Serbian puppetry, film and television director. Srboljub Lule Stanković took German Studies at the University of Belgrade and then worked as a film assistant director beginning in 1948. Together with Gita Nušić Predić, he founded the Boško Buha Children’s Theatre where, between 1951 and 1961, he worked as a director and designer. From 1954, he directed puppet plays on other stages in Belgrade, Serbia and Yugoslavia and wrote articles on history, aesthetics and the praxis of puppetry. In 1963, he became a director at Belgrade Television where he directed extensively.

Stanković’s versions of puppet plays by Stevan Pešić are among the highest achievements of contemporary Serbian puppetry. He was the author and the director of Mitovi Balkana (The Myths of the Balkans) played at the Puppet Stage of the National Theatre Toša Jovanović in Zrenjanin in 1991. This work was recognized at many festivals as an example of total theatre and a valuable achievement of contemporary Serbian puppetry. It was declared the best Serbian puppet play of the 20th century. The work was based on actual Serbian folklore rituals and clarifies the director’s motto that “indestructible life (always) starts over”. Stanković thought that “surrealism is realism in the world of puppets”.

In 2000, Srboljub Lule Stanković received the prestigious Little Prince Lifetime Achievement Award of Subotica International Children’s Theatre Festival for his lifetime contribution to the development of culture and children’s theatre. He is generally considered the most significant director of modern puppetry of the 20th century and is known in his country and worldwide.

(See Serbia.)