Laert Vasili

Laert Vasili
Laert Vasili at the Dance With Me TV Show
Born	Laert Vasili (1974-03-07) 7 March 1974 Delvinë, Albania
Other names	Laertis Vasiliou
Occupation	Actor/Director
Years active	1995–present

Laert Vasili (English: Laertis Vasiliou, Greek: Λαέρτης Βασιλείου, born 7 March 1974), is an Albanian Greek film and stage actor and director. He is bilingual, his father being of Albanian Christian Orthodox and his mother of Greek descent.

Background

Both his parents were officers in the Military of Albania. As a result, the family moved around a lot and he spent his childhood between Tirana, Saranda and Delvina, Albania. He started acting at the age of 16 while still in high school, playing leading parts in several school theatre performances. At the age of 19 he was accepted to the Academy of Arts in Tirana, Albania. In 1994 he left for Greece in order to study acting at the National Theatre of Greece Drama School in Athens, Greece. He came second out of 750 applicants and he was the first non-Greek citizen to be accepted in the school. He graduated in 1997.

Corpus Christi controversy

Laert Vasili directed a play Corpus Christi in Greece that depicts Jesus Christ and his apostles as a group of homosexual men. The 1997 play was written by American playwright Terrence McNally. The Greek Orthodox Church and the right-wing extremist Golden Dawn protested against the play. The director and actors of the play face charges of blasphemy in Greece. The play's director, Laertis Vasiliou, said that prosecutors were misdirecting scarce resources by pursuing his cast, rather than trying to nab tax evaders who have plunged Greece into ruin. "What I see is that there are people who have robbed the country blind, who are not in jail, and the prosecutor turns against art," Vasiliou told Reuters.

Awards

• Best Director of the Year at Pegasi Awards 2015
• Special Award for Corpus Christi at Athens Queer Theatre Award 2013
• Most Important Artist of the Year 2008 by Eleftherotypia
• Mess Future Prize at Mess Sarajevo International Theatre Festival 2008
• Best Director Prize at Balkan Theatre Festival 2005

Nominations

• Man of the Year 2012 by LIFO
• Best Director Prize 2008 by Athinorama Magazine
• Best Young Actor Prize 2002

Director

He has written and directed theatrical plays dealing with the sensitive theme of immigration and the notion of being a foreigner. He was the first to use Albanian artists living in Greece in professional performances, which moreover were multi-lingual. The plays were initially presented in Athens, Greece and run for more than 400 performances from 2003–2015, in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, Kalamata, Kavala in Greece, Nicosia and Limassol in Cyprus, Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Veles in Macedonia, Gjilan in Kosovo and Korca, Durres and Tirana, in Albania.

• Electra by Sophocles
• Doruntine, by Ismail Kadare
• Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally
• The Emigrants by Sławomir Mrożek
• One in Ten by Laert Vasili
• Project Ilion-Work in Progress by Laert Vasili

Translator

He has translated several theatrical plays from English into Greek and into Albanian language and also from Greek into Albanian language.

• Electra by Sophocles
• The Persians by Aeschylus
• The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
• The Emigrants by Sławomir Mrożek
• Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally
• The Lying Kind by Anthony Neilson

Filmography

• Ω Γλυκύ μου Έαρ (1995, TV, Series)
• See You at IMDb (1997)
• Ελληνοαλβανικό Συναξάρι (1999, Docu-Film)
• Edge of Night at IMDb (2000)
• Φλεγόμενη Στέλλα (2000, short)
• Annas Somer at IMDb (2001)
• Tomorrow Is Another Day at IMDb (2001)
• Alexandreia at IMDb (2001)
• Η αγάπη ήρθε από μακριά (2002, TV series)
• Playing Parts at IMDb (2003)
• Oikos antohis at IMDb (2003, TV series)
• Hostage at IMDb (2005)
• Στον Ήλιο του Αιγαίου (2005, TV series)
• Η λίμνη των στεναγμών (2005, TV series)
• Για την Άννα (2006, TV series)
• Oi istories tou astynomou Beka at IMDb (2007, TV series)
• Αίθουσα Αναμονής (2007, TV series)
• Charlie's Son at IMDb (2008)
• Σπάσε την Σιωπή (2008, TV series)
• Tingulli i Heshtjes (2010, TV series)
• Τα μυστικά της Εδέμ (2010, TV series)
• Red Sky at IMDb (2011)
• Balkan Bazaar at IMDb (2011)
• Out of touch at IMDb (2011)
• Agon at IMDb (2012)
• Paftuar at IMDb (2015)
• Menge Kemishe at IMDb (2015)
• Three (2015)

Theatre

He has collaborated with prestigious worldwide known directors such as: Robert Wilson, Dimiter Gotscheff, Teo Terzopoulos, Andrew Visnevski, Aleksandar Popovski and also with some of the most important directors in Greece like: Antonis Antypas, George Kimoulis, Dimitris Mavrikios, Yiannis Kakleas, Roula Pateraki, Maya Limperopoulou, Sylvia Liouliou etc. He was nominated for Dimitris Horn Prize (Best Young Actor 2001).

• Electra (Orestes), by Sophocles at National Theatre of Greece
• The Persians (Messenger), by Aeschylus at National Theatre of Greece
• Prometheus Bound (Hephaestus), by Aeschylus at Attis Theatre
• Antigone (Messenger), by Sophocles at Attis Theatre
• Oedipus Tyrannus (Choryphe), by Sophocles at Athens Contemporary Theatre
• Persephone (Homer), by Homer at Watermill Center
• Electra (Orestes), by Sophocles at National Theatre of Albania
• Tartuffe (Tartuffe), by Moliere at National Theatre of Albania
• Macbeth (Macduff), by William Shakespeare at Contemporary Theatre of Athens
• Volpone (Bonnario), by Ben Jonson at Contemporary Theatre of Athens
• Diary of a Madman (Poprischin) by Nikolai Gogol at Theatre Alive
• Diary of a Scoundrel (Korchaev), by Alexander Ostrovsky at National Theatre of Greece
• The Lower Depths (Vaska Pepel), by Maxim Gorki at National Theatre of Greece
• Pelican (Son), by August Strindberg at Bios Theatre
• Doruntine (Stres), by Ismail Kadare at National Theatre of Albania
• The Fall of the House of Usher (Roderick), by Edgar Allan Poe at National Theatre of Albania
• Gaslight (Gregory Anton), by Patrick Hamilton at Hitirio Theatre
• Little Mahagonny (Paul Ackerman), by Bertolt Brecht at Attis Theatre
• The Caretaker (Aston), by Harold Pinter at Aplo Theatre
• Birthday Party (Stanley Weber), by Harold Pinter at Aplo Theatre
• Hercules (Hercules) by Heiner Müller at Attis Theatre
• Translations (Owen), by Brian Friel at Aplo Theatre
• Stage Struck (Herman), by Simon Gray at Anesis Theatre
• Corpus Christi (Judas), by Terrence McNally at Hitirio Theatre
• The Trousers (Mandelstam), by Carl Sternheim at National Theatre of Albania
• Nina (Gerard), by Andre Roussin at National Theatre of Albania
• L'ospite (Leo), by Angelo Longoni at National Theatre of Albania
• Angela (Lambros), by George Sevastikoglou at National Theatre of Greece
• The Curtain Falls (Vratsanos), by Andreas Staikos at National Theatre of Greece
• The Night of Secrets (Nikolas), by Akis Dimou at National Theatre of Greece
• Falling from the stairs (John), by Charalambos Yiannou at National Theatre of Greece
• New Friends (Oggie), by Elena Pega at National Theatre of Northern Greece
• Some Explicit Polaroids (Viktor), by Mark Ravenhill at Neos Kosmos Theatre
• Faust is dead (Pit), by Mark Ravenhill at Entropia Theatre

Blind Taste

He was the winner of the first season of the reality show Blind Taste presented by Vizion Plus TV in Tirana, Albania. He came first at the grand finale on July 4, 2015 leaving behind 32 candidates, among them very wellknown artists, politicians etc.

Dance With Me

He was part of the first season of the reality show Dance with Me presented by Klan TV in Tirana, Albania that was held between September 28 and December 29, 2014. The couple of the actor and the professional singer Zajmina Vasjari came 2nd at the finale of the competition (out of 6 couples) but they won the 1st place at the internet voting.

References

• Laert Vasili at IMDb
• Laertis Vasiliou at BBC
• Laertis Vasiliou at BBC Newsnight
• Laertis Vasiliou at Reuters
• Laertis Vasiliou at Out (magazine)
• Laertis Vasiliou at El País
• Laertis Vasiliou at VICE
• Laertis Vasiliou at NPR
• Laertis Vasiliou at CBC News
• Laertis Vasiliou at RTÉ
• Laertis Vasiliou at IBTimes
• Laertis Vasiliou at La Stampa
• Laertis Vasiliou at ILGA-Europe
• Laertis Vasiliou at La Vanguardia
• Laertis Vasiliou at Americans United
• Laertis Vasiliou at Broadway Worldwide
• Laert Vasili at National Theatre of Northern Greece
• The Parthenon Post
• The Pappas Post
• Artist Direct
• LiveMovies
• RedSky
• Altcine
• Laert Vasili at Tirana Times
• Laert Vasili at Mapo
• Laert Vasili at YouTube
• Laert Vasili at Panorama
• Laert Vasili at DailyMotion
• Laert Vasili at CLASS
• Laert Vasili at YouTube