Emir Kusturica

Emir Kusturica
Емир Кустурица
Kusturica in 2024
Born (1954-11-24) 24 November 1954 (age 69)
Sarajevo, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian,[1] French[2]
Other namesNemanja Kusturica[3] (since 1995)
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter, musician
Years active1978–present
SpouseMaja Mandić
Children2
Websitethenosmokingorchestra.com/

Emir Kusturica (Serbian Cyrillic: Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian[4][1][5] film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. Kusturica is one of the most distinguished European filmmakers active since the mid-1980s, best known for surreal and naturalistic movies that express deep sympathies for people from the margins.[4]

He has competed at the Cannes Film Festival on five occasions and won the Palme d'Or twice (for When Father Was Away on Business and Underground), as well as the Best Director prize for Time of the Gypsies. Kusturica has won a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for Arizona Dream, 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?. He has also been made a Commander of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.[6][7] Kusturica has been a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republika Srpska since 9 November 2011.[8] Among other accolades, Kusturica became a UNICEF ambassador in 2002 and eight years later he was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour in France.

Kusturica has also been recognized for his projects in town-building. Since the mid-2000s, Kusturica's primary residence has been in Drvengrad, a town built for his film Life Is a Miracle, in the Mokra Gora region of Serbia. He had portions of the historic village reconstructed for the film.[9] He published an autobiography "Smrt je neprovjerena glasina" (“Death Is an Unverified Rumour”) in 2010, which was followed by four other books.[4]

  1. ^ a b "Kusturica: Srbija je moja otadžbina (Kusturica: Serbia is My Homeland)". www.b92.net. B92. 19 January 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Emir Kusturica, artist, builder and anti-globalist". 28 November 2012.
  3. ^ (in Serbo-Croatian) Između Emira i Nemanje. Slobodnaevropa.org (22 September 2008). Retrieved on 2016-11-04.
  4. ^ a b c "Emir Kusturica". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Biography [kustu.com]". www.kustu.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  6. ^ "Politika". Politika.rs. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  7. ^ "Ministere de la culture". Culture.gouv.fr. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  8. ^ "Емир Кустурица". Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republika Srpska.
  9. ^ Kusturica (4 March 2005). "Kusturica at Kustendorf". The Guardian – via guardian .co.uk.