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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 and TV 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 one 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 Tisch School of the Arts,
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 European Film Academy
Discovery-Fassbinder Award as the best first
or second European film in 2004; it was the
official Croatian entry for the 78th Academy
Awards; it received a total of 24 awards and
acknowledgements and it participated 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 still touring Croatia.
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. "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). The film received a total of 16
awards and it participated in official
programs of 20 film festivals.
In 2012 Arsen made his third feature film "Halima's Path"
written by well known Bosnian screenwriter
Fedja Isovic. Among a few other awards, the
film received the Audience Award at the 59th
Pula Film Festival with the record-breaking
vote. Until May of 2016, the film
participated in and out of competition at
more than 50 film festivals around the world
and was awarded 32 awards.
Since 1988 he worked professionally on 20
feature films as well as shorts and TV
projects in Europe and the United States as
a first or second assistant director,
production manager or line producer. 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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