Mario Kovač
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Mario Kovač (born 1975 in Zagreb) is a Croatian theatre and movie director.
He was a member of Zagreb Youths Theatre school of acting from 1984 to 1996, and during that period he took part in over 50 professional and amateur projects, mainly as actor. He also played in many coproduction foreign movies.
In 1995, he formed Schmrtz Teatar as an independent theatre group of young people interested in theatre, modern primitivism, alternative lifestyles and subcultural activities as well as in recycling of the old ideas about modernity and political influence of theatre. In less than five years they have produced over 120 plays, performances, shows, concerts, happenings, installations or actions. In 2000 they drastically reduced their membership (down to nine people) and changed their name into Nova Grupa, but their ideology of civil politics and independent "do it yourself" lifestyle stays the same. This group is very well known in the circuit of student festivals and has performed on many of those across the world (most of Europe, Venezuela, Canada, Iran, Tunisia, and elsewhere).
As a part of ATTACKs (Autonoumos Factory of Culture) performing arts team he founded FAKI (Front Alternativnog Kazališnog ispada - Front of Alternative Theatre Outburst) with intention to promote, distribute and, generally, help independent theatre groups, mostly those who deal with street, student, low budget or alternative theatre. He was also one of the founders of K.R.A.D.U. (Kazališna Revija Akademije Dramskih Umjetnosti - Thetare Review of Academy for Drama Arts) and TEST (Teatar Studentima! - Theatar to Students!) both highly respected annual festivals in their fields.
In recent years he has written as journalist for several Croatian magazines (Frakcija, Nomad, Arkzin...) covering subjects such as modern theatre expressions, pop culture, alternative and subversive art. In 2001. he published a book of short stories Baršunasto podzemlje (Velvet Underground) to positive reviews, and some of his stories can be found in several important collections.
Since March 2000. he has organized alternative theatre performances in different Zagreb clubs and so far has organized (together with other members of Nova Grupa) several hundred artistic events including performances, happenings, installations, concerts, poetry and drama readings, DJ-ing with wide range of music expressions and styles, screenings of independent and experimental movies etc.
As a professional director he directed more than twenty plays in Croatian theatres (including Croatian National Theatres in Split and Rijeka) and some of them won awards on most important national theatre festivals (Marulićevi Dani, Festival Malih Scena...). Occasionally, he works as a director of radio plays for Croatian National Radio (Third program).
A special aspect of his theatre involvement is work with disabled people. He has directed many plays with them and even won some awards at major festivals. He also sings and plays (synth & theremin) in several musical bands, most notebly in cabaret punk band Zvonko & Gradski Ured za Kulturu, avant/post noise band Tena Novak and in experimental audio/visual project Dada Jihad.
In 2003 he directed his first movie “U kandžama velegrada” (In the Claws of the Big Z), kung fu parody, for an extremely small amount of money and it turned into a big hit. Major distributing company Continental took over distribution and eventually it became top selling Croatian DVD of all time. Its sequel Bore Lee: Deadly Sinjs! was published in 2004.
