Emir Kusturica / Biography

Born in 1954 in Sarajevo. Graduated film directing at the prestigious Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague in 1978. During the studies, awarded several times for his short movies including Guernica (1978) which took first prize at Student's Film Festival in Karlovy Vary. After graduation, he directs several TV movies in hometown, Sarajevo. In collaboration with the screenwriter Abdulah Sidran in 1981. he made the successful feature debut _Sjecas li se, Dolly Bell (1981)_ which won best first film Golden Lion in Venice Film Festival. Their subsequent work, human political drama Otac na sluzbenom putu (1985) unanimously won top prize at 1985. Cannes Film Festival as well as FIPRESCI prize and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Oscar. In 1989. he won Best Director award at Cannes for Dom za vesanje (1988), movie about the life of gypsy family in Yugoslavia scripted by Gordan Mihic. Was professor of film directing in USA. His first English language movie, Arizona Dream (1993) starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway and scripted by his USA student, David Atkins was awarded Silver Bear at 1993 Berlin Film Festival. Underground (1995), bitter surrealistic comedy about Balkan, scripted by Dusan Kovacevic, took him second Golden Palm at Cannes Film Festival in 1995.