About
Filip Grujić (1995) is a writer, playwright and film director from Belgrade, where he teaches at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts. He is the author of the bestselling novel And Then, All Over Again (Booka, 2023), as well as The Tenant (LOM, 2020) and The Sinful Days of Cocky Johnny (Samizdat, 2017). His plays have earned him the Mihiz Award and two Sterija Awards and have been translated, performed and studied internationally. His feature-length documentary Yugo Goes to America is currently in post-production.
©Aleksa Borković
Education
MA in Dramaturgy | Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDU), University of Arts, Belgrade 2019
BA in Dramaturgy | Faculty of Dramatic Arts (FDU), University of Arts, Belgrade 2018
Awards & Honors
2025: Winner of the Sterija Award for Best Play for Jezik kopačke
2023: Shortlisted for the NIN Award (Novel of the Year) for I onda opet, iz početka.
2020: Winner of the Mihiz Award for Dramatic Creativity (Overall Achievement)
2020: Shortlisted for the European Union Prize for Literature for Podstanar
2020: Shortlisted for the NIN Award for Podstanar
2019: Winner of the Sterija Award for Best New Domestic Play for Ne pre 4:30 niti posle 5:00
2019: Winner of the Slobodan Selenić Award for Best Graduation Play
Books (Novels)
2023: I onda opet, iz početka (And Then, All Over Again)
Publisher: Booka
Details: Bestseller (4 editions). A novel dissecting the transition from youth to adulthood
2020: Podstanar (The Tenant)
Publisher: LOM
Details: A novel about the transient nature of modern life. Translated into Bulgarian and Macedonian
2017: Bludni dani kuratog Džonija (The Sinful Days of Cocky Johnny)
Publisher: Samizdat B92
Details: Debut novel, later adapted into a theatre play
Theatre (Playwright & Dramaturg)
2024: Jezik kopačke (The Football Boot Tongue)
Role: Co-Writer (with Ivan Ergić).
Production: ZKM (Zagreb Youth Theatre) & Bitef Festival. Directed by Borut Šeparović.
2021: Bludni dani kuratog Džonija
Role: Original Author (Novel adapted for stage).
Production: Újvidéki Színház / Sterijino Pozorje. Directed by Jovana Tomić.
2020: Velika depresija (The Great Depression)
Role: Playwright.
Production: Serbian National Theatre (SNP). Based on his text Vilica Ebena Bajersa.
2019: Pred svitanje (Before Dawn / Not Before 4:30 Nor After 5:00)
Role: Playwright.
Production: Atelje 212. Directed by Anđelka Nikolić.
2018: Tamo gde pevaju (Where They Sing)
Role: Playwright
Production: FDU & FIST Festival
Film (Screenplay & Directing)
Yugo Goes to America (Documentary, In Post-Production)
Role: Writer & Director
Details: Feature-length documentary following a journey across the US in a Yugo car. Supported by Eurimages and Film Center Serbia, World premiere at CPH:DOX 2026 in Copenhagen
Glad (Hunger) (Short Film)
Role: Screenwriter
Details: Directed by Tamara Todorović. Awarded Best Screenplay at SEECS Bucharest
Talks, Lectures & Media
Guest Lecturer: Sorbonne University (Paris, France).
Context: His play Pred svitanje was translated into French (Avant l’aube) and studied within the curriculum
Guest Lecturer: Artez (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Radio Host & Author: Čudna šuma (Strange Forest).
Platform: Radio Beograd 2.
Details: A weekly show hosting conversations with artists, writers, and philosophers.
Listen: Link to Episodes
Literary Resident: Reading Balkans Program (2021)
Awards
Filip received the Mihiz Award for playwriting in 2020 and two Sterija Awards for the play "not before 4:30 nor after 5:00" (translated to French by the Maison Antoine Vitez Foundation and was studied at Sorbonne University) and "Football Boot Tongue".
He is also the author of the play “The Jaw of Eben Byers”. The play was also produced in Macedonia and translated into English.
His feature-length documentary film “Yugo Goes to America”, which he wrote and directed, is currently in post production.
Novels
I onda opet, iz početka” (And Then, All Over Again)
(Booka, 2023, bestseller in 2024) - 4 editions, more than 6000 copies sold, shortlisted for the NIN Award, excerpts translated into 10 languages as part of the CELA program.
“Podstanar” (The Tennant)
(LOM, 2020, three editions) – shortlisted for the European Union Prize for Literature & for the NIN Award; translated into Bulgarian and Macedonian, with excerpts in English for the Reading Balkans program.
“Bludni dani kuratog Džonija” (The Sinful Days of Cocky Johnny)
(Samizdat, 2017, two editions) – adapted into a theatre performance.