Slovene Author in Focus 2020: Vinko Möderndorfer
Biography
Vinko Möderndorfer Photo © Željko Stevanić
Vinko Möderndorfer was born in 1958 in Celju where he finished grammar school with a focus on teaching. He studied at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television where he studied theatre and radio direction and staged his graduation performance of Chekhov’s A Marriage Proposal, then graduated in 1993. After finishing, he studied film direction for two years.
He began working in Slovenia theatres. He became the artistic director of Glej Experimental Theatre, energising it with new life and allowing it to reach another creative pinnacle through continuous production and his awarded shows. He has continued his work as theatre director in other Slovenian theatres, directing over 100 performances.
He has published over 70 books of fiction, poetry and plays. He has written 42 play, half of which have been stages, which makes him one of the most performed Slovenian playwrights. His works have been featured in many national and international anthologies, primary and secondary school curricula, school-leaving exams, undergraduate and graduate theses, and academic research in Slovenia and elsewhere. Several works have been translated into foreign languages and performed on stages abroad and radio stations.
In addition to directing theatre play, he works as a film, television and radio director. He has written and directed four feature film that premiered at first-rate festivals and were screened at major film festivals. Three of his feature films have received 23 international and national prizes. In his works for television, sixteen in total, he has mainly directed films, plays and documentaries based on his own scripts. He has written over one hundred radio play, many of which have been awarded. Many of his radio plays have been screened abroad (in Germany, Italy and Croatia) and featured at major European radio festivals.
He has won oven 50 awards and nominations for his work in literature, performing arts, television and the radio, including the Prešeren Fund award, Župančič Award, Borštnik Award, Marjan Rožanc Award, several Grum Awards, Ježek Award and several prizes for the best work of comedy, Čaša Nesmrtnosti award, Desetnica, Večernica and others.