BAAL (Serbian band)

Andrej Aćin
Born	Belgrade, Serbia
Occupation(s)	Director, screenwriter, composer, musician
Years active	1989–present
Known for	Frontman of BAAL, film scores, directing short and documentary films

Andrej Aćin is a director, screenwriter, and composer originally from Belgrade, Serbia, currently residing in Toronto, Canada. During the 1990s, he was the frontman of the gothic rock group BAAL, which produced one studio album. Following the band's breakup in 1995, Aćin released the material intended for their second album under the name Retro Deux. In the late 1990s, after working with the French band Noir Désir, he shifted his focus toward composing film scores and directing acclaimed short and documentary films. He is an alumnus of the Belgrade Faculty of Dramatic Arts.

BAAL

In 1989, Aćin established the gothic rock ensemble BAAL, serving as both keyboardist and lead singer. The lineup included Srđa Popović on bass guitar, Vojkan Petković on guitar, and Vlada Marinković on drums. Their first album, Između božanstva i ništavila (Between Divinity and Nothingness), was released in 1993 after being recorded in April 1992. The record featured guest musicians such as Goran Tanevski (Mizar), Milan Mladenović (Ekatarina Velika), Zvonimir Đukić (Van Gogh), and Marko Milivojević (Ekatarina Velika). Aćin composed the majority of the tracks, with some co-written alongside Popović and Vladislav Jevtić. Production credits go to Nebojša Marić, Vlada Racković, and the band itself; Marić and Racković additionally contributed guitar parts. Following this release, BAAL maintained a steady performance schedule until their dissolution in 1995.

Post BAAL

Once BAAL disbanded, Aćin revisited material planned for their sophomore album and issued it in 1996 under Retro Deux with the EP Artoodeeto, containing seven songs. This project was produced by dance music specialist Srđan Babović and featured lyrics in Serbian, French, and English. Aćin performed vocals, keyboards, and programming duties, while guest musicians included guitarists Duda Petrović and Nebojša Marić as well as percussionist Aleksandar Milanović. The track "Run" was promoted with a music video. Instrumental pieces "Waiting 1" and "Waiting 2" were originally composed for Milan Konjević's short film titled Waiting (For Death). Retro Deux's work also appeared in 1998 on hip hop group WHO Is The BEST's album Play, specifically on the song "Još jedan dim" ("Another Puff").

In early 1998, Aćin joined forces with the French band Noir Désir, performing live shows and contributing remixes to their album One Trip, One Noise, including reinterpretations of "Fin de siecle (G.L.Y.O)" and "Septembre en attendent (un jour a Belgrade)".

After relocating to Toronto in 2011, Aćin founded the band Deuxa72 in 2017. They recorded an album entitled Years of Stolen Freedom, which remains officially unreleased.

Film score composing

Aćin created the musical score for Srđan Golubović's omnibus film Package Arrangement (1995). He composed soundtracks for three films directed by Dejan Zečević: Buy Me an Elliot (1997), T.T. Syndrome (2002), and Little Night Music (2002). His work also includes scoring Golubović's film Absolute 100 (2001), with official soundtrack releases available for both T.T. Syndrome and Absolute 100. Furthermore, he provided music for Romanian filmmaker Cristi Puiu's Stuff and Dough (2001) as well as Jelena Radević's documentary Turning Point (2015).

Film directing

Aćin completed his studies in film directing at the Academy of Arts, Belgrade. He has helmed multiple short films, providing original scores for three of them: The Margin (2003), The Last Moment of Eternity (2008), T.I.N.A. (2016), as well as Positive (2021). Additionally, he directed two feature-length documentaries: My World Full of Lightness (2007) and Valter (2015), composing the soundtrack for the latter.

Other activities

Between 1992 and 1995, Aćin served as music editor at Art television. During 2004–2005, he directed a total of 88 episodes of the Serbian soap opera Jelena. In 2006, he co-directed the reality program Transforma alongside Peđa Marković.

His theatre directing credits include the production Pasija po telu (Passion by the Body) presented at the 2002 BITEF. He also composed music for Silvija, a play directed by Milica Kralj at Atelje 212 theatre.

In 2005, Aćin appeared as an actor in the film Bye Bye Blackbird, directed by French filmmaker Robinson Savary.

Awards

• 1995 – Golden Mimosa for Best Original Film Soundtrack at Herceg Novi Film Festival for Package Arrangement
• 1998 – Golden Arena at Novi Sad Film Festival recognizing the soundtrack for Buy Me and Elliot
• 2000 – Special Mention for Artistic Creation at Media Dance International Festival in Paris for North West Coast
• 2001 – Gold Award of Belgrade at the 48th Yugoslav Festival of Short and Documentary Film for North-West Coast
• 2001 – Second Prize at Balkan Youth Festival in Thessaloniki for Shopping!
• 2002 – Golden Mimosa Composer of the Year at Herceg Novi Film Festival for the soundtrack to Absolute 100
• 2002 – Gold Award of Belgrade at the 49th Yugoslav Festival of Short and Documentary Film for The World Belongs to You...
• 2003 – Special Golden Jury Award at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival for The Margin
• 2016 – Platinum Award at WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival for T.I.N.A.

Studio albums

• Između božanstva i ništavila (1992)

EPs

• Artoodeeto (1996)

Studio albums

• One Trip, One Noise (1998)

Studio albums

• Originalna muzika iz filma Apsolutnih sto (2001)
• T.T. Sindrom (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2002)

Feature films

Year	Title	Role
1995	Package Arrangement	Composer
1998	Buy Me an Elliot	Composer
2001	Stuff and Dough	Composer
2001	Absolute 100	Composer
2002	T.T. Syndrome	Composer
2002	Little Night Music	Composer
2005	Bye Bye Blackbird	Actor
2007	My World Full of Lightness	Writer, director
2012	Valter	Writer, composer, director
2015	Turning Point	Composer

Short films

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Television

Year	Title	Role
1999	Memory Box	Writer, director
2000	Shopping!	Writer, director
2000	North West Coast	Director
2001	Panonian Runners	Writer, director
2001	In the Name of Friendship	Writer, director
2001	The World Belongs to You...	Writer, director
2003	The Margin	Writer, composer, director
2008	'‘The Last Moment of Eternity'’	'‘Writer, composer, director'’
'‘2016'’	'‘T.I.N.A.'’	'‘Writer, composer, director'’
'‘2021'’	'‘Positive'’	'‘Writer, composer, director'’

Year	Title	Role
2004–2005	Jelena	Director
2006	Transforma	Director