Branko Đurić

Branko Đurić
Đurić performing with Bombaj Štampa in Sarajevo, September 2011
Born	(1962-05-28) 28 May 1962 Sarajevo, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
Nationality	Bosnian
Other names	Đuro
Occupations	Actor film director musician
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Nevena Đurić (divorced) Tanja Ribič ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	3
Musical career
Genres	Rock progressive rock psychedelic rock experimental
Instruments	Guitar vocals
Labels	Diskoton Dallas

Branko Đurić (Cyrillic: Бранко Ђурић; born 28 May 1962), commonly known by his nickname Đuro (Cyrillic: Ђуро), is a Bosnian^[1] actor, comedian, film director and musician who lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Born and raised in Sarajevo, Đurić rose to prominence in Yugoslavia during the 1980s through his appearance on the comedy series Top lista nadrealista. He was also one of the founding members of the band SCH and the frontman of the award-winning Sarajevo rock band Bombaj Štampa.^[2] In August 1992, several months into the Bosnian War, he moved to Slovenia, where he has resided since.

He starred in the Academy Award-winning film No Man's Land and held supporting roles in numerous high-profile films, including The Smell of Quinces, Time of the Gypsies, Kuduz, Bal-Can-Can, In the Land of Blood and Honey and See You in Montevideo. He also created the comedy series Naša mala klinika, which spawned a franchise with Slovenian, Croatian, and Serbian adaptations.

Branko Đurić was born on May 28, 1962, to a Serb father from Kruševac and a Bosniak mother, Fadila.^[3] When he was one year old, his father died of cancer.^[4]

At the age of fourteen, his widowed mother married painter Branislav "Branko" Popovac, who encouraged Đurić to pursue his artistic talents.^[5]

Đurić completed his secondary education at the First Sarajevo Gymnasium in 1980. In 1981, he applied to the Academy of Performing Arts (ASU), a newly established faculty within the University of Sarajevo, but was rejected. Following the rejection, he enrolled in journalism studies at the University of Sarajevo's Faculty of Political Sciences.

While working as an extra in various TV Sarajevo productions, Ðurić continued applying to ASU and, after two more rejections in 1982 and 1983, was accepted on his fourth application in 1984, after which he quit his journalism studies.

In April 1984, Đurić became involved with Top lista nadrealista, TV Sarajevo's newly-launched primetime television show overlapping folk music with sketch comedy. Made by a group of Sarajevo youths from the New Primitivism sub-cultural milieu, the sketches were framed as comedy fillers in-between folk music performances by top local folk music stars. Before Top lista nadrealista, the group had been putting out a 15-minute weekly radio segment airing as part of the Saturday morning Primus program on Radio Sarajevo's channel two.

While filming Top lista nadrealista, Đurić also starred in a music video for Zabranjeno Pušenje's song "Neću da budem Švabo u dotiranom filmu" from their debut album. The video was produced by TV Sarajevo.^[6] At the video shoot, Đurić confided to the director, Ademir Kenović, about his challenges getting accepted at the ASU. Kenović connected Đurić with film director Vuk Janić to help him prepare material for another audition, which resulted in Đurić's acceptance into ASU in 1984.

From June 1984, episodes of Top lista nadrealista aired on TV Sarajevo's second channel. Reception was initially tepid but warmed overtime. Đurić played multiple characters, including a jumpy TV station security guard with the catchphrase "Ćega, ba". The show's popularity, and focus on folk music, led to the cast receiving offers from local promoters and managers, including Rizo Rondić, to perform sketch comedy at live shows and tours across Bosnia.

Đurić and colleague Zenit Đozić accepted many of the offers throughout 1984, performing as comic relief^[7] on folk music tours including "Udri kapom o ledinu", "Zasviraj i za pojas zadjeni" and "Prođoh Bosnu pjevajući".^[8]

In 1984 and 1985, Đurić participated in Audicija, a stage comedic production that began as an academic project consisting of ASU students creating, developing, and performing characters based on various individuals applying to the academy. Conceptualized as a series of one-on-one auditions between each applicant and a professor, with students drawing upon their own auditioning experiences, the production gained prominence after one of its stage shows was filmed and broadcast on TV Sarajevo's Noćni program.^[9] Đurić's streetwise Sarajevan, Solomon Bičakćić, performed alongside fellow academy students: Željko Ninčić; Admir Glamočak; Emir Hadžihafizbegović; Haris Burina; Saša Petrović; Jasmin Geljo; Željko Kecojević; Senad Bašić; and Mladen Nelević. Despite largely negative critical reception, Đurić performed 150 stagings of the show across Yugoslavia before quitting^[9], and ASU students continued to perform the show across the country.

In 1985, Ðurić continued his comedic everyman persona, starring in a series of television commercials for the local tourist board in Sarajevo, including promoting tourism on Jahorina and Bjelašnica mountains around the city, with a catchphrase recycled from Audicija; "Joj razlike, drastićne"; delivered in a heavy Sarajevan accent.^[9][10][11] At first, the commercials—directed by Đurić's old friend and professional collaborator Ademir Kenović and produced by Ismet "Nuno" Arnautalić with Goran Bregović providing the music—aired somewhat infrequently.^[9] However, they would soon gain further significance due to their jingle-like, Bregović-composed tune (featuring vocals by Ðurić) getting made into a full-length track called "Hajdemo u planine" ('Let's Go to the Mountains') on Bijelo Dugme's (Bregović's band) next studio album Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo released in November 1986, this time sung by the band's vocalist Alen Islamović.^[12] With the song in heavy radio rotation and the album selling well, the commercials also began airing a lot more frequently, leading to a surge of popularity for Đurić throughout late 1986 and early 1987.^[9] Due to Bregović's habit of reusing old material, the same tune would in 1992 was performed by Iggy Pop as "Get the Money" for the soundtrack of Arizona Dream.^[13]

Also in 1985, while still in the first year of his ASU studies, Ðurić was cast by Kenović for the leading role in the television drama Ovo malo duše. A rural coming-of-age story written by Ranko Božić, Đurić portrayed Ibrahim Halilović, a newly widowed father in a remote Bosnian village. The movie aired on TV Sarajevo in January 1987. Ovo malo duše led to further dramatic roles for Đurić, including in the series Znak (aired on TV Sarajevo) and the film Vanja (on TV Novi Sad).

Ðurić starred in television commercials for Dedo and Nana coffee, returning to a "good-natured, streetwise Sarajevo guy" persona.^[14]

Ðurić experienced a career breakthrough when Palm d'Or-winning director Emir Kusturica cast him in Dom za vešanje; Ðurić's first role in a feature film. As Kusturica's first feature film after his Palme d'Or-winning previous effort, the project received significant attention, as well as a screening at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. Though his part in the movie was minor; portraying a thug in Italy; Ðuric's performance was well-received.

By 1989, Ðurić was a sought-after actor all over Yugoslavia. He played a supporting role in Kuduz, Kenović's feature film debut. He appeared in Kako je propao rokenrol; a three-story ensemble film by recent Belgrade Faculty of Dramatic Arts graduates; as the male lead in the third story, opposite actress Vesna Trivalić, about a young couple preparing for the arrival of their first baby.

In 1989, the second series of Top lista nadrealista's aired, which was met with positive reception. Ðurić played different comedic characters each week, including the policeman Rade Pendrek, the cranky television viewer Reuf, highly strung news director Đuđi, and do-it-yourself 'Đurine kućne čarolije' segment host.

Ðurić fled Sarajevo in August 1992, four months after the beginning of its besiegement at the outbreak of the Bosnian War. He settled in Ljubljana.

He also works in Croatia, where he had a TV show Pet Minuta Slave (Five Minutes of Fame) on Nova TV, as well as the comedy series Naša mala klinika (Our Little Clinic), aired on POP TV and Nova TV.

In the mid-2000s, Ðurić starred in and directed the sitcom Brat bratu, the Slovenian version of Only Fools and Horses; it was cancelled after thirteen episodes due to poor viewership.

In February 2007, Ðurić has appeared on B92 television in Serbia in Ðurine žute minute short segments, a slightly different take on his "Ðurine kućne čarolije" sketch, which he performed on Top lista nadrealista. The segments, which had a commercial tie-in with Telekom Srbija's Žute strane (Yellow Pages), mostly received poor reviews and were quickly taken off the air.

In 2011, Ðurić played a Serbian soldier in the movie In the Land of Blood and Honey. This was Đurić's second movie about the Bosnian War, after No Man's Land.

Concurrent with his career in Yugoslav cinema and theatre, Đurić became involved in music starting in the early 1980s, when he formed a band, Ševe, with childhood friend Nedim Babović.

Đurić briefly joined the industrial rock band SCH in 1983 before joining Babović's band Bombaj Štampa. Despite sporadic activity, Bombaj Štampa released their eponymous debut album under Diskoton in 1987.

Ðurić reunited with Bombaj Štampa in December 2008 for a concert in Sarajevo alongside Nedim Babović, drummer Dragan Bajić, and bassist Ernie Mendillo. The band later released a new album in 2010.

On 25 July 2019, Đurić and Bombaj Štampa performed for two hours at the Zenica Summer Fest, including the debut of Čekić (a new song that was due for release later that year in September), as well as one opera.^[15]

Đurić married Slovenian actress and singer Tanja Ribič. ^[16] They have two daughters, Zala and Ela. From his first marriage, he has a son, Filip.

He resides in Ljubljana, where he leads a production company named Theatre 55.

• Bombaj Štampa (1987)
• Ja Mnogo Bolje Letim Sam (1990)
• Neka DJ Odmah Dole CJ (2010)

• Rene Bitorajac
• Danis Tanović

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Branko Đurić.

• Official site Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• Branko Đurić at IMDb