Mirjana Jokovic
Encyclopedia
Mirjana Joković (born November 24, 1967) is a Serbian
film and stage actress, best known for her role as Natalija Zovkov in Underground, the film of Emir Kusturica
(1995). She currently is Director of Performance for Acting and an acting teacher in the Theater Faculty of the California Institute of the Arts
near Los Angeles
.
, Yugoslavia. She spent her early years in Zambia
, where her father was an industrial engineer. She was graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade and began to perform at the National Theater and the Yugoslav Drama Theater in Belgrade and in films and television. She was a regular character in the popular Yugoslav television series "Grey Home", and in 1988 she was named Best Leading Actress at the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival and Best International Actress at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.
In 1989, she played the lead in the German film "Serbian Girl" directed by Peter Sehr, then she starring with Daniel Day Lewis in "Eversmile, New Jersey
" directed by Carlos Sorin
and won best actress for San Sebastián International Film Festival
. In 1993 she moved to the United States, but she continued to make films in Serbia. She starred in "Vukovar" (1994) which earned her the Yugoslav Best Actress Award. In 1995 she played the female lead in the film "Underground", directed by Emir Kusturica
, which won the Palme d'Or for best film at the Cannes Film Festival
in 1995 and the New York Critics Circle Award for best foreign film. She also made "Three Summer Days" (1997), for which she received another Yugoslav Best Actress Award, and Cabaret Balkan
, which won a Special Venice Film Festival Award in 1999.
production of "Mud, River Stone" by Lynn Nottage
at the Playwrights Horizon Theater. She also appeared in the chorus and as Chrsitothemys in the Broadway production of "Electra
" directed by David Leveaux
.
From 1997 through 2001 she worked at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her roles at ART included Dulle Griet in "Full Circle
" by Chuck Mee, Hermione in Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale", Desdemona
in "Othello
", the part of Natasha/Olga Knipper in "Three Farces and a Funeral" by Robert Brustein
, and "Mother Courage and Her Children
" by Bertolt Brecht
.
In 2003 she played in "Romeo and Juliet
", directed by Emily Mann
, at the McCarter Theater and made the film "A Better Way to Die" directed by Scott Wiper
for HBO. She also starred Off-Broadway in "Necessary Targets" by Eve Ensler
, "Electra
" by Sophocles
at the Hartford Stage
, and "Three Sisters
" by Anton Chekhov
at the American Conservatory Theater
in San Francisco.
After her starring role in "Underground", she appeared in several European and American films. She played the part of Elena Iscovescu in "Side Streets
", (CargoFilms/nuMedien) in 1998; the part of Adrijana, in "Strsljen" (also known as The Hornet, Le frelon, and Grenxa) (Cinema Design Belgrade) in 1998; the part of Ana in
"Bure baruta" (also known as Cabaret Balkan, The Powder Keg, and Baril de poudre) (Paramount Pictures
) in 1998; the part of a hotel maid in "Maid in Manhattan
" (Columbia Pictures
) in 2002; and as Tess in "Private Property
" (Chiaroscuro Pictures) in 2002.
In 200- she began to teach in the Theater Faculty at the California Institute of the Arts
in Valencia, California.
In April 2010 she helped organize the first theater workshop via Internet between CalArts and the Moscow Art Theater School in Moscow, under the auspices of the Binational Presidential Commission created by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. In June 2010 she was invited to come to Moscow by the U.S. Embassy as the first Binational Presidential Commission cultural envoy to stimulate new exchanges with Moscow theaters and theater schools.
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
film and stage actress, best known for her role as Natalija Zovkov in Underground, the film of Emir Kusturica
Emir Kusturica
Emir Nemanja Kusturica , is a Serbian filmmaker, actor and musician, recognized for several internationally acclaimed feature films...
(1995). She currently is Director of Performance for Acting and an acting teacher in the Theater Faculty of the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
near Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Early Career in Yugoslavia
Mirjana Jokovic was born in BelgradeBelgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Yugoslavia. She spent her early years in Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, where her father was an industrial engineer. She was graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade and began to perform at the National Theater and the Yugoslav Drama Theater in Belgrade and in films and television. She was a regular character in the popular Yugoslav television series "Grey Home", and in 1988 she was named Best Leading Actress at the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival and Best International Actress at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.
In 1989, she played the lead in the German film "Serbian Girl" directed by Peter Sehr, then she starring with Daniel Day Lewis in "Eversmile, New Jersey
Eversmile, New Jersey
Eversmile, New Jersey is an Argentine and British comedy-drama film released in 1989, directed by Carlos Sorín, and written by Sorín, Jorge Goldenberg, and Roberto Scheuer.The film stars Daniel Day Lewis as dentist Dr. Fergus O'Connell...
" directed by Carlos Sorin
Carlos Sorín
Carlos Sorín is a film director, screenplay writer, cinematographer, and film producer. He works mainly in the cinema of Argentina....
and won best actress for San Sebastián International Film Festival
San Sebastián International Film Festival
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
. In 1993 she moved to the United States, but she continued to make films in Serbia. She starred in "Vukovar" (1994) which earned her the Yugoslav Best Actress Award. In 1995 she played the female lead in the film "Underground", directed by Emir Kusturica
Emir Kusturica
Emir Nemanja Kusturica , is a Serbian filmmaker, actor and musician, recognized for several internationally acclaimed feature films...
, which won the Palme d'Or for best film at the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
in 1995 and the New York Critics Circle Award for best foreign film. She also made "Three Summer Days" (1997), for which she received another Yugoslav Best Actress Award, and Cabaret Balkan
Cabaret Balkan
Cabaret Balkan is a 1998 Serbian film directed by Goran Paskaljević starring Miki Manojlović and Nebojša Glogovac. Its original Serbian language title is Буре барута which means Powder Keg...
, which won a Special Venice Film Festival Award in 1999.
Career in the American Theater and Film
She moved to the United States in 1993 and began a new career in American theater, appearing in the off-BroadwayOff-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production of "Mud, River Stone" by Lynn Nottage
Lynn Nottage
Lynn Nottage is an American playwright whose work often deals with the lives of women of African descent, African Americans and women. She was born in Brooklyn and is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. She received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005, and a MacArthur Genius...
at the Playwrights Horizon Theater. She also appeared in the chorus and as Chrsitothemys in the Broadway production of "Electra
Electra
In Greek mythology, Electra was an Argive princess and daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. She and her brother Orestes plotted revenge against their mother Clytemnestra and stepfather Aegisthus for the murder of their father Agamemnon...
" directed by David Leveaux
David Leveaux
David Leveaux is a British theatre director who has been nominated for five Tony Awards as director of both plays and musicals...
.
From 1997 through 2001 she worked at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her roles at ART included Dulle Griet in "Full Circle
Full Circle
-Albums:* Full Circle * Full Circle * Full Circle * Full Circle * Full Circle * Full Circle * Full Circle...
" by Chuck Mee, Hermione in Shakespeare's "Winter's Tale", Desdemona
Desdemona
Desdemona is a character in William Shakespeare's play Othello.Desdemona may also refer to:People* Desdemona , a soprano role in the 1816 opera Otello by Gioachino Rossini...
in "Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
", the part of Natasha/Olga Knipper in "Three Farces and a Funeral" by Robert Brustein
Robert Brustein
Robert Sanford Brustein is an American theatrical critic, producer, playwright and educator. He founded both Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut and the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he remains a Creative Consultant, and has been the theatre critic for...
, and "Mother Courage and Her Children
Mother Courage and Her Children
Mother Courage and Her Children is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin...
" by Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
.
In 2003 she played in "Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
", directed by Emily Mann
Emily Mann (director)
Emily Mann, born April 12, 1952, is the multi-award–winning Artistic Director and Resident Playwright of McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, where she has overseen over 85 productions....
, at the McCarter Theater and made the film "A Better Way to Die" directed by Scott Wiper
Scott Wiper
Scott Wiper is an American writer, film director, and actor.He wrote, directed, and starred in A Better Way to Die. Wiper's was the co-writer and director of the action thriller, The Condemned, starring WWE's "Stone Cold" Steve Austin...
for HBO. She also starred Off-Broadway in "Necessary Targets" by Eve Ensler
Eve Ensler
Eve Ensler is an American playwright, performer, feminist and activist, best known for her play The Vagina Monologues.- Personal life :...
, "Electra
Electra
In Greek mythology, Electra was an Argive princess and daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. She and her brother Orestes plotted revenge against their mother Clytemnestra and stepfather Aegisthus for the murder of their father Agamemnon...
" by Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
at the Hartford Stage
Hartford Stage
Hartford Stage, located in Hartford, Connecticut, is one of the leading resident theatres in the United States, known internationally for entertaining and enlightening audiences with a wide range of the best of world drama, from classics to provocative new plays and musicals and neglected works...
, and "Three Sisters
Three Sisters (play)
Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...
" by Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
at the American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T. was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Carnegie Tech by theatre and...
in San Francisco.
After her starring role in "Underground", she appeared in several European and American films. She played the part of Elena Iscovescu in "Side Streets
Side Streets
Side Streets is a 1998 Merchant Ivory film directed by Tony Gerber.Ensemble cast included Valeria Golino, Shashi Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Miho Nikaido, Art Malik, Victor Argo, Rosario Dawson, Jennifer Esposito.-Cast:*Valeria Golino - Sylvie Otti...
", (CargoFilms/nuMedien) in 1998; the part of Adrijana, in "Strsljen" (also known as The Hornet, Le frelon, and Grenxa) (Cinema Design Belgrade) in 1998; the part of Ana in
"Bure baruta" (also known as Cabaret Balkan, The Powder Keg, and Baril de poudre) (Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
) in 1998; the part of a hotel maid in "Maid in Manhattan
Maid in Manhattan
Maid in Manhattan is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Wayne Wang about a hotel maid and a high profile politician who fall in love starring Jennifer Lopez, Ralph Fiennes, and Natasha Richardson. It is based on a story by John Hughes who is credited using a pseudonym. The original music score...
" (Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
) in 2002; and as Tess in "Private Property
Private property
Private property is the right of persons and firms to obtain, own, control, employ, dispose of, and bequeath land, capital, and other forms of property. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which refers to assets owned by a state, community or government rather than by...
" (Chiaroscuro Pictures) in 2002.
In 200- she began to teach in the Theater Faculty at the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
in Valencia, California.
In April 2010 she helped organize the first theater workshop via Internet between CalArts and the Moscow Art Theater School in Moscow, under the auspices of the Binational Presidential Commission created by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. In June 2010 she was invited to come to Moscow by the U.S. Embassy as the first Binational Presidential Commission cultural envoy to stimulate new exchanges with Moscow theaters and theater schools.