Matija Barl, the first 'Kekec', dies aged 78

He worked as a film producer in Germany

5. avgust 2018 ob 20.15 • Marezige - MMC RTV SLO

He was best known for his title role of a shepherd boy named 'Kekec’ in one of the most cult films of Slovenian and Yugoslav cinema. Foto: SFC

Matija Barl passed away on Friday in Marezige near Koper. He was best known for his title role of a shepherd boy named 'Kekec’ in one of the most cult films of Slovenian and Yugoslav cinema. The film, made in 1951, when Barl was 11 years old, also became the first Slovenian feature film to receive an international prize.

The news of his passing was announced by the Coastal Aviation Centre of Portorož, where Barl was a member.

Barl later also appeared in films Dobri stari pianino (The Good Old Piano) by France Kosmač (1959), Pod sinjim nebom (Under Blue Sky) by Dušan Prebil, produced in 1988 by Radiotelevision Slovenia (RTV), and in the German film Schwarz und Weiß wie Tage und Nächte directed by Wolfgang Petersen in 1978. He also made a short appearance in a children’s film titled Pozabljeni zaklad (The Forgotten Treasure) by Tugo Štiglic in 2002.

Moving to Germany
Barl did not study acting but dramaturgy at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT) in Ljubljana. At the beginning of his career, he worked as an editor of television commercials at Radiotelevision Slovenia, before moving to Germany in 1962. He returned home after Slovenia became an independent country.

Barl also worked as an independent producer, among other things he collaborated with the famous director Rudolf Noelte. After an exceptionally exhaustive film production in Sicily, he completely changed his profession and became a court interpreter, he told in an interview for Dnevnik newspaper in 2006.