Zivorad 'Zika' Mitrovic

Zivorad 'Zika' Mitrovic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1921. He belongs to the first generation of post-WW2 directors, and began directing in 1946. His first film was a documentary about the National Army rally named Nove pobede (1946). After this feature, he made a series of shorts (The First Lights (1949), The Soil Was Waiting for a Tractor (1951), Images of Prizren (1952) and Pozari u gradu (1953)). Mitrovic was one of the most productive directors in the history of Yugoslav cinema, and by 1986 he had made 20 feature films, including _Esalon doktora M (1953)_ and Captain Lechi (1960). This latter film lead to great success and popularity for both Mitrovic and the star Aleksandar Gavric, and spawned a sequel, Obracun (1962). Mitrovic made several historic films but also tackled contemporary subjects within the crime genre. His famous urban crime films are Poslednji kolosek (1956), Noz (1967) and Murder Commited in a Sly and Cruel Manner and from Low Motives (1969). He also made two spectacular war epics Mars na Drinu (1964) and _Uzicka republika (1974)_. The first film is considered noteworthy because it portrays the heroics of the Serbian Royal Army in WW1; communist authorities used to forbid even faint mentions of the subject, so even the production of this film remains a secret to this day. One of the rare non-action films in his opus is Savamala (1982), an acclaimed period piece about life in Belgrade in 1936. Mitrovic's work won many national and international awards.