Slobodan Šijan

Slobodan Šijan (Serbian Cyrillic: Слободан Шијан, pronounced [slɔbɔ̌dan ʃîjaːn]; born 16 November 1946) is a Serbian film director.

Slobodan Šijan
Slobodan Šijan in April 2014
Born	(1946-11-16) 16 November 1946 (age 78) Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Serbian
Occupation	Director
Years active	1980–present
Known for	Ko to tamo peva, Maratonci trče počasni krug, Davitelj protiv davitelja

Biography

Šijan was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He graduated from the Fine Arts Academy in Belgrade, and then enrolled in Belgrade's Academy of Theater Faculty of Dramatic Arts in 1970.^[1] He directed a number of television films as well as experimental and short films during the 1970s.^[1] From 1976 to 1979, he published a series of fanzines which according to him were made "out of frustration" in between his experimentation and attempts to break into professional cinema.^[1]

His first full-length feature Ko to tamo peva, directed in collaboration with writer Dušan Kovačević and cinematographer Božidar Nikolić, was released in 1980 and became a box-office hit.^[2][3] 1982's Maratonci trče počasni krug, also achieved considerable commercial success.^[4]

Over the coming years Šijan directed two more notable films, How I Was Systematically Destroyed by an Idiot (Kako sam sistematski uništen od idiota) and Strangler vs. Strangler (Davitelj protiv davitelja).^[3]

In 2021, he was selected the Friend of Slovenian Cinema at the 2021 Festival of Slovenian Film.^[5]

Filmography

Year	Film	Director	Writer	Producer	Awards / Notes
1980	Who's Singin' Over There? (Ko to tamo peva)	Yes	No	No	Bronze Arena at Pula Film Festival
1982	The Marathon Family (Maratonci trče počasni krug)	Yes	No	No	Jury prize at Montréal World Film Festival
1983	How I Was Systematically Destroyed by an Idiot (Kako sam sistematski uništen od idiota)	Yes	Yes	No
1984	Strangler vs. Strangler (Davitelj protiv davitelja)	Yes	Yes	No
1988	Cognac (Tajna manastirske rakije)	Yes	No	No
2003	Poor Little Hamsters (Siroti mali hrčki 2010)	Yes	No	No
2007	Save Our Souls (S. O. S. - Spasite naše duše)	Yes	No	No
2024	God Be with Us (Budi Bog s nama)	Yes	Yes	No	Filming

TV work

• Gradilište (1979) (TV)
• Ing. ugostiteljstva (1979) (short)
• Kost od mamuta (1979) (TV)
• Najlepša soba (1978) (TV)
• Šta se dogodilo sa Filipom Preradovićem (1977) (TV movie)
• Pohvala svetu (1976) (TV short)
• Sve što je bilo lepo (1976) (TV movie)
• Sunce te čuva (1975) (TV short)