Laert Vasili (, , ''Laertis Vasiliou''; born March 7, 1974) is an Albanian actor, film and theatre director and political commentator, known for his roles in theater and cinema. Vasili has often been part of public debates, among the key voices of civil society for the rights of Albanians in Greece.
Early life and education
Vasili is of
Albanian
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
**Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
**Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
ethnicity on his father's side, while his mother is of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
ethnic background. Both of his parents were officers in the
Military of Albania
The Albanian Armed Forces () are the military of Albania and were formed after the declaration of independence in 1912. Today, it consists of the General Staff, the Albanian Land Force, Albanian Air Force and the Albanian Naval Force.
The P ...
. As a result, the family moved around a lot and he spent his childhood between
Tirana
Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...
, 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
The University of Arts (), formerly known as the Academy of Arts (), is a public university and the main institution that offers higher education of arts in Albania.
History
Founded in 1966 as the Higher Institute of Arts (), it merged three arti ...
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, Greece. He came second out of 750 applicants. He graduated in 1997.
Career
He was nominated for the
Dimitris Horn
Dimitris Horn () (9 March 1921 – 16 January 1998) was a Greek theatrical and film actor.
Biography
Horn was born in Athens in 1921, the son of playwright Pantelis Horn (himself descended from an Austrian father and Greek mother), and Euterpi, ...
Prize for "Best Young Actor" in 2001.
In 2012 Vasili directed a play in Greece, '' Corpus Christi'', depicting
Jesus Christ
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
and his
apostles
An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...
as a group of homosexual men. The 1997 play was written by American playwright
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," M ...
. The
Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...
and the
right-wing extremist
Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
Golden Dawn protested against the play, and Vasili and the cast of the play faced charges of
blasphemy
Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...
in Greece. Vasiliou criticised the fact that prosecutors were using scarce resources to prosecute his cast, rather than investigating tax evaders who had contributed to Greece's economic crisis. "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," Vasili told
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
.
Vasili was part of the first season of the
reality show
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
''Dance with Me'' on Klan TV in Tirana, held between 28 September and 29 December 2014. Vasili and the professional singer Zajmina Vasjari came second of six competing couples at the finale. He also won the first season of the
reality show
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
'' Blind Taste'' on Vizion Plus TV in Tirana, Albania. He came first at the grand finale on 4 July 2015 ahead of 32 candidates. Recently, he has also been seen as a panelist on the show ''360 Gradë'' me Artur Zhejin, serving as a commentator. In December 2024, he became a housemate on the television reality show Big Brother Vip Albania 4. He made it to the finale as one of the four finalists, finishing in third place.
Awards and honors
* Best Director Award at International Theatre Festival in Prespa 2021
* Actor of Europe Award at International Theatre Festival Lake Without Borders 2018
* Best Director of the Year at Pegasi International Awards 2015
* Special Award for Corpus Christi at Athens Queer Theatre Award 2012
* Most Important Theatre Artist of the Year 2008 by
Eleftherotypia
''Eleftherotypia'' () was a daily national newspaper published in Athens, Greece.
Published since 21 July 1975, it was the first newspaper to appear after the fall of the Regime of the Colonels, and for most of its period had been one of the ...
* Mess Future Prize at Mess Sarajevo International Theatre Festival 2008
* Best Director Prize at Balkan Theatre Festival 2005
* Citizen of Honour of Delvine (Qytetar Nderi i Delvinës)
* Citizen of Honour of Leskovik (Qytetar Nderi i Leskovikut). The award was conferred live on the final night of Big Brother VIP Albania 4 by the Mayor of Kolonjë, Erion Isai.
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
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, Greece, and run for more than 400 performances from 2003 to 2015, in Greece, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo and in Albania.
*
Electra
Electra, also spelt Elektra (; ; ), is one of the most popular Greek mythology, mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, ''Electra (Sophocles play), Electra'' by Sophocles and ''Ele ...
by
Sophocles
Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...
at
Buthrotum
Butrint (, , ) was an ancient Greek polis and later Roman city and the seat of an early Christian bishopric in Epirus.
Originally a settlement of the Greek tribe of the Chaonians, it later became part of the state of Epirus and later a Roman ...
Eugène Marin Labiche
Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin".Doruntine, by
Ismail Kadare
Ismail Kadare (; 28 January 1936 – 1 July 2024) was an Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. He was a leading international literary figure and intellectual, focusing on poetry until the publication of his first novel ...
Ismail Kadare
Ismail Kadare (; 28 January 1936 – 1 July 2024) was an Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. He was a leading international literary figure and intellectual, focusing on poetry until the publication of his first novel ...
Terrence McNally
Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," M ...
Sławomir Mrożek
Sławomir Mrożek (29 June 1930 – 15 August 2013) was a Polish dramatist, writer and cartoonist.
Mrożek joined the Polish United Workers' Party during the reign of Stalinism in the People's Republic of Poland, and made a living as a politic ...
MESS
The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...
Panorama
A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency ...
Out
Out or OUT may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Films
*Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
*Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander
*O ...
El País
(; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA.
It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...
VICE
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
CBC News
CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...
RTÉ
(; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
La Stampa
(English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...
ILGA-Europe
ILGA-Europe is the European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World). It is an advocacy group promoting the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people, at the Eur ...
La Vanguardia
' (; , ) is a Spanish daily newspaper founded in 1881. It is printed in Spanish and, since 3 May 2011, also in Catalan. It has its headquarters in Barcelona and is Catalonia's leading newspaper.
Despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia, ...
Americans United
Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United or AU for short) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that advocates for the disassociation of religion and religious organizations from government. The separation of chur ...