Photo: Milutin Zdravković

Dejan Dabić was born in 1970.

He has been the editor of the Film Program, formerly the Cultural Center in Niš, now the Niš Cultural Center, since 1994.

Since 1997 he has been one of the main organisers of the Niš Performing Arts Festival: main program and accompanying events selector, editor of festival catalogues and newsletters, moderator of press conferences. He is a member of the Directorate, and currently of the Festival Council. As a selector, artistic director or jury member, he has collaborated and collaborates with festivals in Serbia and Europe: Euro-In (Novi Sad), Kraf (Kragujevac), Profifest (Prokuplje), Short Form (Gornji Milanovac) ), Mostar Film Festival – Film Acting Festival (Mostar / Federation / B&H), The First Frame (East Sarajevo / Republika Srpska / B&H), Kinenova (Skopje / North Macedonia), History Film Festival (Rijeka / Republic of Croatia), Viva Film Festival (Sarajevo / Federation / B&H), The Golden Beggar (Kosice / Republic of Slovakia) …

He edited the Film Program on Niš City Television (NTV). He has published film reviews in newspapers and magazines: YUfilm danas, NoviFilmograf, NIN (Belgrade), Narodne novine, Gradina, Presing (Niš), and is the originator and one of the editors of the Niš based Filaž film magazine, the only printed film magazine in Serbia besides Kinoteka. 

He is the author of the books Prohujalo (sa) etrom and Nebo iznad celuloida, and he co-authored the books Vodič kroz 40 godina Festivala glumačkih ostvarenja u Nišu, Vodič kroz 50 godina Festivala glumačkih ostvarenja u Nišu and Na talasima animacije (with colleagues from the SCF 98 Cartoon Studio, Niš). He is featured in the collections of texts Novi kadrovi (Clio) and Svetlo sa tvrđave (YUfilm Today), as well as in the books by Božidar Zečević: Velimir Bata Živojinović (1994) and Veliki filmski znak (2019).

As part of the Cartoon Studio `98, as a screenwriter and director, he has produced some twenty short animated works awarded at domestic and international festivals: in 2002, Krletka won the YU ASIFE award at the March Festival while Odraz, Predvodnik, Brbljiva kornjača, Veština čitanja and Pasje doba were included in the Martovski Festival official competition program:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3b0I6nK90lxpShJOJoqu1w

Since 2004, he has been one of the mentors of animated workshops within SCF 98, and since 2007 he is one of the founders of the International Colony of Animated Film for children and adolescents Pantelej in Niš, hosted by the most important animators from Serbia, the region and the world.

He has written and directed the documentary Pioniri niškog filma and the documentary feature film Upoznajte Toma Laha.

As a member of the national section of the International Federation of Film Critics – FIPRESCI Srbija, he chaired the critic’s jury of the European Film Festival in Palić, the Festival Novi Sad Arena and the Martovski Festival.

http://www.sfipresci.org/ kratki_metar08_D.Dabic.htm

During 2019 he was a jury member at the SOFEST Film Festival in Sopot and a member of the committee for the feature film and short documentary of the Serbian Film Center.

He is a member of the International Animation Association – ASIFA.

In November 2019, the Belgrade City Assembly elected him the Artistic Director of the Martovski Festival – Belgrade Documentary and Short Film Festival.