Lazar Ristovski

Lazar "Laza" Ristovski (, born 26 October 1952) is a Serbian former actor, director, producer and writer. He has appeared on stage about 4,000 times, and starred in over 90 films and 30 TV series, mostly in lead roles. He briefly served as a member of the National Assembly from 1 August 2022 until his resignation on 9 August 2022.

Biography He was born on 26 October 1952, in Ravno Selo village, part of Vrbas, SR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia (modern Serbia), into a family of Yugoslav colonists, his father being born in Macedonia and was from Gugjakovo and his mother in Montenegro. He graduated from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts of the University of Belgrade as an actor.

In 1999, The White Suit an auteur film by Ristovski (director, writer, lead actor, and producer) was at the Cannes Film Festival in the Critics Week program. The White Suit was the Serbian entry for the 72nd Academy Awards.

Lazar Ristovski is the sole owner of Zillion Film Company

In 2006, he made a small appearance in the James Bond film Casino Royale. He played Caruso in the 2004 movie King of Thieves. He starred as Đorđe in the award-winning 2009 film St. George Shoots the Dragon.

Ristovski has achieved his "Hollywood dream" by acting in the indie movie Along the Roadside. He most recently played Russian president-elect and former Army General Arkady Fedorov in Pierce Brosnan's movie The November Man which came out in 2014.

He played in movies outside of Serbia: The Second Wife and Auf kurze Distanz.

In 2016, he starred in and produced the film Train Driver's Diary which was the Serbian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards. The film won three awards at the 2017 Prague Independent Film Festival – the Grand Prix, Best Actor (Lazar Ristovski), and Best Feature Film.

Ristovski is the organizer of the Ravno Selo Film Festival which was held for the first time in June 2017.

He is also the author of four books; Belo odelo (The White Suit), Kako sam dobio Oskara (How I Got an Oscar), Jednostavne priče (Simple Stories) and Ulična akademija (Street Academy).

Selected filmography Year Title Role 1977 Hajka Ivan 1978 Kvar psihijatar Savić 1980 Svetozar Marković Svetozar Marković 1983 Igmanski marš Josip Broz Tito 1984 Zadarski memento Krševan Stipčević 1985 Jazol Nikola 1988 The Way Steel Was Tempered Leo The Bizarre Country Putnik 1990 Granica Topić Hajde da se volimo 3 Miloje 1991 The Original of the Forgery Pavle 1992 Tito and Me Raja 1993 Vizantijsko plavo Aranđel 1995 Underground Crni (Blacky) / Actor playing Blacky 1997 Rage Kovač Balkanska pravila Matori 1998 Cabaret Balkan The Boxer Who Takes the Train The Second Wife Fosco Goodbye, 20th Century! Santa Claus 1999 Belo odelo Savo / Vuko Tiodorović 2001 Boomerang Bobi 2003 Mali svet Stariji vodnik Ras 2004 King of Thieves Caruso Falling in the Paradise Ljubiša Kundačina Midwinter Night's Dream Lazar 2005 Dobro uštimani mrtvaci Ruždija Kučuk 2006 Krojačeva tajna Pukovnik Tomorrow Morning Zdravko Optimisti Professor Gavrilo / Simon / Pokojni Ratomir / Gazda Pera / Aleksa Pantić Casino Royale Kaminofsky 2007 S. O. S. – Spasite nase duše Gvozden 2008 Sonetàula Egidio Malune 2009 St. George Shoots the Dragon Đorđe žandar Đavolja varoš Rajko Zorić Honeymoons Verin stric 2011 Beli lavovi Dile 2013 The Priest's Children Biskup Along the Roadside Milutin 2014 The November Man Arkady Federov 2015 We Will Be the World Champions Josip Broz Tito Za kralja i otadžbinu 2016 On the Other Side Žarko Train Driver's Diary Ilija 2018 King Peter of Serbia King Peter I The Man Who Bought the Moon 2019 King Peter of Serbia King Peter I Neverending Past Covek koji trazi mrtvog sina Leeches Stjepan Stroh 2021 Dream Team Ilija Ika Srdić 2023 Mind Tunnel Miodrag Malić 2024 Dream Team 2 Ilija Ika Srdić Saligia Horovođa