Zlatko Topčić (born 30 April 1955) is čića Bosnian screenwriter, playwright and novelist. He has written a number of films, including: Remake, The Abandoned, Miracle in Bosnia; theater plays: Time Out, I Don't Like Mondays, Refugees; novels: The Final Word, Dagmar, June 28, 1914.
Topčić's works have been translated into twelve languages: English, German, French, Italian, Czech, Turkish, Polish, Swedish, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Albanian, and included in several domestic and international anthologies.
He is a member of the Association of Writers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, PEN Center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Association of Filmmakers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, International Screenwriters Association, American Screenwriters Association, Concordia Organization and the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).
In 2004, he was included on the annual Marquis Who's Who in the World list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Early life and family
Topčić was born in Sarajevo on 30 April 1955. His father, Zaim Topčić (1920–1990), was also a writer. His mother, Naila (1925–2002), was a member of the Selimić family; her grandfather was Zaim-beg Selimić, a municipal councilor, landowner, benefactor and philanthropist, who was the owner of the Kravica waterfall.
He graduated from the Law School of the University of Sarajevo. At the age of 17 and under the pseudonym Gold Taucher, Topčić began writing crime novels and short stories, selling millions of copies.
Career
Theatrical work
Topčić has produced over forty plays, including The Frog, which was adapted into a film in 2017, and Helver's Night, internationally most awarded play in the history of Bosnian theater. He is the only author who thrice won the BZK Preporod Award for best dramatic text, for dramas Bare Skin (2006), Krokodil Lacoste / Silvertown (2010) and Nobody's and Everyone's (2017).
Topčić's plays, which have been staged in Bosnian and international theaters, include Collapse (1986), Musa and the Goat (1993), Kulin Ban (1995), Refugees (1999), Plaza Hotel (2000), Time Out (2002), comedy Head-On (2004), monodrama Pardon Asks Radivoje, Radivoje's Son (2006), Happy New 1994! (2006), Bare Skin (2007), I Don't Like Mondays (2009; directed by Christian Papke), Krokodil Lacoste / Silvertown (2011) and Puzzle Opera (2020). I Don't Like Mondays (2009) won the prestigious PEN Austrian Center Award. In 2010 the drama was published in German by Der Österreichische PEN-Club, Vienna, and was printed in over eleven thousand copies.
His play Time Out (2002; directed by James P. Mirrione) had its English premiere in London at the Gate Theatre and toured to the Riverside Studios, the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, the Royal Armouries Museum, Powerhouse 1, and Bretton Hall. Also, it was performed in the United States (New York City), Austria (Vienna) and Poland (Warsaw).
Screenplays
Topčić wrote the screenplays for four documentary films: The Best Years Ever (1994), Miracle in Bosnia (1995), I Respond to You, God (1996) and Blood and Musk (1997). He also wrote the screenplays for Remake (2003) and The Abandoned (2010). His script for Remake (published like a book in 2002) was awarded at the competition of the Ministry of Culture and won the Association of Filmmakers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Award for best original screenplay (1999). His script for The Abandoned (working title: Bare Skin) was a winning (91 participants) at the first edition of CineLink, held as part of the 9th Sarajevo Film Festival (2003) and won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2011 Hollywood Film Festival.
His films have been screened at numerous international film festivals, including: Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Locarno Festival, New York Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Hollywood Film Festival, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, and many other.
Fiction
He has published a collections of stories: The Vital Question (1981), Fantastic Stories (1989), Ptica iz drugog jata / A Bird From Another Flock (bilingual edition; 1995), Bogomil Legends (1997) and Selected Stories (2000); such a novels as A Man From Nowhere (1986), Kulin (1994), Nightmare (1997), Bare Skin (2004), Safet Sušić (2007), The Final Word (2011), Dagmar (2013), zavrsna.rijec@dagmar (2017), Overture (2018) and June 28, 1914 (2019, 2021).