Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица, ; born 24 November 1954) is a
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
n
film director
A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
,
screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
,
actor
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
,
film producer and
musician
A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...
. Kusturica has been an active filmmaker since the 1980s.
He has competed 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 ...
on five occasions and won 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 ...
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
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
at the
Berlin Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
for ''
Arizona Dream'', a
Silver Lion at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
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
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
of the French
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
. Kusturica 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 ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
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. He published an autobiography "Smrt je neprovjerena glasina" ('Death Is an Unverified Rumour') in 2010, which was followed by four other books.
Early life
Kusturica was born in
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 ...
, the son of Murat Kusturica, a
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
employed at Sarajevo's Secretariat of Information, and Senka (), a court secretary. Emir grew up as the only child of a
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
family
[Jean-Marc Bouineau, ''Le Petit Livre d’Emir Kusturica'', éditions Spartorange, 1993 (), chapter "Nostalghia"] in
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 ...
, 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 may refer to:
* Delinquent (royalist)
In 1643, near the start of the English Civil War, Parliament set up two committees: the Sequestration Committee, which confiscated the estates of the Royalists who fought against Parliament, and ...
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 activ ...
'', a 1972
partisan film
Partisan film ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, partizanski film, партизански филм, separator=" / ") is the name for a subgenre of war films made in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In the broade ...
funded by the Yugoslav state.
Work
In 1978, Kusturica graduated from the
film school
A film school is an educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of filmmaking, including such subjects as film production, film theory, digital media production, and screenwriting. Film history courses and hands-on technical training are ...
(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 film
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
s 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 Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
. The same year, at age 27, he became a lecturer at the newly established
Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo, 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'' (1985), earned a at
Cannes
Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
and five Yugoslav movie awards, as well as a nomination for an American
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 ...
for Best Foreign Film. In 1989 he earned more accolades for ''
Time of the Gypsies'', a film about
Romani culture and the exploitation of their youth. In 1989 he was a member of the jury at the
16th Moscow International Film Festival
The 16th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 July 1989. The Golden St. George was awarded to the Italian film '' The Icicle Thief'' directed by Maurizio Nichetti.
Jury
* Andrzej Wajda (Poland – President of the Jury)
* G ...
.
1990s
Kusturica continued to make highly regarded films into the next decade, including his American debut, the absurdist comedy ''
Arizona Dream'' (1993).
He won 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 ...
for his black comedy epic ''
Underground'' (1995), based upon a scenario of
Dušan Kovačević, a noted Serbian playwright. Kusturica and his work have provoked controversy at home and abroad.
''Underground'' 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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 15 May 2004[Dispute Leads Bosnian to Quit Films](_blank)
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', 5 December 1995 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 ...
-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." French philosopher and writer
Alain Finkielkraut
Alain Luc Finkielkraut (; ; born 30 June 1949) is a French essayist, radio producer, and public intellectual. Since 1986, he has been the host of ''Répliques'', a talk show broadcast weekly on France Culture. He was elected a Fellow of the Ac ...
, a supporter of the Croatian president
Franjo Tuđman
Franjo Tuđman (14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999) was a Croatian politician and historian who became the first president of Croatia, from 1990 until his death in 1999. He served following the Independence of Croatia, country's independe ...
during the 1990s, denounced the Cannes Film Festival's jury award, saying ''it was it was honouring a creator with a thriving imagination'' and that the jury ''praised a version of the most hackneyed and deceitful Serb propaganda.''
It was later revealed that Finkielkraut had not seen the film before writing his criticism.
French philosopher
Bernard-Henri Lévy made a film criticizing ''Underground''.
In a discussion with Levy, the Slovenian philosopher
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual.
He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...
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.
Emir Kusturica 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) settlement on the banks of the
Danube
The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
. The music for the film was composed by the Belgrade-based band
No Smoking Orchestra.
2000s
In 2001, Kusturica directed ''
Super 8 Stories'', a documentary road and concert movie about
The No Smoking Orchestra, 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 took place from 11 May and ran until 22 May 2005. Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica served as jury president for the main competition. Cécile de France hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.
Belgian filmmakers D ...
. His film ''
Maradona by Kusturica'', a documentary on
Argentine
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
football star
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...
, 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
The 60th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2007. British filmmaker Stephen Frears served as jury president for the main competition. Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d'Or for the drama film ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 ...
.
In June 2007, Kusturica directed the music video to
Manu Chao
Manu Chao (; born José Manuel Tomás Arturo Chao Ortega on 21 June 1961) is a French-Spanish musician. He sings in French language, French, Spanish language, Spanish, English language, English, Italian language, Italian, Arabic, Catalan language ...
's single "
Rainin in Paradize", from the latter's ''
La Radiolina'' album.
In 2002 Kusturica became a
UNICEF
UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
National Ambassador for Serbia.
Since January 2008 he has organized the annual private
Küstendorf Film Festival. Its first installment was held at
Drvengrad/Küstendorf, a village built for his film ''
Life Is a Miracle'', from 14 to 21 January 2008. His next film, ''Cool Water'', is a comedy set against the background of a
Middle East conflict. Filming started in November 2010 in Germany.
2010s
Andrej Nikolaidis, a
Montenegrin writer and columnist, criticized Kusturica for appearing to agree with
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...
's propaganda during 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 ...
. 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.
In October 2010, Kusturica withdrew from the jury of
Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival
The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival (), known for a few years from 2015 as Antalya International Film Festival, is a film festival, held annually since 1963 in Antalya, and is the second most important film festival in Turkey. Since 2009, t ...
after being publicly criticized and accused by Turkish director
Semih Kaplanoğlu
Semih Kaplanoğlu (born 4 April 1963) is a Turkish people, Turkish screenwriter, film director and producer.
Life and career
In 1984, Kaplanoğlu moved to Istanbul and worked for a couple of years as a copywriter for advertising companies like G ...
and Turkey's minister of culture
Ertuğrul Günay over his alleged remarks and opinions about 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 ...
.
["Kusturica Quits Film Festival Jury in Turkey"](_blank)
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
''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey.
History and profile
''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950 ...
'' 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
Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...
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:
At the
64th Cannes Film Festival, held 11–22 May 2011, Kusturica presided over the jury of the ''
Un Certain Regard
(; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films with unusua ...
'' section of the festival's official selection. On 14 May, in
Cannes
Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
, he was invested with the insignia of Chevalier of the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
, 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.
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.
During the last months of 2013, Kusturica started shooting a documentary on the life of Uruguayan president
José Mujica, whom he considers "the last hero of politics".
''El Pepe: A Supreme Life'' was released in 2018.
2020s
Kusturica announced that he will be filming his next project in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. The film will be based on works of Russian writers
Dostoyevski,
Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin.
Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and " Nevsky Prosp ...
and
Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...
. It is titled ''Just One More Time''. He was also planning to direct, in 2024, ''The Engineer of Easy Walks'' to be shot in
Sochi
Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...
.
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
Patrice Leconte (; born 12 November 1947) is a French film director, screenwriter and comic strip writer.
Life and career
Leconte grew up in Tours, and began making little amateur films at 15. He went to Paris in 1967 and studied at Institut des ...
, 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 filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia,'' which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in ...
.
In the French movie ''
L'affaire Farewell'' (2009), he played the role of a
KGB
The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
agent, Colonel Sergei Gregoriev.
In ''
On the Milky Road'' (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 (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
in
Zabranjeno Pušenje
Zabranjeno Pušenje () is a Bosnian Rock music, rock band formed in Sarajevo in 1980. The group's musical style primarily consists of a distinctive garage rock sound with Bosnian folk music, folk influences, often featuring innovative production a ...
, 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 that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
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'' 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'', ''
Arizona Dream'', which featured
Iggy Pop
James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...
; 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
Vojislav Koštunica ( sr-cyrl, Војислав Коштуница, ; born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last President of Serbia and Montenegro, president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the Prime Min ...
, etc. Initially released only in
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
, Montenegro, and
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...
, 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. 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 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.
''Vidiš li da ne vidim''
In 2022, Kusturica published a book titled ''Vidiš li da ne vidim.'' The main protagonists of the book are the author and his friend and Austrian Nobel laureate novelist
Peter Handke
Peter Handke (; born 6 December 1942) is an Austrians, Austrian novelist, playwright, translator, poet, film director, and screenwriter. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature "for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has ...
.
''Kada mrtve duše marširaju''
His fifth book, ''Kada mrtve duše marširaju'' (''When the dead souls march'') was published in 2023.
Other endeavors
Drvengrad
Drvengrad (meaning 'Wooden Town') is a traditional village that Kusturica built for his film ''
Life Is a Miracle''. It is located in the
Zlatibor District
The Zlatibor District (, ) is one of eight administrative districts of Šumadija and Western Serbia. It is located in the western, mountainous part of Serbia. The district was named after the mountainous region of Zlatibor.
As of the 2022 cen ...
near the city of
Užice
Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2022 census, the city proper has a popu ...
, two hundred kilometers southwest of Serbia's capital,
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
. It is located near
Mokra Gora and
Višegrad
Višegrad ( sr-cyrl, Вишеград, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It rests at the confluence of the Drina and the Rzav (Drina), Rzav river. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 10,668 in ...
, best known for
Yugoslav Ivo Andrić
Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1961. His writ ...
'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
The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...
director
Gerard Mortier got the project rolling. Basing the production on his eponymous 1988 film, Kusturica wrote the
libretto
A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
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 could not 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
Sava Centar ( sr-cyr, Сава центар) is an international congress, cultural and business center of various multi-functional activities located in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is the largest audience hall in the country and the enti ...
.
On 29 June 2012, the opera was staged in
Banja Luka
Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city in Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is the tr ...
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
Cartagena () is a Spanish city belonging to the Region of Murcia. As of January 2018, it has a population of 218,943 inhabitants. The city lies in a natural harbor of the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. Cartage ...
, as part of
La Mar de Músicas de Cartagena.
Future staging of the punk opera is scheduled for August 2013 in
Krasnodar
Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...
,
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, during Kubana Festival.
Küstendorf Film and Music Festival

Since 2008, Drvengrad hosts the annual
Küstendorf Film and Music Festival
Küstendorf Film Festival () is an annual event held during early January in the village of Drvengrad (also known as Küstendorf) in the Mokra Gora region of Serbia.
Established in 2008, it is a film and music festival organized by Rasta Internati ...
, which showcases films and music from all around the world as well as a competition programme for student
short film
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
s. The festival is known for not having a
red carpet
A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by Very Important Person, VIPs and celebrity, celebrities at formal events.
History
...
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
John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...
and
Monica Bellucci
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model who began her career as a fashion model before working in Italian, American, and French films. She has an eclectic filmography in a range of genres and langua ...
along with
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (; born 21 October 1945) is a Russian filmmaker and actor. He made his directorial debut with the Red Western film ''At Home Among Strangers'' (1974) after appearing in a series of films, including the romantic com ...
,
Gael García Bernal
Gael García Bernal (; born 30 November 1978) is a Mexican actor and filmmaker. He is known for his performances in the films ''Amores perros'' (2000), ''Y tu mamá también'' (2001), ''Bad Education (2004 film), Bad Education'' (2004), ''The Mot ...
,
Abel Ferrara,
Kim Ki-duk
Kim Ki-duk ( ; 20 December 196011 December 2020) was a South Korean film director and screenwriter, noted for his Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic Art film, art-house cinematic works. His films have received many distinctions in the festival circuit ...
,
Audrey Tautou, etc.
Andrićgrad
On 28 June 2011 Kusturica started the construction project of
Andrićgrad (also known as ''Kamengrad'', meaning ''Stone Town''), located in
Višegrad
Višegrad ( sr-cyrl, Вишеград, ) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It rests at the confluence of the Drina and the Rzav (Drina), Rzav river. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 10,668 in ...
,
Republika Srpska
Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...
, 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
The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in t ...
laureate
Ivo Andrić
Ivo Andrić ( sr-Cyrl, Иво Андрић, ; born Ivan Andrić; 9 October 1892 – 13 March 1975) was a Yugoslav novelist, poet and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1961. His writ ...
. His last name is used in the town name Andrićgrad, meaning "Town of Andrić" in
Serbian.
Personal life
He also has French citizenship.
Kusturica is married to Maja Mandić; the couple has two children.
They live in
Drvengrad.
Film director
Živojin Pavlović
Živojin "Žika" Pavlović (15 April 1933 – 29 November 1998) was a Yugoslav and Serbian film director, writer, painter and professor. In his films and novels, Pavlović depicted the cruel reality of small, poor and abandoned people living ...
and writer Fyodor Dostoyevski are his main artistic influences.
Ethnic and religious identity

On
Đurđevdan
George's Day in Spring, or Saint George's Day, is a Slavic religious holiday, the feast of Saint George celebrated on 23 April by the Julian calendar (6 May by the Gregorian calendar). In Croatia and Slovenia, the Roman Catholic version of S ...
(
St. George
Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...
's Day) in 2005, he was
baptised
Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
into the
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
as Nemanja Kusturica (Немања Кустурица) at the
Savina monastery near
Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Херцег Нови, ) is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro located at the Western entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of ...
, 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 in the 18th century, hailed from
Bileća and the Babić family. According to the studies of geographer
Jevto Dedijer (1880–1918) in the Bileća region (1902): the Kusturica family lived in a ''čopor'' (grouped area, literally "
pack
Pack or packs may refer to:
Music
* Packs (band), a Canadian indie rock band
* ''Packs'' (album), by Your Old Droog
* ''Packs'', a Berner album
Places
* Pack, Styria, defunct Austrian municipality
* Pack, Missouri, United States (US)
* ...
") 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
Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
for his military service and on the way home to
Herzegovina
Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...
, in
Kyustendil, he bought a
gypsy
{{Infobox ethnic group
, group = Romani people
, image =
, image_caption =
, flag = Roma flag.svg
, flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress
, po ...
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 word for dull knives, ]sabre
A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...
s, etc., most often referring to sabres.
Political views and public positions
Serbian issues
Kusturica was an early supporter of Ante Marković
Ante Marković ( sh-Cyrl, Анте Марковић, ; 25 November 1924 – 28 November 2011) was a Croatian and Yugoslav politician, businessman and engineer. He is most notable for having served as the last Prime Minister of Yugoslavia from 1 ...
's Union of Reform Forces of Yugoslavia.
At the 2007 parliamentary elections, he gave indirect support to Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica
Vojislav Koštunica ( sr-cyrl, Војислав Коштуница, ; born 24 March 1944) is a Serbian former politician who served as the last President of Serbia and Montenegro, president of FR Yugoslavia from 2000 to 2003 and as the Prime Min ...
and his center-right
Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...
Democratic Party of Serbia. In 2007, he also supported the Serbian campaign Solidarity - Kosovo is Serbia, a campaign against the separation of Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
.
Roman Polanski
In 2009, Kusturica signed a petition in support of director Roman Polanski
Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...
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."
Putin and Russia
Regarding President of Russia
The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...
, Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
, 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
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrain ...
.
On 4 November 2016 he received the Order of Friendship
The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...
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.
On 9 May 2025 he attended the 2025 Moscow Victory Day Parade where he voiced his support for Putin, calling him an "antiglobalist". Kusturica had attended the parade in 2020
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
as well.
Filmography
Feature films
Shorts and television work
As actor (selected films)
Awards
Selected film awards
* 1st prize on Student's Film Festival in Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...
, (1978) for ''Guernica''
* Silver Lion for "Best First Work" in Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
, (1981) for ''Do You Remember Dolly Bell?''
* FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...
prize at Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
(1981) for ''Do You Remember Dolly Bell?''
* Golden Palm 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 ...
, (1985) for ''When Father Was Away on Business''
* FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...
prize 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 ...
, (1985) for ''When Father Was Away on Business''
* Best Foreign Language 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 ...
Nomination, (1985) for ''When Father Was Away on Business''
* Best Director award at 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 ...
, (1989) for ''Time of Gypsies''
* Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
, (1993) for ''Arizona Dream''
* Golden Palm at 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 ...
, (1995) for ''Underground''
* Silver Lion for best director in 1998 Venice Film Festival 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 Award Cesar or César may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* César (film), ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama
* César (film), ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt
Places
* Cesar, Portugal
* Cesar Department, Colombia
* Cesar R ...
s, (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
* Honorary Magritte Award at the 4th Magritte Awards, on 1 February 2014.
* CICT-UNESCO Enrico Fulchignoni Award, Venice film festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
, 2018.
Architecture
Philippe Rotthier European Architecture Award
for his ethnic village projec
Küstendorf
(also called Drvengrad – "wooden town") on Mt. Zlatibor
Zlatibor ( sr-cyr, Златибoр ) is a List of mountains of Serbia, mountainous region in western Serbia.
Among the most popular places in Serbia for tourism, Zlatibor's main attractions include health tourism, skiing, and hiking and the lo ...
, Serbia, in 2005. The prize is awarded every three years by the 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 ...
''Foundation for Architecture''.
Literature
* On 8 April 2011, Kusturica was the first person 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
Pljevlja (, ) is a town located in the Northern Montenegro, Northern Region of Montenegro, situated along Ćehotina, Ćehotina river.
The town lies at an altitude of . In the Middle Ages, Pljevlja had been a crossroad of the important commercial ...
* ' Dejan Medaković' Award, 2022
* ' Radovan Beli Marković' Award, 2023
* ' Borisav Stanković' Award, 2024
Orders
* Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...
, France's highest order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
in recognition of significant contribution to the arts.
* Order of St. Sava, Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
's highest decoration, on 12 May 2012
* Order of St. King Milutin, awarded in Andrićgrad by Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...
, on 28 June 2014
* Order of the Holy Despot Stefan Lazarevic, 2016
* Order of Friendship
The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...
, 2016
* Order of the Star of Italy
The Order of the Star of Italy ( ) is an Italian order of chivalry that was founded in 2011. The order was reformed from the 1947 Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity by the 11th President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. The emphasis of the ...
, 2017
* Golden medal Sergei Bondarchuk
Sergei Fyodorovich Bondarchuk (25 September 192020 October 1994) was a Soviet and Russian actor and filmmaker of Ukrainian origin who was one of the leading figures of Soviet cinema in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He is known for his sweeping p ...
, 2017
* Order of the Flag of Republika Srpska, 2018.
* Medal of Merit of the Czech Republic, 28 October 2019
* Sretenje Order, 2021
* Medal ‘Great Russian writer F.M. Dostoevsky 1821-2021’ awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, 2023
* Order of St. Most Reverend Seraphim of Sarov, Russian Orthodox Church, 2024
See also
* List of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors
This is a list of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors and advocates, who work on behalf of the UNICEF, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for children's rights. UNICEF goodwill ambassadors are usually selected by regional ...
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
Küstendorf
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
Naturalized citizens of France
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
20th-century 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)
Pro-Russian people of the war in Donbas