Born in Sarajevo in 1954, Emir Kusturica studied at FAMU in Prague, and won the Golden Lion for his first feature, Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981). When Father Was Away on Business (1985) won the Palme d'Or, and Underground (1995), a wild epic of Yugoslavia from the Second World War to the civil war of the 1990s, won a second, making him one of the few directors to win it twice. His films are exuberant, mixing comedy, tragedy, folk music and magical realism, and have been criticised for their political positions. He also plays in a band, the No Smoking Orchestra.
Filmography
- Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981)
- When Father Was Away on Business (1985)
- Time of the Gypsies (1988)
- Arizona Dream (1993)
- Underground (1995)
- Black Cat, White Cat (1998)
- Life Is a Miracle (2004)
- Promise Me This (2007)
- Maradona by Kusturica (2008)
- On the Milky Road (2016)