Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
n
film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship.
[http://www.serbia.com/emir-kusturica-artist-builder-and-anti-globalist/ ] Kusturica is one of the most-distinguished European filmmakers since the mid-1980s, best known for surreal and naturalistic movies that express deep sympathies for people from the margins.
He has also been recognized for his projects in
town-building. He has competed at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
on five occasions and won the
Palme d'Or twice (for ''
When Father Was Away on Business
''When Father Was Away on Business'' ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Otac na službenom putu, Отац на службеном путу) is a 1985 Yugoslav film by Serbian director Emir Kusturica. The screenplay was written by the Bosnian dramatist Abdulah Si ...
'' and ''
Underground''), as well as the
Best Director prize for ''
Time of the Gypsies
''Time of the Gypsies'' ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Дом за вешање, Dom za vešanje, Home for Hanging) is a 1988 Yugoslav coming-of-age fantasy crime drama directed by Emir Kusturica. Filmed in Romani and Serbo-Croatian, ''Time of the Gypsies' ...
''.
Kusturica has also won a
Silver Bear at the
Berlin Film Festival for ''
Arizona Dream
''Arizona Dream'' is a 1993
indie surrealist comedy drama film co-written and directed by Emir Kusturica and starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis, Faye Dunaway, Lili Taylor and Vincent Gallo.
Plot
Axel has a dream about an Eskimo who catches a ra ...
'', a
Silver Lion at the
Venice Film Festival for ''
Black Cat, White Cat'' and a Silver Lion for Best First Work for ''
Do You Remember Dolly Bell?''. In addition he was also named
Commander of the French
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Since the mid-2000s, Kusturica's primary residence has been in
Drvengrad, a town built for his film ''
Life Is a Miracle
''Life Is a Miracle'' ( sr, Život je čudo / Живот је чудо) is a Serbian drama film directed by Emir Kusturica in 2004. It was entered into the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It received nomination at the Golden Eagle Award in 2005 for ...
'', in the
Mokra Gora region of Serbia. He had portions of the historic village reconstructed for the film. He has been a member of the
Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republika Srpska since 9 November 2011. Among other accolades, Kusturica became a
UNICEF ambassador in 2002 and eight years later he was made a chevalier of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...
in France. He published an autobiography "Smrt je neprovjerena glasina" (“Death Is an Unverified Rumour”) in 2010, followed by a book of fiction, "Sto jada" (“Hundreds of Troubles”), in 2013.
Early life
Kusturica was born in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
, the son of Murat Kusturica, a
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
employed at Sarajevo's Secretariat of Information, and Senka (), a court secretary. Emir grew up as the only child of a
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
secular family
[Jean-Marc Bouineau, ''Le Petit Livre d’Emir Kusturica'', éditions Spartorange, 1993 (), chapter "Nostalghia"] in
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
, the capital of
PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, then a constituent republic within
FPR Yugoslavia.
As he writes in 1993, his father's mother was "''strongly tied to Muslim rites''" while his father "''did not belong to any cult, he was not religious at all''".
Kusturica primarily defined himself as
Yugoslavian at least until the year 2000.
A lively youth, Kusturica was by his own admission a borderline
delinquent
Delinquent or delinquents may refer to:
* A person who commits a felony
* A juvenile delinquent, often shortened as delinquent is a young person (under 18) who fails to do that which is required by law; see juvenile delinquency
* A person who fa ...
while growing up in the Sarajevo neighbourhood of Gorica.
Through his father's friendship with the well-known director
Hajrudin "Šiba" Krvavac, Kusturica, aged seventeen, got a small part in Krvavac's ''
Walter Defends Sarajevo
''Walter Defends Sarajevo'' (; ) is a 1972 Yugoslav partisan film, directed by Hajrudin Krvavac and starring Bata Živojinović, Ljubiša Samardžić and Rade Marković. The film centres around a mysterious figure named 'Walter', who is activel ...
'', a 1972
Partisan film funded by the Yugoslav state.
Cinematic career
In 1978, Kusturica graduated from the
film school (FAMU) at the
Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, which is why he is sometimes considered a part of the ''
Prague film school'', an informal group of Yugoslav film directors who studied at FAMU and shared similar influences and aesthetics. After graduating from FAMU, Kusturica began directing made-for-TV
short films in Yugoslavia.
1980s
He made his feature film debut in 1981 with ''
Do You Remember Dolly Bell?'', a coming-of-age drama that won the prestigious
Silver Lion for Best First Work at
that year's
Venice Film Festival. The same year, at age 27, he became a lecturer at the newly established
Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo
The Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo () is a faculty within the University of Sarajevo in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, dedicated to the performing arts.
History
The Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo was officially opened in 1981 wi ...
, a job he held until 1988. He was also art director of Open Stage Obala (''Otvorena scena Obala'').
Kusturica's second feature film, ''
When Father Was Away on Business
''When Father Was Away on Business'' ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Otac na službenom putu, Отац на службеном путу) is a 1985 Yugoslav film by Serbian director Emir Kusturica. The screenplay was written by the Bosnian dramatist Abdulah Si ...
'' (1985), earned a ''
Palme d'Or'' at
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...
and five Yugoslav movie awards, as well as a nomination for an American
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Best Foreign Film. Kusturica wrote the screenplays for both ''Do You Remember Dolly Bell?'' and ''When Father Was Away on Business''. In 1989 he earned more accolades for ''
Time of the Gypsies
''Time of the Gypsies'' ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Дом за вешање, Dom za vešanje, Home for Hanging) is a 1988 Yugoslav coming-of-age fantasy crime drama directed by Emir Kusturica. Filmed in Romani and Serbo-Croatian, ''Time of the Gypsies' ...
'', a film about
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
culture and the exploitation of their youth. In 1989 he was a member of the jury at the
16th Moscow International Film Festival.
1990s
Kusturica continued to make highly regarded films into the next decade, including his American debut, the absurdist comedy ''
Arizona Dream
''Arizona Dream'' is a 1993
indie surrealist comedy drama film co-written and directed by Emir Kusturica and starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis, Faye Dunaway, Lili Taylor and Vincent Gallo.
Plot
Axel has a dream about an Eskimo who catches a ra ...
'' (1993). He won the
Palme d'Or for his black comedy epic ''
Underground'' (1995), based upon a scenario of
Dušan Kovačević, a noted Serbian playwright. He also taught Film Directing at Columbia University's Graduate Film Division.
In 1998, he won the Venice Film Festival's Silver Lion for Best Direction for ''
Black Cat, White Cat'', a farcical comedy set in a Gypsy (
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
) settlement on the banks of the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. The music for the film was composed by the Belgrade-based band
No Smoking Orchestra
The No Smoking Orchestra, frequently credited as Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra, is a Serbian garage rock band formed in Belgrade in 1993.
The band was formed in 1993 by Nele Karajlić who, after relocating to Belgrade from Sarajevo, ...
.
2000s
In 2001, Kusturica directed ''
Super 8 Stories'', a documentary road and concert movie about
The No Smoking Orchestra
The No Smoking Orchestra, frequently credited as Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra, is a Serbian garage rock band formed in Belgrade in 1993.
The band was formed in 1993 by Nele Karajlić who, after relocating to Belgrade from Sarajevo, ...
, of which he is a band member. He was appointed ''President of the Jury'' of the
2005 Cannes Film Festival
The 58th Cannes Film Festival started on 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on 21 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Belgian film '' L'Enfant'' by Dardenne brothers ...
. His film ''
Maradona by Kusturica'', a documentary on
Argentine football star
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...
, was released in Italy in May 2007. It premiered in France during the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. His film ''
Promise Me This'' premiered at the
2007 Cannes Film Festival.
In June 2007, Kusturica directed the music video to
Manu Chao's single "
Rainin in Paradize", from the latter's forthcoming album.
In 2002 Kusturica became an
UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia.
Since January 2008 he has organized the annual private
Küstendorf Film Festival. Its first installment was held at
Drvengrad, a village built for his film ''
Life Is a Miracle
''Life Is a Miracle'' ( sr, Život je čudo / Живот је чудо) is a Serbian drama film directed by Emir Kusturica in 2004. It was entered into the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It received nomination at the Golden Eagle Award in 2005 for ...
'', from 14 to 21 January 2008. His next film, ''Cool Water'', is a comedy set against the background of a
Middle East conflict
This is a list of modern conflicts in the Middle East ensuing in the geographic and political region known as the Middle East. The "Middle East" is traditionally defined as the Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia), Levant, and Egypt and neighboring ...
. Filming started in November 2010 in Germany.
2010s
At the
64th Cannes Film Festival
The 64th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 22 May 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition. South Ko ...
, held 11–22 May 2011, Kusturica presided over the jury of the ''
Un Certain Regard'' section of the festival's official selection. On 14 May, in
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...
, he was invested with the insignia of Chevalier of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...
, France's highest decoration.
In September 2012, Kusturica accepted an offer to be the head juror of the first
Saint Petersburg International Film Festival. During the festival he also performed for the residents and guests of Saint Petersburg with his band The No Smoking Orchestra.
During the last months of 2013, Kusturica started shooting a documentary on the life of Uruguayan president
José Mujica
José Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (; born 20 May 1935) is a Uruguayan politician, former revolutionary and farmer who served as the 40th president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015. A former guerrilla with the Tupamaros, he was tortured and im ...
, whom he considers "the last hero of politics".
''El Pepe: A Supreme Life'' was released in 2018.
Acting
After numerous film cameo appearances over the years, Kusturica's first sizable acting role was in ''
The Widow of St. Pierre'', a 2000 movie by director
Patrice Leconte, as a convict on the French island colony of
Saint Pierre.
In 2002, Kusturica appeared as an electric guitar player/security specialist in ''
The Good Thief'', directed by
Neil Jordan
Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, '' Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979. He won an Academ ...
.
In the French movie ''
L'affaire Farewell
''Farewell'' (french: L'affaire Farewell; literally ''The Farewell Affair'') is a 2009 French espionage thriller film directed by Christian Carion, starring Guillaume Canet and Emir Kusturica. The film is loosely based on the actions of the high- ...
'' (2009), he played the role of a
KGB agent, Colonel Sergei Gregoriev.
In ''
On the Milky Road
''On the Milky Road'' ( sr, На млечном путу; it, Lungo la Via Lattea) is a 2016 film directed by Emir Kusturica, based on his segment in the anthology film '' Words with Gods''. ''On the Milky Road'' stars Kusturica and Monica Bellu ...
'' (2016), he played Kosta, a milkman and falconer.
Musical career
In mid-1986, thirty-one-year-old Kusturica started playing
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
in
Zabranjeno Pušenje, a Sarajevan punk/garage rock outfit and part of the
New Primitivism movement. Kusturica, an already established and celebrated Palm d'Or-winning film director, joined the band just after Zabranjeno Pušenje frontman
Nele Karajlić had caused a media scandal that led to his legal prosecution on the verbal offence grounds and the band being shadow banned in the Yugoslav media, all of which hurt its commercial prospects and led to three of the six members leaving the group.
Kusturica ended up playing bass on three track from the band's third studio album ''
Pozdrav iz zemlje Safari'' and composing one of the songs as well as directing a
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...
for the track "Manijak" off the album. Though never fully involved in the band's day-to-day activities, Kusturica left Zabranjeno Pušenje in 1988 once the filming of ''
Time of the Gypsies
''Time of the Gypsies'' ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Дом за вешање, Dom za vešanje, Home for Hanging) is a 1988 Yugoslav coming-of-age fantasy crime drama directed by Emir Kusturica. Filmed in Romani and Serbo-Croatian, ''Time of the Gypsies' ...
'' began.
Kusturica returned to the group in the late 1990s following the ''
Black Cat, White Cat'' film and the band's name changed to
Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra. In 1999, the No Smoking Orchestra recorded a new album, ''Unza Unza Time'', produced by the Universal record company, as well as a music video, directed by Emir Kusturica. The band has been touring internationally since 1999. The musician and composer
Goran Bregović has composed music for three of Kusturica's films: ''
Time of the Gypsies
''Time of the Gypsies'' ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Дом за вешање, Dom za vešanje, Home for Hanging) is a 1988 Yugoslav coming-of-age fantasy crime drama directed by Emir Kusturica. Filmed in Romani and Serbo-Croatian, ''Time of the Gypsies' ...
'', ''
Arizona Dream
''Arizona Dream'' is a 1993
indie surrealist comedy drama film co-written and directed by Emir Kusturica and starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis, Faye Dunaway, Lili Taylor and Vincent Gallo.
Plot
Axel has a dream about an Eskimo who catches a ra ...
'', which featured
Iggy Pop; and ''
Underground''.
Writing
''Death is an Unverified Rumour''
Kusturica's autobiography, ''Death is an Unverified Rumour'' (Смрт је непровјерена гласина / ''Smrt je neprovjerena glasina''), was published in October 2010 in Belgrade by
Novosti. The launch took place on 26 October during the Belgrade Book Fair and was attended by
Nele Karajlić,
Dušan Kovačević, foreign minister
Vuk Jeremić,
Vojislav Koštunica, etc. Initially released only in
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...
, Montenegro, and
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...
, the book's first printing of 20,000 copies quickly sold out. The second printing of 32,000 copies was out in November and it too sold within weeks. On 8 December, the third printing in 40,000 copies was out and promoted a day later at Belgrade's
Dom Sindikata
Dom Sindikata (lit. Trade Union Hall), known as mts Hall for sponsorship reasons, is a non-residential, multi-purpose building in downtown Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Finished in 1957, by the 1970s it became the most popular entertainment ve ...
. In February 2011, a fourth printing with further 10,000 copies was out and soon the sale of the 100,000th book was announced. The final number of copies sold by the publisher was 114,000.
[Kusturica: Novom knjigom se borim protiv vremena današnjice](_blank)
''Blic'', 23 April 2013
Translations were published in Italy (translated by Alice Parmeggiani) on 30 March 2011 under the title ''Dove sono in questa storia'' ("Where am I in this Story"), in France by
JC Lattès
JC Lattès is a French publishing house. A division of Hachette Livre since 1981, JC Lattès' catalogue includes the works of Dan Brown, as well as ''Fifty Shades of Grey'' by E. L. James.
Founder Jean-Claude Lattès died on 17 January 2018. ...
on 6 April 2011 as ''Où suis-je dans cette histoire ?'', and in Germany in September 2011 as ''Der Tod ist ein unbestätigtes Gerücht''. In 2012, the book was published in Bulgaria as ''Cмъpттa e нeпoтвъpдeн cлуx'', in Greece as ''Κι εγώ πού είμαι σ' αυτή την ιστορία;'', in Romania as ''Unde sunt eu în toată povestea asta'', and in Hungary as ''Hogy jövök én a képbe?''.
''Hundred Pains''
Kusturica's second book was a novel, ''Hundred Pains'' (Сто јада / ''Sto jada''), released in Serbia on 24 April 2013 by Novosti a.d.
in the initial printing of 35,000 copies. On 6 June, the second printing came out in the circulation of 25,000. The book's translated form was released in France in January 2015 by JC Lattès as ''Étranger dans le mariage''.
''Why Did I Need This''
His third book, a diary titled ''Why Did I Need This'' (Шта ми ово треба / Šta mi ovo treba) was published in October 2018 and for the first time presented at the
Belgrade Book Fair
The International Belgrade Book Fair is one of the oldest and most important literary events in the region. Its basic objective is enabling publishers, authors, booksellers, librarians, book distributors, multimedia companies and other participant ...
.
Other endeavors
Drvengrad
Drvengrad (meaning ''Wooden Town'') is a traditional village that Kusturica built for his film ''
Life Is a Miracle
''Life Is a Miracle'' ( sr, Život je čudo / Живот је чудо) is a Serbian drama film directed by Emir Kusturica in 2004. It was entered into the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. It received nomination at the Golden Eagle Award in 2005 for ...
''. It is located in the
Zlatibor District near the city of
Užice, two hundred kilometers southwest of Serbia's capital,
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...
. It is located near
Mokra Gora and
Višegrad, best known for
Yugoslav Ivo Andrić's novel, ''
The Bridge on the Drina''.
''Time of the Gypsies'' punk opera
During 2007, Kusturica and Nele Karajlić prepared a punk opera, ''Time of the Gypsies''. The initial idea came five years earlier in 2002 from Kusturica's collaborator
Marc di Domenico while the support of the
Paris Opera director
Gerard Mortier
Gerard Alfons August, Baron Mortier (25 November 1943 – 8 March 2014) was a Belgian opera director and administrator of Flemish origin.
Biography
Born in Ghent, the son of a baker, Mortier attended in youth the Jesuit private school Sint-Barb ...
got the project rolling. Basing the production on his eponymous 1988 film, Kusturica wrote the
libretto by adapting the story of the Gypsy youth from the Balkans relocating to Italy in order to obtain money for his ill sister's surgery. The director cast young Serbian folk singers Stevan Anđelković and Milica Todorović in the roles of Perhan and Azra, respectively, while the experienced Karajlić took the role of Ahmed Đida. The music in the original movie had been composed by
Goran Bregović; however, since Kusturica and he have not been on speaking terms since the late 1990s, those pieces couldn't be used.
[Kusturica's 'Time of the Gypsies' Gets Opera Staging in Paris](_blank)
;Bloomberg, 27 June 2007 The all-new score was composed by Dejan Sparavalo of the No Smoking Orchestra.
The premiere took place in June 2007, at the
Opéra Bastille in Paris, to positive reviews.
Following the vast open stage of Bastille, the show was performed in smaller arenas. In March 2008, the production was staged in Paris'
Palais des congrès.
In fall 2010, the production was staged in Belgrade at
Sava Center.
On 29 June 2012, the opera was staged in
Banja Luka
Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. ...
at the
City Stadium, for the very first time under the open skies, with 10,000 people in attendance. This was followed with the July staging in
Cartagena, Spain, as part of
La Mar de Músicas de Cartagena.
Future staging of the punk opera is scheduled for August 2013 in
Krasnodar,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
, during Kubana Festival.
Küstendorf Film and Music Festival
Since 2008, Drvengrad hosts the annual
Küstendorf Film and Music Festival, which showcases films and music from all around the world as well as a competition programme for student
short films. The festival is known for not having a
red carpet as well as none of the popular Hollywood festival artifacts.
The reverence Kusturica enjoys in the film circles along with his professional and personal contacts ensure the arrival of top guests from the European and world cinema every year. The festival hosted global stars
Johnny Depp and
Monica Bellucci along with
Nikita Mikhalkov,
Gael García Bernal,
Abel Ferrara,
Kim Ki-duk,
Audrey Tautou
Audrey Justine Tautou (; born 9 August 1976) is a French actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 18 on television and her feature film debut in '' Venus Beauty Institute'' (1999), for which she received critical acclaim and won the Cés ...
, etc.
Andrićgrad
On 28 June 2011 Kusturica started the construction project of
Andrićgrad
Andrićgrad (, lit. " Andrić's town") is the name of a construction project located in Višegrad, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina by film director Emir Kusturica. The town is dedicated to the Yugoslav novelist and Nobel Prize winner I ...
(also known as ''Kamengrad'', meaning ''Stone Town''), located in
Višegrad,
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...
, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was scheduled to be completed by 2014. Andrićgrad is located several kilometers from Kusturica's first town Drvengrad, in Serbia. Andrićgrad will be used as a filming location for his new film "
Na Drini ćuprija", based on the book ''
The Bridge on the Drina'', by
Nobel Prize for Literature laureate
Ivo Andrić. His last name is used in the town name Andrićgrad, meaning "Town of Andrić" in
Serbian
Serbian may refer to:
* someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe
* someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people
* Serbian language
* Serbian names
See also
*
*
* Old Serbian (disambiguation ...
.
Personal life
Family
Kusturica is married to Maja Mandić; the couple has two children.
They live in
Drvengrad.
Ethnic and religious identity
On
Đurđevdan (
St. George's Day) in 2005, he was
baptised into the
Serbian Orthodox Church as Nemanja Kusturica (Немања Кустурица) at the
Savina monastery near
Herceg Novi, Montenegro. To his critics who considered this the final betrayal of his
Bosnian roots, he replied that:
Despite the aforementioned conflict of religion, Kusturica refused to see himself as either a Bosnian or Serb. Instead, he had continued to insist that he was simply a Yugoslav.
When his mother was on her deathbed he wanted to find out his ancestry and learnt that the origin of the Kusturica family stemmed from two Orthodox Christian branches. An ancestor of his, who helped build the
Arslanagić Bridge
Arslanagić Bridge ( sh, Arslanagića ćuprija, sr-cyrl, Арсланагића ћуприја; tr, Arslanağa Köprüsü), also known as Perović Bridge ( sh, Perovića most), is a bridge in the municipality of Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, ...
in the 18th century, hailed from
Bileća
Bileća ( sr-cyrl, Билећа) is a town and municipality located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the town has a population of 7,476 inhabitants, while the municipality has 10,807 inhabitants.
History
...
and the Babić family. According to the studies of geographer
Jevto Dedijer
Jevto Dedijer (Serbian Cyrillic: Јевто Дедијер; 15 August 1880 – 24 December 1918) was a Bosnian-Serb writer and geographer from the Maleševci clan who was influential in the formation of the Serb Academy. He was born to a peasan ...
(1880–1918) in the Bileća region (1902): the Kusturica family lived in a ''čopor'' (grouped area, literally "
pack") in the village of
Plana; they had eight houses next to the Kozjak family (four houses), northwest across a field from the Avdić family (23 houses).
In
Granica, there was a family surnamed Kusturica which had left Plana 80 years earlier.
According to the Avdići, their progenitor Avdija Krivokapić, an
Islamized Montenegrin, reportedly was honoured by the
Sultan for his military service and on the way home to
Herzegovina, in
Kyustendil, he bought a
gypsy and brought him to Plana; this gypsy was, according to them, an ancestor of the Kusturica family.
The story, however, as was common, was motivated by traditional disputes of neighbouring families regarding status in the village.
According to Savo Pujić, an ancestor was Hajdarbeg Kusturica who was a ''
čauš'' (officer) who lived in
Volujak and was said to have been fair, having repurchased Muslim slaves, protected Orthodox clergy and his
subject peasants.
[ The name is derived from ''kustur'', an ]Old Slavic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with standardizing the language and using it in translating the Bible and other ...
word for dull knives, sabres, etc., most often referring to sabres.
Political views and public positions
Kusturica was an early supporter of Ante Marković's Union of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia.
At the 2007 parliamentary elections, he gave indirect support to Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica and his center-right Democratic Party of Serbia. In 2007, he also supported the Serbian campaign Solidarity - Kosovo is Serbia, a campaign against the separation of Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a international recognition of Kosovo, partiall ...
.
In 2009, Kusturica signed a petition in support of director Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...
following his arrest in relation to his 1977 sexual abuse charges, who had been detained while traveling to a film festival, which the petition argued would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely", and that arresting filmmakers traveling to neutral countries could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects."
Regarding President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federa ...
, Vladimir Putin, he said in 2012: "If I was English I would be very much against Putin. If I was American I would even fight with him, but if I was Russian I would vote for him". Kusturica was present at the Kremlin for Putin's third inauguration as president in May 2012. He has expressed support for the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea.
Kusturica was awarded the Order of St. Sava, First Class, for his "selfless care and presentation of the Serbian nation in the world", on 12 May 2012. On 4 November 2016 he received the Order of Friendship from Vladimir Putin in Moscow. He communicated in Russian at the event.
In April 2022, Kusturica signed a petition calling for Serbia not to impose sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine, with the petition reportedly arguing that alliance between the Russian and Serbian people is the only guarantee for maintaining Serbia's territorial integrity.
Controversy
Work
Kusturica and his work have provoked controversy at home and abroad. '' Underground'', scripted by Dušan Kovačević, was partly financed by state-owned Yugoslav television. It recounted the history of Yugoslavia from World War II until the conflicts during the 1990s. Bosnian and French critics claimed the film contained pro-Serb propaganda.[Serb director tries for third triumph](_blank)
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', 15 May 2004[Dispute Leads Bosnian to Quit Films](_blank)
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', 5 December 1995
French philosopher and writer Alain Finkielkraut
Alain Finkielkraut (, ; ; born 30 June 1949) is a French philosopher and public intellectual. He has written books and essays on a wide range of topics, many on the ideas of tradition and identitary nonviolence, including Jewish identity and ant ...
, a supporter of the Croatian president Franjo Tuđman during the 1990s, denounced the Cannes Film Festival's jury award, saying:In recognizing ''Underground'', the Cannes jury thought it was honouring a creator with a thriving imagination. In fact, it has honoured a servile and flashy illustrator of criminal clichés. The Cannes jury ... praised a version of the most hackneyed and deceitful Serb propaganda. The devil himself could not have conceived so cruel an outrage against Bosnia, nor such a grotesque epilogue to Western incompetence and frivolity.
It was later revealed that Finkielkraut had not seen the film before writing his criticism.
French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Lévy (; ; born 5 November 1948) is a French public intellectual. Often referred to in France simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the "Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, political activ ...
made a film criticizing ''Underground''. In a discussion with Levy, the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek said:I hope we share another point, which is – to be brutal – hatred of irectorEmir Kusturica. ''Underground'' is one of the most horrible films that I've seen. What kind of Yugoslav society do you see in Kusturica's ''Underground''? A society where people fornicate, drink, fight – a kind of eternal orgy.
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
-born novelist Aleksandar Hemon, who emigrated to the United States before the war, said ''Underground'' downplayed Serbian atrocities by presenting "the Balkan war as a product of collective, innate, savage madness."
Libel cases
Andrej Nikolaidis
Andrej Nikolaidis
Andrej Nikolaidis (born 1974) is a Montenegrin- Bosnian novelist, columnist, and political adviser. His novel ''Sin'' (The Son) won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2011. The English translation was published in 2013 by Istros Books in ...
, a Montenegrin writer and columnist, criticized Kusturica for appearing to agree with Slobodan Milošević's propaganda during the Bosnian War.
Kusturica sued Nikolaidis and the ''Monitor'' newspaper for civil damages at the Supreme Court of Montenegro. In the end, Nikolaidis was ordered to pay $6,490 to Kusturica for calling the famed director a "media star of Milosevic's war machinery". The judge ruled that the evidence was not credible enough.[Il caso Kusturica](_blank)
23 February 2005 (in Italian) In the end Nikolaidis and the paper were fined 12,000 euros for breaking the code of journalism by calling Kusturica "stupid, ugly and corrupt" in the article.
2010 Antalya festival
In October 2010, Kusturica withdrew from the jury of Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival after being publicly criticized and accused by Turkish director Semih Kaplanoğlu and Turkey's minister of culture Ertuğrul Günay over his alleged remarks and opinions about the Bosnian War.["Kusturica Quits Film Festival Jury in Turkey"]
ABC News, Retrieved on 11 October 2010.
The criticism of Kusturica was started by an organization called the Turkish-Bosnian Cultural Federation as soon as Kusturica was announced as a jury member. Turkish media reported that Kusturica repeatedly downplayed the number of people killed and the rape of Muslim women during the war.[ The daily newspaper '' Milliyet'' said Kusturica denied the allegations.][
Public sentiment in Turkey and in Serbia was such that a couple of days after Kusturica left Turkey, there were unsubstantiated news reports by Serbian tabloids claiming that a mob of Turkish youths in ]Antalya
la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 07xxx
, area_code = (+90) 242
, registration_plate = 07
, blank_name = Licence plate
...
physically assaulted Swiss actor Michael Neuenschwander (in town to promote his movie ''180° – Wenn deine Welt plötzlich Kopf steht'') because they mistook him for Kusturica due to apparent physical resemblances between the two. Later, Neuenschwander's press agent said there was no physical assault and that Neuenschwander was verbally abused by a small group.
Kusturica later commented on the incident:
Filmography
Feature films
;Shorts and television work
As actor
* ''Walter Defends Sarajevo
''Walter Defends Sarajevo'' (; ) is a 1972 Yugoslav partisan film, directed by Hajrudin Krvavac and starring Bata Živojinović, Ljubiša Samardžić and Rade Marković. The film centres around a mysterious figure named 'Walter', who is activel ...
'', 1972
* ''Arizona Dream
''Arizona Dream'' is a 1993
indie surrealist comedy drama film co-written and directed by Emir Kusturica and starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis, Faye Dunaway, Lili Taylor and Vincent Gallo.
Plot
Axel has a dream about an Eskimo who catches a ra ...
'', 1993
* '' Underground'' (''Podzemlje''), 1995
* '' The Widow of Saint-Pierre'', 2000
* '' The Good Thief'', 2002
* ''Strawberries in the Supermarket
''Jagoda in the Supermarket'' ( sr, italic=yes, Јагода у супермаркету, Jagoda u supermarketu) is a 2003 Yugoslav action comedy film directed by Dušan Milić. The film won the first prime at the 2004 Cinequest Film Festival in ...
'', 2004
* '' Secret Journey'', 2006
* ''L'affaire Farewell
''Farewell'' (french: L'affaire Farewell; literally ''The Farewell Affair'') is a 2009 French espionage thriller film directed by Christian Carion, starring Guillaume Canet and Emir Kusturica. The film is loosely based on the actions of the high- ...
'' (''Farewell''), 2009
* '' Hermano'', 2010
* ''Nicostratos the Pelican
''Nicostratos the Pelican'' (french: Nicostratos le pélican) is a 2011 French comedy film directed by Olivier Horlait.
Cast
* Emir Kusturica as Démosthène
* Thibault Le Guellec as Yannis
* François-Xavier Demaison (actor), François-Xavier ...
'', 2011
* ''Au bonheur des ogres
''The Scapegoat'' (french: Au bonheur des ogres) is a 2013 French comedy film directed by Nicolas Bary.
Plot summary
As attention-grabbing and controversial incidents take place wherever Benjamin Malaussene goes, the cops and his colleagues suspec ...
(The Scapegoat)'', 2012
* ''7 Days in Havana
''7 Days in Havana'' ( es, 7 días en La Habana) is a 2012 Spanish-language anthology film. Set during a week in the Cuban capital Havana, the film features one segment for each day, each segment directed by a different filmmaker. The directors ar ...
'', 2012
* '' The Ice Forest'', 2014
* '' Words with Gods'', 2014
* ''On the Milky Road
''On the Milky Road'' ( sr, На млечном путу; it, Lungo la Via Lattea) is a 2016 film directed by Emir Kusturica, based on his segment in the anthology film '' Words with Gods''. ''On the Milky Road'' stars Kusturica and Monica Bellu ...
'', 2016
* '' The Balkan Line, 2019
Awards
;Selected film awards
* 1st prize on Student's Film Festival in Karlovy Vary, (1978) for ''Guernica''
* Silver Lion for "Best First Work" in Venice Film Festival, (1981) for ''Do You Remember Dolly Bell?''
* FIPRESCI prize at Venice Film Festival (1981) for ''Do You Remember Dolly Bell?''
* Golden Palm Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, (1985) for ''When Father Was Away on Business''
* FIPRESCI prize Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, (1985) for ''When Father Was Away on Business''
* Best Foreign Language Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
Nomination, (1985) for ''When Father Was Away on Business''
* Best Director award at Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, (1989) for ''Time of Gypsies''
* Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, (1993) for ''Arizona Dream''
* Golden Palm at Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, (1995) for ''Underground''
* Silver Lion for best director in 1998 Venice Film Festival
The 55th annual Venice International Film Festival was held between 3 and 13 September 1998. The Golden Lion was awarded to '' Così ridevano'' by Gianni Amelio.
Jury
The following people comprised the 1998 jury:
* Ettore Scola (Italy) (head of ...
for the film ''Black Cat, White Cat''.
* Silver Plate of best documentary at Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...
, (2001) for ''Super 8 Stories''
* Cinema Prize of the French Education System at Cannes Festival (2004) for ''Life is a Miracle''
* Best European Union Film at César Awards, (2005) for ''Life is a Miracle''
* In 2004, The Prix de l'Education nationale (National Education Prize) honored Emir Kusturica and his film '' Život je čudo'' (Life is a Miracle).
* Lifetime Achievement Award at the 26th Moscow International Film Festival
The 26th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 18 to 27 July 2004. The Golden George was awarded to the Russian film '' Our Own'' directed by Dmitriy Meshiev.
Jury
* Alan Parker (United Kingdom – Chairman of the Jury)
* Jerzy Stuh ...
* Honorary Magritte Award at the 4th Magritte Awards
The 4th Magritte Awards ceremony, presented by the Académie André Delvaux, honored the best films of 2013 in Belgium and took place on 1 February 2014, at the Square in the historic site of Mont des Arts, Brussels beginning at 8:00 p.m. ...
, on 1 February 2014.
* CICT-UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award, Venice film festival, 2018.
;Architecture
*
Philippe Rotthier European Architecture Award
for his ethnic village projec
Küstendorf
(also called Drvengrad – "wooden town") on Mt. Zlatibor, Serbia, in 2005. The prize is awarded every three years by the Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
''Foundation for Architecture''.
;Literature
*On 8 April 2011, Kusturica was the first person ever to receive "Momo Kapor award", for his book ''Death is an Unverified Rumour''
*In 2011, Kusturica won "Tipar award" for satire, awarded in the city of Pljevlja
;Orders
* Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France's highest order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...
in recognition of significant contribution to the arts.
* Order of St. Sava, Serbian Orthodox Church's highest decoration, on 12 May 2012.
*Order of St. King Milutin, awarded in Andrićgrad
Andrićgrad (, lit. " Andrić's town") is the name of a construction project located in Višegrad, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina by film director Emir Kusturica. The town is dedicated to the Yugoslav novelist and Nobel Prize winner I ...
by Serbian Orthodox Church, on 28 June 2014.
*Order of the Holy Despot Stefan Lazarevic, 2016.
* Order of Friendship, 2016.
* Order of the Star of Italy, 2017.
*Order of the Flag of Republika Srpska
The Order of the Flag of Republika Srpska ( sr, Орден заставе Републике Српске) is an order (honour), Order of the Republic of Srpska. It was established in 1993 by the Constitution of Republika Srpska and 'Law on order ...
, 2018.
*Medal of Merit Several countries award a military or civil medal called Medal of Merit:
* Medal of Merit (Czech Republic)
* Medal of Merit (Denmark)
* Medal of Merit of the Dominican Woman
* Medal of Merit of the National People's Army (East Germany)
* Medal of ...
of the Czech Republic, 28 October 2019
* Sretenje Order
Sretenje Order ( sr, Сретењски орден) is the fourth highest state Order (decoration), order of Serbia.
The order is awarded by the decree of the President of Serbia on special occasions. It is awarded for merits in the fields of pub ...
, 2021.
See also
* List of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
This is a list of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors and advocates, who work on behalf of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund for children's rights. UNICEF goodwill ambassadors are usually selected by regional and national UN ...
References
Bibliography
Books
*
* Iordanova, Dina: Emir Kusturica. London. British Film Institute 2002.
* Imsirevic, Almir: "Based on a Truth Story", Sarajevo, 2007.
External links
*
Kustupedia
– the online encyclopedia on the universe of Emir Kusturica
Komuna Belgrade
* Indie Wire
Interview with Kusturica on Black Cat, White Cat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kusturica, Emir
1954 births
Living people
Film people from Sarajevo
Academy of Performing Arts in Prague alumni
Bosnia and Herzegovina bass guitarists
Bosnia and Herzegovina male guitarists
Bosnia and Herzegovina film directors
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners
Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from atheism or agnosticism
Directors of Palme d'Or winners
Eastern Orthodox Christians from Bosnia and Herzegovina
Eastern Orthodox Christians from Serbia
German-language film directors
Golden Arena for Best Director winners
Grand Crosses of the Order of St. Sava
Magritte Award winners
Columbia University faculty
Members of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republika Srpska
Members of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Roberto Rossellini Prize recipients
Serbian film directors
Serbian musicians
Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serbian people of Bosniak descent
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
Venice Best Director Silver Lion winners
Zabranjeno pušenje members
Yugoslav film directors
Musicians from Sarajevo
Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic)