Abdulah Sidran

Abdulah Sidran (born 2 October 1944), often referred to by his hypocoristic nickname Avdo, is a Bosnian poet and screenwriter.[1][2] He is best known for writing the poetry book Sarajevski Tabut and the scripts for When Father Was Away on Business and Do You Remember Dolly Bell?.[3]

Abdulah Sidran
Born	(1944-10-02) 2 October 1944 Sarajevo, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Occupation	Poet and screenwriter
Genre	poetry, prose, script

Early life and family

Abdulah Sidran, the second of four children, was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 2 October 1944, although several sources inaccurately give his date of birth as 29 September 1944. His parents were Muslims and ethnic Bosniaks; father Mehmed (1915–1965) was born in Kiseljak and worked as a locksmith at a railway workshop, while his mother Behija (née Jukić) was a housewife.[4][5][6] Sidran has three siblings Ekrem (born 1942; deceased), Nedim (born 4 February 1947) and Edina (born 1953).[7] He was named after his paternal uncle, a typographer and compositor, who perished in 1943 at the Jasenovac concentration camp. The Sidran family roots trace back to the hamlet Biograd near Nevesinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Abdulah's paternal grandfather Hasan Sidran relocated to Sarajevo from Biograd in 1903.[8]

Personal life

After spending most of his life in Sarajevo, Sidran lived in Goražde before moving to a small village near Tešanj where he currently lives.[9]

In 2019 Abdulah Sidran, together with some thirty world intellectuals met with French President Emmanuel Macron. A meeting of world intellectuals with the president of France was initiated by the French philosopher, writer and journalist Bernard-Henri Levy.[10]

Works

His major works include Šahbaza, Bone and Meat, The Sarajevo Tomb (Sarajevski tabut),[11] Why is Venice Sinking (Zašto tone Venecija),[12] several books of poetry, and screenplays for movies from the former Yugoslavia, such as When Father Was Away on Business and Do You Remember Dolly Bell?, directed by Emir Kusturica,[13] and Kuduz, directed by Ademir Kenović.[14]

References

1. Teeuwen, Mariken (2002). Harmony and the music of the spheres: the ars musica in ninth-century commentaries on Martianus Capella. Brill. p. 28. ISBN 978-90-04-12525-4.
2. Gocić, Goran (2001). Notes from the underground: the cinema of Emir Kusturica. Wallflower Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-903364-14-7.
3. "Sve sam znao kad sam bio mlad". Blic. 10 August 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
4. "Godina u kojoj je zapečaćena sudbina braće Sidran". Lupiga. 15 January 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
5. "Pokatkad mi se činilo da Kusturica nije ni pročitao to što sam mu nudio". Sutra. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
6. "Potraga za istinom o ocu u autobiografskom vodiču kroz vlastitu umjetnost". Jutarnji. 2 December 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
7. "U njegovoj duši nikad nije prestao posmrtni plač". Lupiga. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
8. "Kako su nastala sjećanja na Doli Bel". Nezavisne. 2 December 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
9. Video on YouTube
10. "BiH's Academician Abdulah Sidran met with French President Emmanuel Macron". Sarajevo Times. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
11. Segel, Harold B. (2008). The Columbia literary history of Eastern Europe since 1945. Columbia University Press. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-231-13306-7.
12. Agee, Chris (1998). Scar on the stone: contemporary poetry from Bosnia. Bloodaxe Books. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-85224-415-6.
13. Goulding, Daniel J. (1989). Post new wave cinema in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe. Indiana University Press. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-253-34559-2.
14. Chansel, Dominique (2001). Europe on-screen: cinema and the teaching of history. Council of Europe. p. 69. ISBN 978-92-871-4531-4.

External links

• Abdulah Sidran on IMDb