Emir Kusturica Director Date of Birth: 24.11.1955 Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina

1. Biography of Emir Kusturica
2. Early Life and Education
3. Career and Recognition
4. Later Career and Personal Life

Biography of Emir Kusturica

Emir Kusturica is a director who manages to balance between the underground and mainstream cinema. His films are loved by critics and audiences alike. Anyone who has seen a Kusturica film will agree that it is a captivating journey into the world of Balkan culture, where there is laughter, happiness, and sorrow. However, Kusturica's true calling is music, and he claims to only make films in his free time.

Early Life and Education

Emir Kusturica was born on November 24, 1954, in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was part of Yugoslavia at the time. His parents were non-practicing Muslims, although the director himself claims that his ancestors were Orthodox Serbs. It is also known that his father had Bulgarian and Romani roots.

While attending high school, Kusturica developed a serious interest in football and even planned to play professionally. However, his dreams of becoming a football player were shattered due to joint problems. Around the same time, Kusturica became interested in filmmaking and made a small amateur film that unexpectedly won an award.

After graduating from high school, Kusturica went to Prague, where his aunt lived. Being in the heart of European civilization was a shock for his Balkan temperament. He managed to enroll in the film academy in Prague, where he studied under masters such as Jiří Menzel and Otakar Vávra. His graduation film, "Gernika" (1976), won an award at the Karlovy Vary Student Film Festival.

In 1977, Kusturica completed his studies at the film academy and started working at Sarajevo Television. During the day, he was busy shooting short films, and in the evenings, he played guitar in his rock band. This went on for three years until his debut feature film, "Do You Remember Dolly Bell?" was released in 1980. The film, which won awards at the Venice Film Festival, tells the story of a young man entering adulthood, his first love, and his vision of the future in the early 1960s. Kusturica emphasized that the film was an autobiography of several generations.

Career and Recognition

Kusturica's next film, "When Father Was Away on Business" (1984), won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and the jury chairman, Miloš Forman, declared him the hope of world cinema. The film received mixed reviews, with some considering it Stalinist and others viewing it as anti-socialist. However, it portrayed an indomitable will to live.

In 1989, Kusturica premiered his film "Time of the Gypsies" in Cannes. The film depicts the harsh realities of the Roma community in the Balkans, with which Kusturica was intimately familiar. He grew up among the Roma and learned his first lessons of freedom and friendship from them. At one point, he was even called the "Gypsy Fellini."

In his thirties, Kusturica started teaching film directing at Columbia University. During this time, he also attempted to fit into the Hollywood system without losing his originality. His first and only American film was "Arizona Dream" (1993), which starred stars such as Faye Dunaway, Jerry Lewis, and Johnny Depp. Although the film failed at the box office, it received positive reviews from critics and was awarded at the Berlin Film Festival. It became a cult classic and is undoubtedly Kusturica's most unconventional work.

A turning point in Kusturica's career came with the film "Underground" (1995), which won him his second Palme d'Or. The film was influenced by the events unfolding in Yugoslavia at the time. During the war that started in 1992, Kusturica's home was destroyed, and his family was forced to emigrate to Montenegro. Around the same time, his father passed away from a heart attack. Despite the country falling apart, Kusturica courageously returned to Yugoslavia and made a phantasmagorical film-fable about the war.

Later Career and Personal Life

In the years that followed, Kusturica faced severe criticism and repression, particularly from French critics and philosophers who deemed his film pro-Serb and politically incorrect. Some even compared "Underground" to "War and Peace". Despite this, Kusturica continued to make films.

After a three-year hiatus, Kusturica returned with "Black Cat, White Cat" (1998), a comedy that explored the gypsy theme. The film won him the Best Director award at the Venice Film Festival. In recent years, Kusturica has directed fewer films and spends most of his time touring with his rock band, "The No Smoking Orchestra," in which his son, Stribor, also plays.

Kusturica converted to Orthodox Christianity in 2005, under the name Nemanja, as his ancestors were Orthodox Serbs. In addition to his musical projects and love for football, Kusturica is passionate about architecture. In 2005, he received the Philippe Rotthier European Prize for his project - the village of Drvengrad. The village, built entirely of wood in the mountains of Serbia, is not a residential area but a tourist attraction, dedicated to the memory of Kusturica's native village.

Despite criticism for his political activism and radical views, Kusturica remains true to himself. He cannot stay on the sidelines. One notable case of his political views clashing was when he challenged the leader of the Serbian nationalists, Vojislav Šešelj, to a duel in 1993. Kusturica proposed a fight with any weapon in the heart of Belgrade, but fortunately, Šešelj declined. This is a testament to Kusturica's unyielding Balkan temperament!