“An actor who has left a profound mark on European cinema”
i-FEST AWARD 2025
Lifetime Achievement
International Film Festival i-Fest
Palermo, Italy
“An actor who has left a profound mark on European cinema, capable of turning every role into a passage toward the complexity of the human soul and its contradictions. Lazar Ristovski, an actor, director, and producer of international renown-has moved through genres, eras, and cinematic languages with rare acting power, bringing to life characters that remain memorable not only for their stage presence but also for the emotional and moral depth they embody. From the major successes that brought him international recognition-above all Emir Kusturica’s “Underground”- to auteur films, theatre, and his own directorial work, Ristovski has forged a path in which the art of acting becomes a radical exploration of identity, history, and the wounds of the contemporary age. His work is a continual reflection on the power of gesture, voice, and gaze: on cinema’s ability to be both mirror and memory, a collective ritual and a personal confession. In every role, Ristovski carries with him an understanding of acting that unites instinct and discipline, experience and risk, tradition and reinvention. His stage presence-magnetic, restless, and profoundly human has contributed to redefining the Balkan cinematic imagination, demonstrating how pain, irony, nostalgia, and life vitality can coexist in a singular, powerful narrative vibration. His career bears witness to cinema as a medium of emotion, reflection, and universal dialogue. For these reasons, the i-FEST International Film Festival awards Lazar Ristovski the i-FEST Award 2025″
Biography
Lazar Ristovski is one of the most prominent Serbian actors. He has played in over 80 movies and directed 2.
Lazar Ristovski is the founder and CEO of the production house Zillion film.
With Lazar Ristovski in charge, Zillion film has produced and co-produced 27 feature-length films in twenty-seven years, the films that participated in all major world festivals. We have been in Kan, Berlin, Toronto, and won prestigious awards. Our movies have been sold around the world. Lazar Ristovski was the leading actor in Kusturica’s cult film Underground which won the Golden Palm.
As a producer, Lazar Ristovski has always been bold and innovative. He has always been open to new ideas and has given a chance to young directors. As an actor, he has an impressive biography and he is an acclaimed producer. His debut film, The White Suit was screened as part of The International Critics’ Week program in Cannes.
85
Movies and series roles
50
Theater roles
27
Films produced
2
Directed movie
5
Books written
Recent work
Psychological police thriller
Mind Tunnel Series
The tense psychological drama “Mind Tunnel”, based on police reports, newspaper reports and statements of police officers, shows the lives and work of police negotiators, which takes place on the arbitrarily chosen border between life and death. The team of negotiators is credited with saving more than two hundred human lives with a 100% success rate, yet is in constant danger of being shut down on the grounds that it costs too much and may never be used.
Comedy
Dream Team Series
DREAM TEAM is a 14 episode humorous TV Series intended for broadcasting on Sunday evenings. It’s partly created based on the unverified biography of Maradona from Zvezdara, the famous Inge, the TV Series Dream team, is the story of not that successful football player Ilija Ika Srdić and his team made of his 11 sons.
Each episode will tell one funny story from the life of this numerous football family, this unusual football team.
Biographical Historical Drama
The Name Of The People
Svetozar Miletic was a respected lawyer, a member of the Hungarian Parliament, and a lifelong fighter for the rights and independence of Serbs in Austro-Hungarian Vojvodina. After being repeatedly politically condemned, his fight is continued by his daughter, the first female journalist in Serbia – Milica Miletic and Jasa Tomic, Miletic’s successor in the Serbian People’s Free Party who will declare Vojvodina’s annexation to the Kingdom of Serbia in 1918. This is a story about them and their struggle.
Drama
A Blue Flower
On the eve of Mirjana’s 20th work anniversary, when she is to receive an award at a modest celebration, her interactions with her loved ones illustrate her whole life: the one behind her, the one she is living, and the one that is yet to come. A Blue Flower is a film about a woman, about a mother and a daughter, a film that evokes emotional associations and urges us to take a long look into ourselves.
Awards and Festivals
Blog
Recent work
Comedy
Dream Team Series
DREAM TEAM is a 14 episode humorous TV Series intended for broadcasting on Sunday evenings. It’s partly created based on the unverified biography of Maradona from Zvezdara, the famous Inge, the TV Series Dream team, is the story of not that successful football player Ilija Ika Srdić and his team made of his 11 sons.
Each episode will tell one funny story from the life of this numerous football family, this unusual football team.
Biographical Historical Drama
The Name Of The People
Svetozar Miletic was a respected lawyer, a member of the Hungarian Parliament, and a lifelong fighter for the rights and independence of Serbs in Austro-Hungarian Vojvodina. After being repeatedly politically condemned, his fight is continued by his daughter, the first female journalist in Serbia – Milica Miletic and Jasa Tomic, Miletic’s successor in the Serbian People’s Free Party who will declare Vojvodina’s annexation to the Kingdom of Serbia in 1918. This is a story about them and their struggle.
Drama
A Blue Flower
On the eve of Mirjana’s 20th work anniversary, when she is to receive an award at a modest celebration, her interactions with her loved ones illustrate her whole life: the one behind her, the one she is living, and the one that is yet to come. A Blue Flower is a film about a woman, about a mother and a daughter, a film that evokes emotional associations and urges us to take a long look into ourselves.