EMIR KUSTURICA

Born on 24 November 1954 in Sarajevo, Emir Kusturica is a Serbian director, musician and producer. Author of nine films, several television and short films, he also plays guitar in a rock band. Among his many prizes, he has received two Golden Palms in Cannes for “When father Was Away on Business” and “Underground”, and the silver Bear (Special Jury Prize) in Berlin for Arizona Dream.
With such an impressive string of internationally acclaimed features, Yugoslavian filmmaker Emir Kusturica became one of the most creative directors in cinema during the 1980s and '90s. He is known as much for his filmmaking as his political activism in his native country as Kusturica spoke out against the Serbian right/ultranationalist movement on many occasions such as challenging the leader of Serbia's ultranationalist movement, Vojislav Seselj, to a high-noon duel in the heart of Belgrade. Seselj declined, saying that he didn't want to be responsible for the death of an artist.
Born in Sarajevo and educated at the distinguished FAMU Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, he began directing Yugoslavian television shows before making an auspicious feature-film debut in 1981 with Do You Remember Dolly Bell?, which won the prestigious Golden Lion at that year's Venice Film Festival. His sophomore film, When Father Was Away on Business (1985), earned a Golden Palm at Cannes, five Yugoslavian Oscar equivalents, and was nominated for an American Academy award for Best Foreign Film. In 1989, he earned even more accolades for Time of the Gypsies a penetrating but magical look into gypsy culture and the exploitation of their youths. Kusturica continued to make highly regarded films into the next decade, including his American debut, the absurdist comedy Arizona Dream (1993) and the Golden Palm-winning black comedy Underground (1995). In 1998, he won the Venice Film Festival's Silver Lion for Best Direction for Black Cat, White Cat, an outrageous, farcical comedy set in a Gypsy settlement on the banks of the Danube.
At the 64th Cannes Film Festival, held 11–22 May 2011, Kusturica presided over the jury of the Un Certain Regard section of the festival's official selection. On 14 May, in Cannes, he was invested with the insignia of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, the highest decoration in France. In September 2012 Emir Kusturica accepted the offer to become the head juror of the first Saint Petersburg International Film Festival. During the festival Kusturica also performed for the residents and guests of Saint Petersburg with his band "The No Smoking Orchestra" During the last months of 2013, Kusturica started shooting a documentary film on the life of the Uruguayan president José Mujica, whom he considers "the last hero of politics". Kusturica currently acts as the president of the Ski Association of Serbia.