Emir Kusturica (Serbian Cyrillic: Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, then-Yugoslavia) is a Serbian-French film director, producer, actor and musician.
He graduated in film directing at the prestigious Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in 1978, then he directed several TV movies in his hometown, Sarajevo. His 1981 feature debut, Do You Remember Dolly Bell?, won the Silver Lion for Best First Feature at the Venice Film Festival, and two of his films won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He later took residence in France and acquired French citizenship.
One of the most renowned European filmmakers since the mid-'80s, he is best known for his surreal and naturalistic movies that express deep sympathies for people from the margins, such as Gypsies.
Selected works:
Directed films:
- When Father Was Away on Business (1984)
- Arizona Dream (1993)
- Underground (1995)
- Black Cat, White Cat (1998)
Acting roles:
- The Good Thief (2002) as Vladimir
- Farewell (2009) as Sergey Grigoriev a.k.a. "Farewell"
Tropes in his works:
- Fake Russian: As an actor, he's frequently cast to play Russians (such as in The Good Thief or Farewell), and he's Serbian.
