SERBIA'S OLDEST ACTING ACTRESS, MIRA BANJAC, TURNS 97

BELGRADE, NOVEMBER 4 /SRNA/ – One of the most prominent Serbian and Yugoslav theatre, film and television actresses, and Serbia's oldest active actress, Mira Banjac, turned 97 today, whose career, spanning more than seven decades, includes numerous roles in theatre, film and television.

Born on November 4, 1929, in Erdevik, Mirjana Mira Banjac has left an indelible mark on the history of Serbian and Yugoslav theatre, film and television.

Over the course of her decades-long career, she has delivered numerous acclaimed performances, received many awards and collaborated with some of the most prominent figures in the domestic film industry.

Audiences remember her for numerous film and television productions, including Balkan Spy, The Deceptive Summer of '68, Masters, Masters, The Beauty of Vice and many other roles that have become part of the cultural heritage of the region.

Throughout her career, she has portrayed a wide range of characters and has been particularly recognized for her performances as ordinary women, to whom she brought a distinctive comic and dramatic dimension.

She began her acting career in theatres in Sremska Mitrovica and Banja Luka, before joining the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad. In 1970, she became a member of Belgrade's Atelje 212 Theatre.

A particularly important place in her career is held by the television series Marija, filmed in 1977, in which she played the leading role of a woman who escapes from a concentration camp during the Second World War and embarks on a dangerous journey home.

Banjac once said that her involvement in the series Marija represented a turning point in her life, as it enabled her to overcome serious financial difficulties and repay her debts.

Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards, including Sterija Awards, Golden Arenas, the Žanka Stokić Award, the Pavle Vuisić Award and, most notably, the Dobričin Prsten Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Mira Banjac is one of the artists whose acting career has left a lasting impression on several generations of viewers and made a significant contribution to the development of Serbian and Yugoslav theatre, film and television.