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He was born in Split, Croatia in 1965. He started making short films at the age
of twelve, participating at various junior film festivals. At the age of fourteen
his short film "The Stone Mason" was aired on TV as the best short by a teenager.
From 1985 to 1990 he studied film directing at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in
Zagreb, Croatia, where he received his Bachelor of Arts Degree. During his studies
he made eight short films and documentaries among which are: "The Lute" (12 min.;
aired on TV), "The Day the Socks Dried" (12 min.- participated at the Student Film
Festival in Munich) and "Decorations" (20 min.- participated at four international
film festivals and was awarded the Gold Medal for Directing at the Short and
Documentary Film Festival in Belgrade, 1991). He was recognized as the best student
of the Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1987 and awarded the Annual Rector's Award.
From 1991 to 1994 he studied at the well-known Graduate Film Department of the New York University, where
he received his Master of Fine Arts Degree. During his studies he received the
prestigious W. T. Johnson Scholarship as the top student for his "superior academic
record and exceptional creative ability". His 14-min. short film "The Bird Lover"
successfully participated at 15 film festivals around the world. It was awarded the
Audience Award at the Hamburg Short Film Festival in 1993 and Jury Award at the
Schwenningen Film Festival in 1994. It was sold to several TV stations, including
Canal Plus in France and PBS, where it was broadcast nationally in the United
States.
His 15-min., 35mm short film called "Life Drawing", shot in New York in 2001, was screened at 10 film
festivals around the world. It received the following awards: Best Short Film at the
New York International Independent Film & Video Festival, 2002; Best Actor in Short
Film and Best Actress in Short Film awards at the Las Vegas International
Independent Film & Video Festival 2002; Best Acting Award at the Sulzbach-Rosenberg
Film Festival in Germany, 2003.
In 2004 he wrote and directed a full-length feature film "A Wonderful Night in Split" starring rap singer
Coolio and the late Croatian pop-star Dino Dvornik among others. The film was
nominated for the Discovery-Fassbinder Award by the European Film Academy as the
best first or second European film in 2004; it was the official Croatian entry for
the 78th Academy Awards; it received an additional two dozen awards and
acknowledgements as well as participating at about 40 film festivals (see the list
of festivals and awards).
In 2006 he co-wrote and directed an original theater play "Billie Holiday" for the Croatian National
Theater in Split, starring Ksenija Prohaska and Robert Kurbasa. The play stayed in
the program for 4 seasons; it was also successfully shown in theater "Komedija" in
Zagreb in 2009. It is now scheduled for the new tour.
During 2007 and 2008 Arsen directed his second feature film “No One’s Son” based on a theater play by Mate
Matisic, a well-known Croatian playwright. The film was the absolute winner of the
55th Croatian Film festival in Pula, winning 6 Gold Arenas (incl. for the Best film
and the Best director) and the Critics' Award "Oktavijan". It was the official
Croatian candidate for the 81st Annual Academy Awards. In 2009 Arsen received the
prestigious state award "Vladimir Nazor" for the film. "No One's Son" is included in
the Selection 2009 by the European Film Academy as one of the best European films in
2009. (see the list of festivals and awards)
Since 1988 he has been working professionally on feature and short films as well as TV projects in Europe
and the United States as a first or second assistant director, production manager or
line producer. He has twenty feature films - from independent, low-budget to studio
pictures - several short films and a 9-episode PBS TV series to his credit. He was
the Second Unit Director on "The Hunting Party" in 2007, starring Richard Gere and
Terence Howard, directed by Richard Shepard.
For two years he taught filmmaking at the University of Applied Science and Technology in Salzburg, Austria
where he was also the Head of the Video department (2002-2003). He is now an
Associate Professor at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb, Croatia, teaching
film production. He also taught at the New York Film Academy and at the Susan Grace
Cohen Acting Studio in New York City. |
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