, noted for her work in theater, TV

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 and film productions.

After studying at the Theater Department of the Belgrade Music Academy, her first success was the stage production of Branislav Nušić

Branislav Nušic

Branislav Nušić was a Serbian novelist of Aromanian descent, playwright, satirist, essayist and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia. He also worked as a journalist and a civil servant.- Biography :...

's play A Suspicious Character in 1948, for which she was awarded at the Festival of Academy Theaters of Yugoslavia. Apart from theater productions, she also directed a number of films, mostly based on comedies written by Branislav Nušić

Branislav Nušic

Branislav Nušić was a Serbian novelist of Aromanian descent, playwright, satirist, essayist and founder of modern rhetoric in Serbia. He also worked as a journalist and a civil servant.- Biography :...

, Jovan Sterija Popović

Jovan Sterija Popovic

Jovan Sterija Popović was a Serbian playwright, poet and pedagogue who taught at the Belgrade Higher School. Sterija was recognized by his contemporaries as the one of the leading Serbian intellectuals...

, Stevan Sremac

Stevan Sremac

Stevan Sremac was a Serbian realist and comedy writer. He is considered one of the best truly humorous Serbian writers.-Biography:...

 and Branko Ćopić

Branko Copic

Branko Ćopić was Yugoslav writer. He was an ethnic Serb born in the village of Hašani near Bosanska Krupa. He attended schools in Bihać, Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Karlovac before moving to Belgrade to study philosophy at the University of Belgrade until his graduation in 1940.Upon the uprising in...

.

Her first film was A Suspicious Character in 1954 which she co-directed with Predrag Dinulović. In 1957 she directed Priests Ćira and Spira , which was the first Yugoslavian feature film shot in color and for which she won the Golden Arena for Best Director

Golden Arena for Best Director

The Golden Arena for Best Director is an award given for best director at the Pula Film Festival, which was until 1992 the Yugoslav equivalent of the Academy Awards. Since 1992 and the breakup of Yugoslavia the competition narrowed to Croatian films only...

 at the 1957 Pula Film Festival

Pula Film Festival

The Pula Film Festival is the oldest Croatian film festival which is held annually in a Roman amphitheater known as the Pula arena since 1954. The festival is usually held in the summer, in July or August....

. She also directed a number of TV films and radio drama

Radio drama

Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...

s produced by Radio Television Belgrade

Radio Television of Serbia

Radio Television of Serbia or Serbian Broadcasting Corporation is the public broadcaster in Serbia. It broadcasts and produces a variety of news, drama, and sports programming through radio, television and the Internet. RTS is, since July 2001, a member of the European Broadcasting Union. RTS is...

 until the early 1980s when she retired.

Filmography

• A Suspicious Character (Sumnjivo lice, 1954)
• Priests Ćira and Spira
  Priests Ćira and Spira
  Priests Ćira and Spira is a 1957 Yugoslav film directed by Soja Jovanović....
  
  (Pop Ćira i pop Spira, 1957)
• The Dreams Came by Coach (Diližansa snova, 1960)
• Dr (1962)
• Put oko sveta (1964)
• Eagles Fly Early (Orlovi rano lete, 1966)
• Pusti snovi (1968)
• Silom otac (1969)

External links