Emir KUSTURICA

Director, Writer, Actor

Serbia

Emir Kusturica was born in Sarajevo in 1954.
After studying at the Film Academy in Prague (FAMU) he directed several shorts and TV films. He was awarded the Golden Lion at the Mostra in Venice for his first feature in 1981, Do You Remember Dolly Bell? In 1985, he shot When Father Was Away on Business which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. In 1988 he made Time of Gypsies (Best Director Award Cannes 1988), followed by Arizona Dream (Silver Bear Berlin 1993). The conflict which tore the Balkans apart pushed him to tell westerners about the history of his country through Underground Palme d'Or 1995 at Cannes. In 1998 he delves into pure comedy with Black Cat White Cat, and was awarded the Silver Lion at the Mostra in Venice. In 2001, he turns to documentary filmmaking with Super 8 Stories which recounts the story of his musical band "The No Smoking Orchestra", during their European tour. In 2004 he presented his latest opus to Cannes, Life is a Miracle. It was on the set of his last film that he decided to build his own village: Kustendorf, where he wants to create a new model life: "One could learn everything there, from science to religion by way of culture and sports."