Emir Kusturica

Yugoslavia – France – Germany – Hungary – Bulgaria – Czech Republic
1995, 35mm, col., 178’
Serbo-Croatian – German o.v.

Sceneggiatura / Screenplay: Emir Kusturica, Dušan Kovačević tratta dalla sua pièce teatrale / based on his play Proleće u januaru. Fotografia / Photography: Vilko Filač. Montaggio / Editing: Branka Čeperac. Musica / Music: Goran Bregović. Suono / Sound: Marko Rodić. Scenografia / Art Director: Miljen “Kreka” Kljaković. Costumi / Costume Designer: Nebojsa Lipanović. Interpreti / Cast: Miki Manojlović, Lazar Ristovski, Mirjana Joković, Slavko Štimac, Ernst Stötzner, Mirjana Karanović, Milena Pavlović, Srđan Todorović, Bora Todorović, Bata Stojković, Davor Dujmović, Dr. Nele Karajlić. Produzione / Produced by: Ciby 2000, Pandora Film, Nova Film, Komuna Film. Coproduzione / Co-produced by: Mediarex/Etic, Tchapline Films. Con il sostegno di / Supported by: Filmförderung Hamburg, Eurimages. Distribuzione Internazionale / World Sales: TF1 international.

OPENING FILM

The epic story of two friends to portray a Yugoslav history from the beginning of WWII until the beginning of the Yugoslav wars. Belgrade, 1941. The partisan Marko and his friend Blacky convince their group to find refuge in a tunnel and to make weapons for the black market. Natalija and Marko agree to make everyone believe that the war is still going on and he forces them to live in the tunnel for twenty years while he becomes an important member of Tito’s regime. 50 years later, they become suspicious, and break out of their underground “shelter”, only to convince themselves that Marko was right: the war is still going on.
Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995.

“I had wanted to shoot a comedy for a long time, but I couldn’t do it because some tragic aspects of my personality invariably took over. This time I had a screenplay that allowed me to dose drama and comedy better. It is a very different film to my earlier ones. I consider it a bit like a ‘best of’ or the result of three or four feature films that mix very contrasting tones and emotions. Man manages to find the strength to survive within himself, even in the worst circumstances. It would have served no purpose to accentuate the tragic character of the situation. On the contrary, it was necessary to show how these people were able to cope with their problems. With this story I wanted to explain how the men and women of my country could live the years of Tito and imagine that they had a ‘good life’.” (E. Kusturica from the film’s pressbook, in Emir Kusturica, edited by Giorgio Bertellini, Script/Leuto series, Dino Audino Editore, Rome 1996)

Emir Kusturica
One of the most acclaimed and award-winning European directors, Emir Kusturica is a Serbian director, musician and producer. He was born in 1954 in Sarajevo. In 1981 Do You Remember Dolly Bell? was awarded Best First Film at the Venice Film Festival, while in 1998 Black Cat, White Cat was awarded Silver Lion for Best Director. He won twice the Golden Palm in Cannes, in 1985 for When Father Was Away on Business and Underground. Arizona Dream in 1993 was awarded Special Prize of the Jury at the Berlinale. Since 2008 he has been organizing the Küstendorf Film and Music Festival in Serbia. The Trieste FF presented a number of his films.

filmografia scelta /selected filmography
1979 Nevjeste dolaze film TV 1980 Bife Titanik film TV 1981 Sjećaš li se, Dolly Bell (Ti ricordi di Dolly Bell?); Premi / Awards: Mostra del Cinema di Venezia – Leone d’Oro per la miglior opera prima / Venice Film Festival – Golden Lion for Best First Film 1985 Otac na službenom putu (Papà è in viaggio d’affari); Premi / Awards: Cannes – Palma d’Oro / Golden Palm 1988 Dom za vešanje (Il tempo dei gitani); Premi / Awards: Cannes – Premio speciale della giuria per la miglior regia / Special Prize of the Jury as Best Director 1993 Arizona Dream; Premi / Awards: Berlino – Orso d’Argento, Premio speciale della giuria / Berlin – Silver Bear, Special Prize of the Jury 1995 Underground; Premi / Awards: Cannes – Palma d’Oro / Golden Palm 1998 Crna mačka, beli mačor (Gatto nero, gatto bianco); Premi / Awards: Mostra del Cinema di Venezia – Leone d’Oro / Venice Film Festival – Golden Lion 2001 Super 8 Stories doc. 2004 Život je čudo 2008 Maradona by Kusturica (Maradona di Kusturica) doc. 2016 Na mliječnom putu (On the Milky Road / Sulla Via Lattea) 2018 El Pepe, una vida suprema doc.

TF1 international
festival@tf1.fr

 

world sales: TF1

 

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