Danis Tanović (born 20 February 1969) is a Bosnian film director and screenwriter. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

and a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

, as well as nominations for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

and the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

. Tanović is known for having directed and written the script for the film '' No Man's Land'' (2001), which won him many awards, including an

and a

Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a Golden Globe Award presented by Dick Clark Productions to reward theatrically-released feature film not in the English language. It was first introduced at the 7th Golden Globe Awards f ...

. He has also written and directed the award-winning films '' An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker'' (2013) and '' Death in Sarajevo'' (2016). Tanović is the only person born in the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina to have won an Academy Award.

Early life

Tanović was born in

Zenica Zenica ( ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The ...

SR Bosnia and Herzegovina The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina, Социјалистичка Pепублика Босна и Херцеговина), commonly referred to as Socia ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

on 20 February 1969. He was raised in the Bosnian capital of

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, where he also received his primary and secondary education. Tanović attended the

University of Sarajevo The University of Sarajevo (Bosnian language, Bosnian, Croatian language, Croatian and Serbian language, Serbian: ''Univerzitet u Sarajevu'' / Sveučilište u Sarajevu / Универзитет у Сарајеву) is a List of universities in Bo ...

Music Conservatory, where he played the piano. As a young adult, he decided to study at the

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 w ...

Career

Early beginnings

Due to the

siege of Sarajevo The siege of Sarajevo () was a prolonged military blockade of Sarajevo, the capital of Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the ethnically charged Bosnian War. After it was initially besieged by Serbian forces of the Yugoslav People's Arm ...

and the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

, following Bosnia and Herzegovina's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, Tanović was forced to stop his studies in 1992. Immediately after war broke out, he formed a film crew that followed the

Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; ARBiH), often referred to as Bosnian Army, was the military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was established by the government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina i ...

going on dangerous missions. The material that he and the film crew produced has since been used in numerous films and news reports about the Siege of Sarajevo and the Bosnian War. In late 1994, Tanović left the film crew he had worked with for over two years. A year later, he decided to resume his studies, this time in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, the capital of

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. In 1997, he completed his studies in Brussels, graduating at the top of his class. During his studies, Tanović made several documentary films.

International recognition

Shortly after, Tanović began his first movie project, entitled '' No Man's Land''. He wrote and directed the movie, which was completed in 2001 and premiered at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

that same year. ''No Man's Land'' went on to win the Award for Best Screenplay (''Prix du scénario'') at Cannes, followed by numerous awards including the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

for Best Foreign Language Film in 2001, the

European Film Academy The European Film Academy is a group of European film director, filmmakers who come together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. Every year, the European Film Academy honors films an ...

Award for Best Screenplay, the César for the Best First Feature Film, the

André Cavens Award The André Cavens Award () is an accolade presented annually by the Belgian Film Critics Association (UCC), an organization of film critics from publications based in Brussels. The André Cavens Award was introduced in 1976 by the organizing commi ...

for Best Film in 2001, and the

in 2002. Tanović was a member of the jury at the

2003 Cannes Film Festival The 56th Cannes Film Festival took place from 14 to 25 May 2003. French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer Patrice Chéreau was the President of the Jury for the main competition. Monica Bellucci hosted the opening and closi ...

. His second feature project was '' L'Enfer'', completed in 2005, from the screenplay by the late

Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Kieślowski (, 27 June 1941 – 14 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the Three Colours trilogy, ''Three Colours'' ...

and

Krzysztof Piesiewicz Krzysztof Marek Piesiewicz (; born 25 October 1945 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish lawyer, screenwriter, and politician. From 1991 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2011 he was a member of Polish Senate. He was the head of the Social Movement (RS) or Soci ...

. The film marked the second installment in the Polish duo's projected trilogy ''Heaven'' (filmed by

Tom Tykwer Tom Tykwer (; born 23 May 1965) is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, and composer. He is best known internationally for directing the thriller films ''Run Lola Run'' (1998), ''Heaven (2002 film), Heaven'' (2002), ''Perfume: The Sto ...

in 2002), ''Hell and Purgatory''. Inspired by

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

' ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

'', ''L'Enfer'' explores the lives of three sisters, "each locked in her own unhappiness, nursing a secret flower of misery, the seed for which was planted by their late father with a terrible incident in their girlhood" (from a review by

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

). The film received mixed reviews.

Later projects

Tanović's 2010 film '' Cirkus Columbia'' was selected as the Bosnian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the

83rd Academy Awards The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2010 in the United States and took place on February 27, 2011, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, be ...

, but it did not make the final shortlist. In June 2011, he was bestowed with an "honoris causa" doctorate by the

. His 2013 film '' An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker'' premiered in competition at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival where it won two prizes:

Silver Bear for Best Actor The Silver Bear for Best Actor () was an award presented at the Berlin International Film Festival from 1956 to 2020. It was given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance and was chosen by the International Jury from the films i ...

and the Jury Grand Prix. Tanović's 2016 film " Death in Sarajevo" won the Jury Grand Prix at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. It has also won the FIPRESCI Award for the best film in competition. In March 2020, Tanović's film ''

The Postcard Killings ''The Postcard Killings'' is a 2020 American crime film directed by Danis Tanović, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Famke Janssen and Cush Jumbo, and based on the 2010 novel '' The Postcard Killers'' by James Patterson and Liza Marklund. The ...

'' was released, based on the 2010 crime novel " The Postcard Killers". The film '' Not So Friendly Neighborhood Affair'' was released in August 2021, receiving positive reviews. His latest film, '' My Late Summer'', premiered at the 30th

Sarajevo Film Festival The Sarajevo Film Festival is the premier and largest film festival in Southeast Europe, and is one of the largest film festivals in Europe. It was founded in Sarajevo in 1995 during the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War, and brings internatio ...

on 16 August 2024.

Personal life

Tanović holds joint Bosnian and Belgian citizenship and lives in

with his wife Maelys de Rudder and five children. He lived in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

until 2007.

Political engagement

Tanović announced in March 2008 that he would be founding a political party with his friend, director Dino Mustafić, called Our Party, which would start contesting elections with the municipal elections in October 2008. He stated his motivations as wanting to bring political change to the country; his announcement was received positively.http://soc.kuleuven.be/iieb/docs/2009/26780_Touquet.pdf

Filmography

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanovic, Danis 1969 births Living people Writers from Zenica University of Sarajevo alumni Politicians from Zenica Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina film directors Bosnia and Herzegovina film producers Bosnia and Herzegovina screenwriters Bosnia and Herzegovina male screenwriters Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay winners European Film Award for Best Screenwriter winners Our Party (Bosnia and Herzegovina) politicians Political party founders