Sergej Trifunović (Serbian Cyrillic: Сергеј Трифуновић, pronounced [sɛ̌rɡɛːj trifǔːnɔʋitɕ]; born 2 September 1972) is a Serbian actor, comedian, singer, politician and citizen activist.[1]

Sergej Trifunović
Сергеј Трифуновић
Trifunović in May 2020
Personal details
Born (1972-09-02) 2 September 1972 (age 53)
PartyMovement of Free Citizens (2017–present)
Spouse
Isidora Mijanović
(m. 2024)
RelativesBranislav Trifunović (brother)
University of Arts in Belgrade
ProfessionActor

In 2014, he founded a charity foundation Podrži život (Support Life), that helps underprivileged children with serious medical conditions get adequate treatment.[2] He was the president of the Movement of Free Citizens from 2019 to 2020.

Early life and education

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Sergej was born in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia to father Tomislav, an actor, and mother Slobodanka, a lawyer. His younger brother, Branislav, is also an actor.[1] His father's career made the family move between cities, thus Sergej's early years were spent in Mostar, Užice, Kruševac and Belgrade.[3]

His father was born in Mali Popović near Jagodina.[4] In 1990, Trifunović enrolled in the Belgrade Faculty of Drama Arts; fellow students included Nataša Ninković, Vojin Ćetković and Nebojša Glogovac.[1]

Political career

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Trifunović at the unveiling ceremony of the first monument to Zoran Đinđić, in Prokuplje, 1 August 2007.

Trifunović participated in protests against authoritarian regimes under Slobodan Milošević and Aleksandar Vučić.[5] During the 2017 presidential election campaign, he endorsed Saša Janković.[6]

The joint report by European Economic and Social Committee and Civic Initiatives noted that Trifunović and his charity foundation have been targets of a smear campaign and false accusations by pro-government media and members of ruling parties since 2018.[7]

On January 26, 2019, Trifunović became the 2nd president of Movement of Free Citizens. After nine months of protests over the rise of political violence and after the unsuccessful conclusion of the negotiation mediated by the University of Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences and NGOs, Trifunović wrote an open letter to David McAllister, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, asking him to consider facilitating a cross-party dialogue on media and election conditions.[8] The first round of inter-party European Parliament-mediated dialogue in Serbia took place two months later.[9] In December 2019, following three rounds of dialogue, the EP delegation members announced that conditions for fair and free elections had not been established.[10] On January 20, 2020, the Movement of Free Citizens announced a boycott of the parliamentary elections, however, the decision was later overturned with the Movement of Free Citizens participating in the elections winning 1.58% of the popular vote and failing to pass the census to enter the National Assembly.[11][12]

On 16 June 2020, Sergej Trifunović published and then deleted the video showing him, along with Srbijanka Turajlić, singing a Chetnik song, which was followed by heavy criticism on social networks from the liberal and leftist public in Serbia.[13][14]

On 8 July 2020, at a protest against the government, Trifunović was attacked by the crowd and got his arcade broken.[15] He claims that he was attacked by undercover members of the Security Intelligence Agency, and the members of the Leviathan Movement said that they were there to discredit the protest.[16]

Filmography

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Films

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Year Film Role
1993 Raj
1995 Someone Else's America Lukas
Premeditated Murder Krsman Jakšić
1998 Ljubinko i Desanka Ljubinko
The Hornet Miljaim
Savior Goran
Cabaret Balkan The hitchhiker of the bus
1999 Ljubavnici Dragan
2001 Tri posle ponoći Raša
Munje! Pop
Treći kanal od sunca
2002 Ko čeka dočeka
2003 The Professional Silent lunatic
2004 When I Grow Up, I'll Be a Kangaroo Braca
2005 A View from Eiffel Tower A man with his feet in a laurel
Ljubav Vanja Novaković
2006 Aporija Zoran
The Border Post Ljuba Paunović
Uslovna sloboda Driver
All For Free Warehouse worker
2007 Next Mr. White
U ime sina Tarik
Maska Branko Radičević
2008 War, Inc. Ooq-Mi-Fay Taqnufmini
The Tour Arkan
2009 Viko Ivan
Srpski ožiljci Beni
Wait for Me and I Will Not Come PE teacher
2010 Montevideo, God Bless You! Anđelko Komatina
A Serbian Film Vukmir Vukmir
The Whistleblower Ivan
Neke druge priče Đorđe
2011 Turneja Leader of Panthers
Dodir Father
2012 Zalet
Gavran sailor
Volim i ja tebe Semir
Odbrana i zaštita Whiskey Smuggler
2013 Falsifier Enes
Mamaroš policeman
Dub Play Boban Kostić Bili
2014 Little Buddho Mišo
Jednaki
Po redu nastajanja Nebojša Mihajlović
2015 We Will Be the World Champions Ranko Žeravica
Bourek
2016 Ime: Dobrica, prezime: nepoznato Mirko
On the Milky Road
The Samurai in Autumn Policeman
2017 Kozje uši Električar
A Balkan Noir
2018 Grande Punto
Apsurdni eksperiment
Volja sinovljeva Tuđin
2019 Ajvar Bane
2024 Cat's Cry (Mačji krik)
2026 Storm Rider: Legend of Hammerhead Lazar

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2003 Lisice Nebojsa Djuricko One episode
2003 Crni Gruja Crni Gruja 12 episodes
2006 Sleeper Cell One episode
2007 Bitange i princeze Menadzer Kocka 2 episodes
2009 Neki čudni ljudi Putujuci glumac One episode
2009 Na terapiji Boris 9 episodes
2009-2010 Ono kao ljubav Dzoni 20 episodes
2012 Montevideo, Bog te video! Nacelnik Komatina 5 episodes
2015 Andrija i Anđelka Drugar One episode
2016 Prvaci sveta Ranko Zeravica 6 episodes
2018-2019 Žigosani u reketu Petar 11 episodes
2019 Dug moru Djordje 10 episodes
Ujka – novi Horizonti Besic One episode
2024 Tajne vinove loze Jagodinac 16 episodes

References

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  1. 1 2 3 Sergej Trifunović profile, imdb.com; accessed 28 October 2016.
  2. "How Serbia Saves Its Children With Text Messages". balkanist.net. 8 October 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  3. Sergej Trifunović interview for Ilustrovana Politika: Ceo život u dva kofera Archived 2011-03-11 at the Wayback Machine, ilustrovana.com, 2003.
  4. "Biografija: glumac Tomislav Trifunović". opusteno.rs.
  5. "Sergej Trifunović". Archived from the original on 3 April 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  6. "Janković Vučiću: Game over". Radio Television of Serbia. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  7. "7th meeting of the EU-Serbia Civil Society Joint Consultative Committee". The Office for Cooperation with Civil Society. Archived from the original on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  8. "Leader of Serbia's opposition party asks for EP's mediation of cross-party talks in a letter to McAllister". European Western Balkans. 26 August 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  9. "First EP-mediated dialogue in Serbia: Part of the opposition refuses to participate". European Western Balkans. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  10. "Conditions for fair elections in Serbia not established after three rounds of dialogue". European Western Balkans. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
  11. "Trifunović: PSG neće učestvovati na izborima". Danas. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  12. "KONAČNI REZULTATI IZBORA Kako će izgledati sastav budućeg parlamenta". Blic.rs (in Serbian). 7 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  13. "Snimak Sergeja Trifunovića na kojem peva četničku pesmu, osude na mrežama". N1 (in Serbian). 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  14. "Sergej koji peva četničku pesmu u kafani je sve što ne valja sa srpskom građanskom opozicijom". Vice.com (in Serbian). 16 June 2020. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  15. "Sergej Trifunović napadnut na protestu, pukla mu arkada". NOVA portal. 8 July 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-08.
  16. Nedeljnik.rs (2020-07-08). "Sergej Trifunović napadnut na protestu ispred Skupštine: "Pripadnici službe su želeli da bace ljagu na protest"". Nedeljnik. Retrieved 2020-07-08.

Sources

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