Established in 1967, on the initiative of Mira Trailović and Jovan Ćirilov, BITEF (Belgrade International Theatre Festival) has incessantly followed and supported newest theatre tendencies.
In the five decades of its existence, Bitef has overcome all political and cultural problems and has successfully kept pace with a tumultuous evolution of the theatre art. Because of this fact, the history of Bitef can be called a history of the contemporary theatre.
In the revolutionary 1960s and 1970s spectators had the chance to see some of the boldest scenic experiments which led to the devastation of the forms of drama, but also some important classical pieces and traditional Oriental theatre shows. In the 1980s and 1990s, Bitef reached the highest peaks of the postmodern theatre and dance. Even at the time of political and economic crisis and embargo, Bitef succeeded in promoting highest cultural values bringing to Belgrade some of the greatest names of the world performing scene. In the 2000s Bitef presented new and innovative achievements of the world “mainstream”, the shows of the postdrama and non-verbal theatrical expressions, as well as those realized with the help of new technologies, opening the door to virtual reality of a cyber theatre.
In all these years, Bitef has preserved its place in the family of the most important world festivals. In 1999, the European foundation “Premio Europa per il Teatro“ awarded Bitef a Special Prize for continuity and quality of its endeavours.
