ZORAN DRAGELJ - BIO

Zoran Dragelj is an independent filmmaker/videographer and auteur from Vancouver, British Columbia.

            A graduate from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (ECIAD), Zoran holds a diploma in Fine Arts - Film & Video.  Following graduation, his work has focused primarily in the field of video production and motion picture.    

            This was the natural direction for his career to take as, during his time at Emily Carr, he worked extensively with both mediums, supplementing this experience with film and video courses as well as attending seminars to increase his working knowledge of the current trends in standard and technology.

            Even prior to his collegiate studies, Zoran had expressed an avid interest in film and video production.  During his formative years, while attending King George Secondary School he participated in the production of Coming Up, produced by Perry Long for the Ministry of Education.  In April of 1993, he directed and produced the short video Getta Life that won first Prize for the Lower Mainland Region of BC Dairyland's annual "It's Cool to be Yourself" contest.  In the same year he also participated in AILANTHUS, a project aimed at inner city youth where he found a mentor in local cinematographer Don Hunter from whom he received professional instruction.

            In 1994, Zoran received both the JOSEPH GOLLAND AWARD and MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP for "up-and-coming filmmaker".  May 1997 saw his selection as a finalist in the 1997 NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP CINEMATOGRAPHY TRAINING PROGRAM by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.  Several of Zoran's early works, including When You Get Old (1995), and Moving Plates (1996) have enjoyed international screenings at some of the world's top film festivals, and have been broadcasted on Production Parade (Rogers Community 4), and Videoconexions (Knowledge Network).  At his Emily Carr Institute graduation, Zoran premiered both Celluloid Souls (1997) and Simulacra (1998).

            A successful international film festival tour followed wherein Moving Plates garnered enough attention to warrant a worldwide distribution from a Los Angeles distributor.  ZedTV (CBC) also aired Moving Plates in 2004 and Fast in January 2006. In 1998, Zoran created ABORIGINAL KALEIDOSCOPE, a First Nations Film and Video Retrospective, which showed at several international film festivals.  He also taught a video class for youth aged 10 to 15 years at The Crofton House School, and organized a series of independent film and video shows called Exposure that are screened at Vancouver’s Pacific Cinemathèque every few months.  Zoran also developed an interactive CD ROM for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia’s (ICBC) Road Sense Program, and has directed UNICEF’s Halloween’s Partners for Safety PSA that was broadcasted locally on VTV (Vancouver Television) and UTV-Global.  As a business partner with Attention Media, a multi-media company, Zoran created venue presentation for VANOC 2010 as well for Kootenay Rockies Tourism. Zoran has been instrumental with the creation of Blitzcinema Entertainment, a digital media network that showcases digital media content in various genres including made-for-web original independent productions, comedy, animation, drama, and documentary. 

Most recently Zoran’s work was cited by Chris Gehman and Steve Reinke in their book The Sharpest Point: Animation at the End of Cinema.  In 2005 he presented his first major retrospective of his films and videos in Florence, Italy. In addition, some of his short films were recently exhibited in New York, Toronto, London, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, Montréal, Sao Paulo and Vancouver galleries. Zoran remains dedicated to the aspiration of leaving his mark in the world of motion pictures.