Kaća Čelan (born August 5, 1956 in Ratkovo, SR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a writer, director, theatre and acting expert, professor and actress. She is internationally known for being awarded the first prize for the best German-language play from the Bund der Theatergemeinden (Alliance of the German Theatre Community) for her play among other awards. Biography Early life Kaća Čelan () was born and grew up in Ratkovo (Odžaci), SR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia; an area in the multicultural and multifaceted region of Vojvodina, dominated by five cultures and languages: Serbian, Hungarian, German, Ukrainian (Rusyn) and Czech, which influenced and shaped her early childhood. She graduated from the scientific high school in Odžaci and its rigorous classical curriculum with straight A's as best student of her generation. Move to Sarajevo After finishing her high school education, she chose the city of Sarajevo as her "home of choice". Her studies in the Olympic metropolis included comparative literature, theatre studies, and acting at the University of Sarajevo. Following her studies, she founded Teatar Amfiteatar Sarajevo (TAS) theatre, which she ran for seven years. Čelan has also worked as a directing professor at the Academy for Scenic Arts, Sarajevo. Her awards have included Best Young Actress in Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Yugoslavian award for avant-garde Arts, and Best Director award at the Avant-garde Theatre Festival in Socialist Republic of Montenegro. She has been the production director of the International Theatre Festival in Kotor, Montenegro. As a theatre academic she held fellowships in Moscow and Vienna. Slovenia and Germany Prior to the siege of Sarajevo, Čelan moved to Ljubljana, Slovenia, where she worked as a writer and director for a year. With a fellowship from the German cultural department and the Heinrich Böll Foundation in hand, she moved to Germany in 1993. In the Böll-House, she founded the TAS theatre in exile, and during its first project, Project 3, she toured well-known German theatres such as the Munich Kammerspiele and Hamburg's Thalia Theater. In 1999 she founded her acting school, the Čelan Theatre School at Burgau Castle, where her theatre was based as well. In 1995, Čelan won the first prize for the best German-language play from the Bund der Theatergemeinden (Alliance of the German Theatre Community) for her play . That was followed by the International Award, Kristal Vilenice, for poetry in 1996. The next year the Cultural Minister of North