Kusturica is one of the world’s most prominent filmmakers, and his films have won many awards from major international festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or twice.

He was born in Sarajevo in 1954 and studied filmmaking at the Academy of Performing Arts in 1978 in Prague. During his studies, he won several awards for his short movies, including ‘Guernica’ (1978), which claimed first place at the Student’s Film Festival in Karlovy Vary.

After graduation, he directed several movies in Sarajevo. Then, in 1981, he collaborated with screenwriter Abdullah Sidran and made his successful feature debut ‘Do You Remember Dolly Bell?’, which won the Silver Lion for best first feature at the Venice Film Festival.

His film ‘When Father Was Away on Business’ (1985) won the Palm d’Or at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival and the FIPRESCI prize and was nominated for the Best Foreign Language film at the Oscars.

In 1989, he won the Best Director Award at Cannes for ‘Time of the Gypsies’ (1988), a film about the life of a gipsy family in Yugoslavia.

His first English language movie, ‘Arizona Dream’ (1993), was awarded the Silver Bear at the 1993 Berlin Film Festival. Also, in 1995, his film ‘Underground’ won him a second Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Kusturica’s achievements, however, are not limited to his array of awards. In 1993, he was chosen as a jury member at the Cannes Film Festival; and in 2005, he was appointed as the president of the jury at Cannes.

The 43rd edition of the CIFF will take place from 26 November to 5 December and will be adhering to the World Health Organisation-approved precautions taken by the Egyptian government to ensure the safety of the festival’s guests, audiences, and team.

The CIFF is one of the oldest and most attended festivals in the Arab world and Africa. It is the only festival in the Arab and African region to be accorded a “Category A” status by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations in Paris.

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