International Festival of Children's Theatres

The Subotica International Festival of Children's Theatres is an international festival dedicated to children's theatre.

The festival

The festival is held annually in the third week of the month of May. It is of a competitive nature and festival awards are granted according to the evaluation of an international jury. Both drama and puppet theatre productions are performed at the festival.

Besides official selections, the festival includes an accompanying programme encompassing street theatre, festival performances throughout Serbia, a film programme, scientific gatherings, exhibitions, and publishing.

History

The festival was founded in 1994 by Subotica Municipal Assembly (Vojvodina Province, Serbia). The creator of the festival and its manager to the present has been Slobodan Markovic.

The festival is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia and the Provincial Department of Education and Culture. It is supported by the Municipality of Subotica and by numerous sponsors and donors. Executive producers of the festival are the Subotica Children's Theater and the Open University Subotica.

The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia has proclaimed the festival as being of national significance, and for its accomplishments it has been awarded the greatest cultural acknowledgement in the Republic of Serbia – Vuk's Award.

Aims

The stated aims of the festival are to:
*present the most valuable and artistically most relevant stage creations in domestic and foreign production for children.
*contribute to promotion of new and to further recognition of already realized cultural values on the international ground.
*bring nations closer and to preserve diversities of each culture as the source of our common wealth.
*encourage making friendships.
*provide exchange of experiences and to make creative connections.
*promote theatrical life for children and culture in general.
*provide the audience in Serbia with various international productions for children and youth of different age and social status.

Target audience

Children up to 18 years of age; childminders, parents and carers and practitioners; everyone interested in theatre for children and young people or in the art of theatre in general.

Festival awards

The following awards are made:
#Grand Prix of the Festival for the best performance
#Special prize of the Festival for original expression and fantasy
#Direction
#Stage design
#Original music
#Puppet design
#Seven prizes for acting skills Each year the festival presents "Little Prince" Life Achievement Awards to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the development of culture and theatre art for children.

Participants

Since its inception, the Festival has hosted more than 400 theatre productions from various parts of the world, including Europe and host country Serbia. About 250 have been presented in Official Selection, including: [Festival Documentation & Catalog Archive]

Albania
*National Puppet Theatre, Tirana (2004)

Austria
*MOKI Theatre, Vienna (2003, 2005, 2007, 2008)
*Puppet Theatre Trittbrettl, Pressbaum (2006) Belarus
*Belarusian Theatre „Lialka“, Vitebsk (1999, 2000)
*Mogilev Regional Puppet Theatre, Mogilev (2001)
*Minsk Regional Puppet Theatre “Batleyka”, Molodechno (2003)
*Belarusian State Puppet Theatre, Minsk (2004)
*The Brest Puppet Theatre, Brest (2006)
*The Grodno Puppet Theatre, Grodno (2007, 2008)

Bosnia and Herzegovina
*Puppet Theatre, Mostar (2000, 2001, 2004, 2007)
*Puppet Theatre – Mostar, Mostar (2002)
*Sartr – Sarajevo War Theatre, Sarajevo (2003, 2005)
*Children's Theatre Of Republic Of Srpska, Banja Luka (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2008)

Bulgaria
*State Puppet Theatre, Silistra (1994)
*Central Puppet Theatre, Sofia (1998, 1999, 2005)
*Theatre “Atelie 313”, Sofia (2004, 2007)
*State Puppet Theatre, Plovdiv (1995)
*State Puppet Theatre, Varna (1996, 2006)
*State Puppet Theatre, Vidin (1997, 2001)
*Konstantin Velichkov Drama And Puppet Theatre, Pazardzhik (2000, 2002, 2003)

China
*Marionette Theatre, Chaozhou (2000)
*Dandelion – The Chinese Children Puppeteer Troupe, Zhangzhou (2005)
*Zhangzhou Puppet Theatre (2006)
*Shanghai Puppet Theatre, Shanghai (2007) Croatia
*Children’S Theatre, Osijek (2000, 2001)
*Zagreb Puppet Theatre, Zagreb (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008)
*Rijeka City Puppet Theatre, Rijeka (2005, 2008)
*Split City Puppet Theatre, Split (2007) Czech Republic
*Puppet Theatre On The King's Road, Prague (1996)
*Drak Theatre, Hradec Kralove (2003,2005)
*The Naive Theatre, Liberec (2006)
*Alfa Theatre, Plzen (2007)

Estonia
*Estonian State Puppet Theatre, Tallinn (2006, 2008)

Finland
*Puppet Theatre Sampo, Helsinki (1996, 2003)

France
*Theatre Du Petit Miroir, Paris (2006)
*Pointure 23 Theatre, Paris (2007)
*Garin Trousseboeuf Company, Savenay (2008)

Germany
*Magdeburg Puppet Theatre, Magdeburg (1996)
*Waidspeicher Theatre, Erfurt (1998)
*Puppet Theatre, Erfurt (2003)
*Wide Theatre, Berlin (2000)
*Maer (Fairy Tale) Theatre, Hamburg (2002)
*Theaterwerkstatt (Theatre Workshop), Hannover (2004)
*Handgemenge Theatre, Berlin (2007)

Greece
*Puppet Theatre Tiritomba, Larissa (1999, 2000)
*Marionette Company, Vasiliki (2005)

Hungary
*"Kolibri" Theatre, Budapest (1994, 1995, 1999)
*Budapest Puppet Theatre, Budapest (1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008)
*Hattyu-Dal (Swan's Song) Theatre, Budapest (2002)
*Levendula Theatre, Pecs (1998)
*Ciroka Puppet Theatre, Kecskemet (2000, 2004)
*Vojtina Puppet Theatre, Debrecen (2001, 2006)
*Kövér Béla Puppet Theatre, Szeged (2008) Iran
*Apple Tree Group, Tehran (2007)

Israel
*"Koom-Koom" Theatre, Jerusalem (2006)

Italy
*Piccoli Di Podrecca, Trieste (2003)
*Di Pietro – Colombaioni, Rome (2000)
*Teatro Dei Piedi, Rome (2006)
*Tieffeu – Teatro Figura Umbro, Perugia (2002)
*Giullare Little Theatre, Bologna (2005)
*Figli D'arte (Children Of Art) Cuticchio, Palermo (1998) Latvia
*Latvian State Puppet Theatre, Riga (2005)

Lithuania
*Puppet Theatre, Kaunas (2002)
*Vilnius Theatre "Lele", Vilnius (2005)
*Panevežys Wagon Puppet Theatre, Panevežys (2007)

Republic of Macedonia
*Children And Youth Theatre, Skopje (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005)

Mexico
*Muf Theatre, Mexico City (1996)

Moldova
*Marionette Theatre, Chişinău (2001)
*Republican Puppet Theatre “Licurici”, Chişinău (2004)

Montenegro
*Children's Theatre, Podgorica (1994, 1997, 1999)
*City Theatre, Podgorica (2001)
*Theatre Of Nikšic, Nikšic (2000)

Poland
*"Guliwer" Puppet Theatre, Warsaw (1996, 2005, 2008)
*"Rabcio" State Puppet Theatre, Rabka (1995, 1998, 2000)
*Opole Puppet Theatre, Opole (1997)
*Actor And Puppet Theatre, Łomża (1999, 2008)
*Conieco Puppet Theatre, Białystok (2001, 2004)
*Tecza Puppet Theatre, Słupsk (2002)
*Animation Theatre, Poznań (2003)
*Maska Theatre, Rzeszów (2006)
*K3 Theatre, Białystok (2007)

Romania
*Puppet Theatre "Colibri", Craiova (1994, 2003, 2004, 2006)
*National Theatre Craiova (2006)
*"Tândărica" Puppet Theatre, Bucharest (1995, 1996)
*Ariel Theatre, Târgu Mures (1997)
*Gong Theatre, Sibiu (1999)
*.“Vasilache” Puppet Theatre, Botoşani (2001)
*Csiky Gergely State Theatre, Timişoara (2002)
*Baia Mare Puppet Theatre, Baia Mare (2005)
*Puck Puppet Theatre, Cluj-Napoca (2007)
*Arlechino Children’s Theater, Braşov (2008)

Russia
*"N.P. Akimov" State Academic Comedy Theatre, Saint Petersburg (1994)
*"V. F. Kommissarzhevskaya" Drama Theatre, St. Petersburg (1995)
*Saint-Petersburg’S State Children’S Drama Theatre “On The Neva”, Saint Petersburg (1996, 1999)
*"Kukolny Dom" ("Puppets' Home") Puppet Theatre, Saint Petersburg (2004)
*St. Petersburg "Sobachka" ("Little Stray Dog") Puppet Theatre, St. Petersburg (2006)
*Astrahan State Puppet Theatre, Astrahan (2000)
*"Kolobok" ("Little Round Bun") Puppet Theatre, Volgograd (2001, 2002)
*Murmansk Regional Puppet Theatre, Murmansk (2003)
*Puppet Theatre „Puppets And People“, Moscow (2005)
*Kamchatka Regional Puppet Theatre, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (2007)
*The Omsk State Theatre of Puppet, Actor and Mask “Arlekin”, Omsk (2008)
*Saint-Petersburg State Theatre of Musical Comedy, Saint Petersburg (2008)

Serbia
* [http://www.deposi.co.yu/ ("Kurir Jovica") Children's Theatre] , Subotica (1994 X 2, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
* [http://www.tosajovanovic.org.yu/ "Toša Jovanovic" National Theatre] , Zrenjanin (1994, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008)
* [http://www.pozoristemladih.co.yu/ Youth Theatre] , Novi Sad (1994, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008)
* [http://www.snp.org.yu/ Serbian National Theatre] , Novi Sad (2006)
* [http://www.ptpinokio.com/ "Pinokio" Puppet Theatre] , Zemun (1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008)
* [http://www.malopozoriste.co.yu/ Little Theatre “Duško Radovic“] , Belgrade (1995, 2004, 2005)
* [http://www.buha-theater.com/ Boško Buha Theatre] , Belgrade (1997, 2004, 2005)
* [http://www.pozoristancepuz.com/ Little Theatre “Puž”] , Belgrade (2004)
* [http://solair.eunet.yu/~pepino/ Puppet Theatre Pepino] , Niš (2002)
* [http://www.nispuppets.org.yu/ Niš Puppet Theatre] , Niš (1994, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008)

Slovakia
*The Puppet Theatre, Nitra (1994, 2001)
*Old Theatre, Nitra (2005)
*Trnava Theatre, Trnava (1995)
*Bratislava Puppet Theatre, Bratislava (1996, 2003, 2006, 2008)
*Piki Theatre, Pezinok (1997)
*Theatre In A Suitcase, Košice (1999)
*Puppet Theatre, Košice (2000)
*Maškrta (Titbit) Theatre, Košice (2002, 2004)
*The Puppet Theatre At The Crossroads, Banska Bystrica (2007)

Slovenia
*Woodshed Puppet Studio, Ljubljana (2001)
*Mini Theatre, Ljubljana (2002, 2004)
*Puppet Theatre, Maribor (2003)
*Konj Puppet Theatre, Ljubljana (2007)
*Matita Theatre, Koper (2008)

Spain
*Puppet Theatre “El Retablo”, Madrid (2006)
*Fernan Cardama's Company, Alcala la Real, Andalucia (2007)

Sweden
*Spektaklet Theatre, Uppsala (2002)
*Staffan Björklund's Theatre, Kävlinge (2007)

Switzerland
*Pannalal's Puppets, Vessey / Geneve (1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003)

Turkey
*Traditional Turkish Shadow Puppet Theatre „Karagoz”, Bursa (2003)
*Istanbul Shadow Theatre, Istanbul (2006)

Ukraine
*Kiev State Young Spectator’S Theatre “On Lipki”, Kiev (2000)
*Transcarpathian Regional Puppet Theatre, Uzhgorod (2002, 2003)
*Uzhgorod Puppet Theatre, Uzhgorod (2005)
*Rovno Regional Puppet Theatre, Rovno (2004)
*Puppet Theatre Donetsk (2006)
*Poltava Regional Puppet Theatre, Poltava (2007)

United Kingdom
*Traditional English Theatre “Mr Punch”, Konrad Fredericks, London (2002, 2003)

United States
*Jim Gamble Puppet Productions, Los Angeles (2000, 2003, 2005)
*Masque Theater, Bethlehem, Connecticut (2006)
*Drama Of Works, Brooklyn, New York City (2007)

Uzbekistan
*Bukhara State Puppet Theatre, Bukhara (2007)

Awards made

Festival Grand Prix

*1994 - Russia. Academic Theatre of Comedy “N.P. Akimov” - St. Petersburg "The Humpbacked Horse". Director: I. M. Makarov
*1995 - Slovakia. Trnava Theatre, Trnava. "Winter Tale". Director: Ladislav Kocan
*1996 - Slovakia. State Puppet Theatre, Bratislava. "Love Potion". Director: Jozef Bednarik
*1997 - Hungary. Budapest Puppet Theatre, Budapest. "Petrushka". Director: Szonyi Kato
*1998 - Yugoslavia. The Puppet Theatre “Pinokio” - Zemun. "The Story of a Horse". Director: Živomir Jokovic
*1999 - Belarus. Belarusian Theatre “Lialka” - Vitebsk. "The Lost Soul, or Torment of a Sinner". Director: Oleg Zhugzhda
*2000 - Macedonia. Children and Youth Theatre – Skopje. "Set, Set (Bright Sun)". Director: Bonjo Lungov
*2001 - Bulgaria. State Puppet Theatre – Vidin. "Petrushka". Director: Jana Cankova
*2002 - Germany. Fairy Tale Theatre – Hamburg. "The Queen of Colours". Director: Mark Lovic
*2003 - Slovakia. Bratislava Puppet Theatre – Bratislava. "The Nutcracker". Director: Jozef Bednarik
*2004 - Hungary. The Puppet Theatre “Ciroka” - Kecskemet. "Shadows". Director: Laszlo Rumi
*2005 - Serbia and Montenegro. Children's Theatre – Subotica. "The Poor Bootmaker and the Wind King". Director: Hernyak Gyorgy
*2006 - Estonia. State Puppet Theatre – Tallinn. "Troll-Boy". Director: Finn Poulsen
*2007 - Austria. MOKI - Mobile Theatre for Children – Vienna. "Cinderella". Director: Jakub Krofta
*2008 - Estonia. Estonian State Puppet Theatre - Tallinn. "Gamblers". Director: Yevgeny Ibragimov

"Little Prince" Award

The 7th Festival 2000
* Henryk Jurkowski – Poland
* Srboljub Lule Stankovic – Yugoslavia (Serbia)

The 8th Festival 2001
* Margareta Niculescu – Romania
* Milenko Misailovic – Yugoslavia (Serbia)

The 9th Festival 2002
* Josef Krofta – Czech Republic
* Hártig Sándor – Yugoslavia (Serbia)

The 10th Festival 2003
* Albrecht Roser – Germany
* Slobodan Markovic – Serbia And Montenegro

The 11th Festival 2004
* Radoslav Lazic – Serbia And Montenegro
* Meczner János – Hungary

The 12th Festival 2005
* Atanas Ilkov – Bulgaria
* Milena Jeftic Niceva Kostic - Serbia And Montenegro
* Živomir Jokovic - Serbia And Montenegro

The 13th Festival 2006
* Ljubivoje Ršumovic - Serbia And Montenegro
* Edi Majaron - Slovenia

The 14th Festival 2007
* Branko Milicevic - Serbia
* Viktor Klimchuk - Belarus
* Kemény Henrik - Hungary

The 15th Festival 2008
* Ripcó László - Serbia
* Jim Gamble - USA

Quotes

“It has been written about BITEF (Belgrade International Theatre Festival) in an Polish Encyclopaedia that the repertoire of this international Festival actually represents history of the world theatre of the second half of the 20th century. The same can be said about Subotica International Festival of Children’s Theaters. Its fourteen seasons at the same time represent history of the world puppet theatre for children.” Jovan Cirilov, Festival Council President

“As a scientist and critic involved in activities of children's theatres all around the world I will take this opportunity to point out that the International Festival of Children's Theatres from Subotica has gained respect in the whole world, thanks to high artistic ranges, excellent organization and establishing of a forum for exchange of experiences in spirit of amicable cooperation...” Professor Henryk Jurkowski

[www.lutfestsubotica.net]

ee also

*ASSITEJ
*Serbian culture

External links

* [http://www.lutfestsubotica.net/ Official Site]
* [http://www.kultura.sr.gov.yu/ Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia]
* [http://www.psok.org.yu/en/ Provincial Department of Education and Culture]
* [http://www.subotica.org.yu/ Official Site of the Municipality of Subotica]
* [http://www.openunsubotica.co.yu/ The Open University]
* [http://www.deposi.co.yu/ Children's Theatre]
* [http://www.unima.org/ UNIMA]
* [http://www.assitej.org/ ASSITEJ]

References