The Professional

Dušan Kovačević (Serbian Cyrillic: Душан Ковачевић, pronounced [dǔʃan kɔv̞ǎːtʃɛv̞itɕ]; born July 12, 1948) is a Serbian playwright and director best known for his theater plays and movie scripts. He also served as the ambassador of Serbia in Lisbon, Portugal.

Kovačević was born in Mrđenovac near Šabac, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia, graduated from a grammar school in Novi Sad, and received a Bachelor’s degree in dramaturgy from the University of Belgrade in 1973. From 1973, he worked as a dramaturge at TV Beograd for five years. Since 1998, he has been the Artistic Director of Zvezdara teatar. In 2003 he directed his first movie, Profesionalac (The Professional).

His daughter Lena Kovačević is a famous jazz singer.

Kovačević’s prolific work is well known and popular in Serbia. His comedies have been translated into 17 languages, but his work didn’t become available in English until the mid-1990s. One of his plays, Balkan Spy was being rehearsed in Beijing at the time of Tiananmen Square protests, only to be cancelled by the authorities.

A declared royalist, Dušan Kovačević is a member of the Crown Council of Aleksandar Karađorđević. He is also a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Some of Kovačević’s work includes:

Plays

Radovan Treći – Radovan III (1973)
Maratonci trče počasni krug – The Marathon Runners Run a Victory Lap (1973)
Sabirni centar – The Gathering Place (1982)
Balkanski špijun – Balkan Spy (1982)
Sveti Georgije ubiva aždahu – St. George Shoots the Dragon (1984)
Klaustofobična Komedija – Claustrophobic Comedy (1987)
Profesionalac – The Professional (1990)
Urnebesna Tragedija – Roaring Tragedy (also translated as Tragedy Burlesque; 1990)
Lari Tompson, tragedija jedne mladosti – Larry Thompson, the Tragedy of a Youth (1996)
Kontejner sa Pet Zvezdica – Five-Star Dumpster (1999)
Doktor Šuster – Doctor Shoemaker (2001)
Generalna proba samoubstiva – Dress Rehearsal for a Suicide (2009)
U tesnim cipelama – In tight shoes (2011)
Reinkarnacija – Reincarnation (2011)

Films

Specijalno vaspitanje – Special Treatment (1978)
Ko to tamo peva – Who’s Singing Over There? (1980)
Bila jednom jedna zemlja – Underground (Once Upon a Time was a Land) (1995)
Profesionalac – The Professional (2003) by director and scriptwriter Dusan Kovacevic
Sveti Georgije ubiva aždahu – St. George Kills the Dragon (2009)

Underground, directed by Emir Kusturica, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival. It was Kovačević’s adaptation of an earlier play called Proleće u januaru (Spring in January). He has written film adaptations of Marathon Runners (The Marathon Runners Run a Victory Lap (1982)), The Gathering Place, Balkan Spy, and The Professional, as well. —Wikipedia