Marija Bergam Ristić was born in Kotor, Montenegro, in 1991, and completed her primary and secondary education in Belgrade. She attended the Third Belgrade Gymnasium, bilingual Italian program, alongside the Lujo Davičo Secondary Ballet School. In 2009, she enrolled in the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, studying under Prof. Biljana Mašić, and received the Mata Milošević Award for Best Acting Student.
She won the Sterija Award for Best Young Actress in 2012 for her role as Milica in Workers Die Singing (Bitef 2012). Her professional theatre career began while still a student, with notable performances including:
From October 2019 to April 2024, she worked as a teaching associate in Acting at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, and she has been enrolled in doctoral artistic studies since 2019.
Marija has also appeared in film and television, including:
The play “Spanish Fool” represents the artistic component of Marija Bergam Ristić’s doctoral research project at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. The official topic of her doctoral artistic project is:
Spanish Fool: Exploring the actor’s work on a role in dialogue with new technologies – a theatre performance.
Born on March 27, 1964, in Pančevo, Slobodan Beštić graduated from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade in 1987, under the mentorship of Prof. Predrag Bajčetić. He began his professional career at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre (1987–2001) and later joined the National Theatre in Belgrade.
Throughout his career, he has delivered acclaimed performances in a wide range of theatrical works, including:
His film and television work includes notable roles in:
In addition to performing, he has a distinguished pedagogical career, teaching acting and stage movement at institutions including the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, BK Academy, Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje, and the Academy of Arts in Osijek. He has also participated in numerous international workshops and seminars in theatre, movement, and acting techniques, collaborating with masters such as Eugenio Barba, Josy Oida, and Tanja Zgonc. He has received numerous awards recognizing his excellence in performance and contribution to theatre, including:
Currently, he is a permanent member of the Drama Ensemble at the National Theatre, holding the position of Principal Actor, performing a range of roles in the ongoing repertoire.
Maja Stojanović was born in 1992 in Podgorica, Montenegro. She began her artistic journey through folklore and ballet, performing with the Academic Cultural-Art Society “Mirko Srzentić” and the ballet troupe “Allegro.”
In 2011, she enrolled at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje, where she graduated in 2014. She continued her education at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, completing specialist and master studies in 2018 with the monodrama “Kaže meni mama” (My Mother Tells Me).
Throughout her career, Maja has performed on many prominent stages across Montenegro and the region, including the Montenegrin National Theatre, Zetski dom, Nikšićko Theatre, Budva City Theatre, and Madlenianum Theatre.
Her most notable theatre performances include:
…and many more.
In addition to her theatre work, Maja has appeared in numerous film and television projects. She is known for her roles in the TV series Budva na pjenu od mora, Dojč Kafe, Božićni ustanak, Žigosani u reketu, 12 reči, Besa, Senke nad Balkanom, as well as in the films Between Day and Night, Cases of Justice, and An Endless Freedom.
Maja’s work has been recognized at various festivals, where she has received several awards, including:
Beyond acting, Maja has worked as an artistic director, dramaturg, choreographer, and educator.
Her contributions include:
Maja Stojanović continues to develop her career through challenging roles and creative projects that blend theatre, film, education, and performance art across Montenegro and the region.
Sanjin Ćorović is a visual artist, producer, and designer with more than twenty years of experience in multimedia, performing arts, and event production. Throughout his career, he has worked on numerous concerts, festivals, theater performances, and art projects as a producer, creator of visual concepts, set designer, and lighting and video designer.
He specializes in working with contemporary technologies such as generative video and interactive installations. His work is defined by a balance of technical precision and artistic intuition, with a strong sensitivity to space, rhythm, and atmosphere. He frequently collaborates with artists in the fields of contemporary art and music, focusing on projects that blur the boundaries between the real and the digital, the audience and the stage. As a member of the creative team for the play As If the End Wasn’t Even Close, he received the Audience Award at the Sterijino Pozorje Festival and the Audience Award at the BITEF Festival.
His works have been presented in several group exhibitions, and he is currently preparing his first solo exhibition of interactive works based on new technologies. His interactive installation Energy of the Past, Vision of the Future was selected as one of the artworks within the international project FASIH – Future Art and Science Industrial Heritage, and was exhibited at the Museum of Science and Technology in Belgrade.
He is a guest lecturer at SAE Institute Belgrade, where he teaches courses on the use of light and video technologies in live productions. He is currently completing his master’s degree in Digital Arts at the Faculty of Media and Communications in Belgrade, where he further develops his artistic practice at the intersection of theory, technology, and contemporary visual expression.
Lena Kovačević is a musician, singer, and songwriter who graduated from the prestigious Conservatorium van Amsterdam. She has released five highly successful albums, characterized by a unique blend of pop, jazz, and Balkan influences, earning her wide recognition as an artist.
Her album Café features numerous songs that became hits across the Balkans, as well as several singles aimed at the international market. The single Café received radio airplay in Germany, Austria, Turkey, Morocco, and France. Her original album 9, created as a tribute to 1990s music, achieved significant radio success and showcased Lena in her most expressive artistic light to date.
Lena has performed in prestigious concert halls worldwide. She has sung for Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and was the only artist from the region to appear at the BRIT Awards ceremony at London’s O2 Arena. She began her career in the Netherlands and Belgium, touring with the Royal Netherlands Orchestra, and has performed in countries including France, Italy, Cyprus, the United States, Austria, England, Germany, Serbia, and throughout the Balkans. She has also appeared at exclusive events such as Novak Djokovic’s wedding, a concert at the Albertina Museum in Vienna, and Milan Fashion Week. For many years, she has regularly performed in Germany with the symphonic orchestra Josef & Friends.
She appeared on prime-time Turkish television in the Beyaz Show to provide support during the pandemic and was a special guest at Lara Fabian’s concert at Belgrade Arena, as well as an honorary participant in the Sanremo Giovani Tour hosted by Maurizio Filardi. Lena has been recognized by Oxford Worldwide Press as one of 3,000 influential individuals of Balkan origin making an impact both nationally and internationally.
In 2024 and 2025, Lena held a series of regional concerts across the Balkans, performing alongside world-renowned artists including Randy Brecker, Peter Erskine, Otmaro Ruiz, Joy Brown, Haley Reinhart, Marina Hauser, and many others. In 2025, she plans to release a new pop album with Balkan influences titled Anima Orientale, marking a new milestone in her artistic journey.
Also in 2025, the song Ti si moja ljubav, co-written and composed by Lena, won first prize at Ohrid Fest in North Macedonia, further affirming her success as a songwriter and performer.
Marko Fabry (born 1985, Belgrade) is a music producer, composer, and bassist. He graduated from the Stanković Music School (jazz program) and studied Music Production and Sound Design at the Academy of Arts in Belgrade. As a music producer and musician, he has collaborated with numerous domestic and international artists, including Marčelo, Lena Kovačević, Serbian Jazz BRE, and Stjepko Gut.
Fabry also works in composing applied music, sound design for theatre, television, and film, as well as implementing immersive audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and binaural sound in audio production. In theatre, television, and film, he has collaborated with artists and directors including Radoslav (Rale) Milenković, Juraj Johanides, Vladimir Strnisko, Michal Novinski, and Jan Svěrák.
He currently lives and works in Belgrade.
Boris Čakširan is known as a costume and set designer, and since 1995 he has also been working independently as a choreographer and director. He graduated with an MA in Painting – Costume Design from the University of Arts in Belgrade, and specialized further in the United Kingdom and the USA.
As a set and costume designer, he has worked on many major projects in Serbia and abroad, across film, television, and theatre. Throughout his long career, he has collaborated with some of the world’s most renowned costume production companies, such as Western Costume Company (Hollywood), Berman’s & Nathan’s (London), as well as the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. He has worked as a costume designer on numerous international co- productions with Italy, France, Germany, and the USA. In film and television, he has designed costumes for some of the most acclaimed Serbian films and TV series (Tito and Me, Premeditated Murder, Hornet, I Defended Young Bosnia, King Petar I, etc.), as well as for popular series such as The End of the Obrenović Dynasty, Black Gruja, The Storks Will Return, Roots, Shadows over the Balkans, King Petar I, and many others.
Boris is a multidisciplinary artist who has participated in 35 art exhibitions, including the Prague Quadrennial (1987). As an assistant, he contributed to more than 75 productions in opera, ballet, theatre, television, and film. To date, he has completed over 150 theatre costume designs, more than 30 stage designs, 30 television dramas and series, and over 15 film costume designs. In addition, he has created more than 30 choreographies and theatrical productions. His work has taken him across the USA, UK, Italy, Israel, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Boris is the artistic director of ERGstatus Dance Theatre, an educational and performance group founded in Belgrade in 1998.
From 1996 to 2002, he worked as a guest teacher and choreographer at some of the most prestigious schools for contemporary dance and performing arts in Israel, including MASPA – Mate Asher School of Performing Arts in Ga’aton, the University of Haifa, Tel Aviv University of Arts, and the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem.
Tamara Pjević is a contemporary dancer, pedagogue, and choreographer based in Belgrade. Since 2015, she has been a permanent member of the Bitef Dance Company at Bitef Theatre, where she has performed with renowned figures of the dance-theatre community, including Constanza Macras, Felix Landerer, Dunja Jocic, Jo Strømgren, Isidora Stanisic, Milos Isailovic, and many others. For many years, she has collaborated with the regional independent dance scene, with notable projects in partnership with Station – Service for Contemporary Dance (Igor Koruga, Ana Dubljević, Jovana Rakić, Dušan Murić, Marko Milić). She has also worked as a movement associate in theatre productions (Bitef Theatre, Atelje 212, National Theatre in Belgrade, Yugoslav Drama Theatre, Duško Radović Theatre, among others).
She is a full-time faculty member at the Department of Contemporary Dance at the “Lujo Davičo” Ballet School in Belgrade. She is the recipient of the Smiljana Mandukić Award for Best Stage Interpretation.
Nikola Zavišić (1975) is a Serbian theatre director, puppetry director, and light designer. He graduated in Theatre Directing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU), where he obtained both his BA and MA. His work spans drama, puppet, and experimental theatre, often combining directing with dramaturgy and light design. He has collaborated with theatres across Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Russia, and presented works at international festivals including BITEF.
Zavišić’s productions have earned numerous awards, among them the Grand Prix and Best Director at the Golden Lion Festival (Croatia), Grand Prix for Best Performance and Best Director at the Antique Theatre Festival STOBI (North Macedonia), Best Director at the ASSITEJ Festival (Croatia), as well as several audience awards and prizes for light and visual design at festivals in Serbia and Croatia. He continues to explore the boundaries between visual, textual, and performative storytelling through innovative theatrical forms.
Jovan Radenković is a cinematographer, visual artist, and student at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, at the Department of Camera. He is 23 years old, and in addition to working on film projects, he is actively engaged in painting and photography, exploring various forms of visual expression and merging them into a unique artistic vision. His work is characterized by a strong sense of composition, light, and narrative, and he finds inspiration in the interplay between moving and still images.
Katarina Bijelić was born in Stara Pazova on November 18, 2003. She completed her elementary education in her hometown, and later graduated from the Karlovci Gymnasium, specializing in Japanese language. After her first year of studies in International Relations at the Faculty of Political Sciences, she transferred to the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, where she decided to focus on camera studies and further explore photography and cinematography. The faculty has given her the opportunity to work on various projects, including filming as part of a theatre production directed by Marija Bergam.
Ksenija Djuric is a nineteen-year-old student at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, majoring in Cultural Management and Theatre Production. In addition to theatre production, she is interested in film, visual arts, and the creative process behind organizing artistic
events and projects. She takes part in various initiatives that connect art and organization, and sees her work on this production as an important step in her professional and personal development.