News [Archives - 1st quarter 2004]

The site kustu.com was unfortunately closed this week end, due to a bandwidth overage. The site was restored on monday, but a transfer to a more powerful server is necessary. There should be no more problem now. Let me take advantage of this event to thank the visitors, more numerous than ever : 4000 pages read per day from the whole world.

Emir Kusturica & the No Smoking Orchestra has offered Lost in the supermarket, a funny song for an ATTAC compilation : Another world is possible. This compilation presents rare or unreleased songs by engaged artists such as Manu Chao, Asian Dub Foundation, Zebda, Idir or Moby. This CD is accompanied by a book with contributions of writers, universitarians, resistants, politicians… among whom commandant Marcos, José Bové, Chico Whitaker, Ignacio Ramonet… The book is illusrated by Altermondialist events witnesses (Georges Bartoli, Shehzad Noorani, Thomas Kern, David Richard…). This disc is released since march 2nd in France and will be available in most countries of Europe during april.

The french distributor Mars Distribution of Life is a miracle announces may 26th 2004 for release in France, that is the week after the closing ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival.

Emir Kusturica keeps an eye on Zlatibor and wishes, like Luka in Life is a miracle, to build a railway there, in order to promote tourism.

The official synopsis of Life is a miracle is updated.

In France will be sold on march 26th the magazine OPTIMUM with a 4 pages exclusive interview of Emir Kusturica and 8 pages of previously unreleased set photos taken by Marcel Hartmann.

Like for When father was away on business, Time of the Gypsies and Underground, Emir Kusturica will let serbian television editing a long version of Life is a miracle. Broadcast abroad is not planed yet.

Release in France on march 24th of Luc Bondy's Ne fait pas ça !, with Miki Manojlović

57th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will have for president Quentin Tarantino (Palme d'or in 1994 with Pulp fiction). The festival will evolve this year : the results will be known on saterday, and the ceremony will be on sunday. This should allow everybody to be present on the Croisette. Important names are already circulating : Abbas Kiarostami, Pedro Almodovar (who should make the opening of the festival), digital projection of Shrek 2, “The Motorcycle diaries” by Walter Salles (on the life of the Che)…

The (strange) point of view of Vincent Gallo was added in the Homages to Francis Ford Coppola.

A new file in the Homages paid by Emir Kusturica to his peers : this time, the directors of Hollywood in the 40's : Alfred Hitchcock, Charles Chaplin, Ernst Lubitsch and many others…

Three new books in the Literature page : Ismaïl Kadaré, Ivo Andrić and Ljiljana Habjanović-Durović

Some news of Life is a miracle… not a lot : the film is completely finished, but the producer waits for the french version to present it to the selection committee of Cannes.

French independant cinema magazine “Brazil” presents this month four pages on Life is a miracle, compiling interviews done the last years. “Brazil”, as many other cinema magazines, presents also a big file on Enki Bilal's new film : Immortel (ad vitam), which is due to be released on march the 24th.

Re-release in theatres of Time of the Gypsies in restored copies, previously announced for end 2003 was postponed to june 2004.

News from Goran Bregović… Goran recently said he wanted to make a movie of Bizet's “Carmen”, adding some gypsy culture, and giving it an “happy end”. He has already written the script and the music, but he will first make a show of it and a tour in Italy is already planed in more than 30 cities. Moreover, director Terry Gilliam has asked him to work on the score of his new film “The Brothers Grimm” which should be released end 2004.

1804-2004 : The modern state of Serbia celebrates his bicentenary. Indeed, it's in february 1804 that under Karageorges, the serbs rebelled against the janissaries, the Ottoman militia which terrorized the population. The current state of Serbia & Montenegro chose this date to symbolize its will of existance and independence in respect of personal freedoms.

Dr. Nele Karajlić and the No Smoking Orchestra are in the studio these days. I've been told they might release an album as well as the new film soundtrack.

Francis Ford Coppola is added in the homages section.

Milorad Pavić's The dictionary of the Khazars is added in the Literature page.

Digging again, I found new stuff in The drawer of the given-up projects.

Working on the new film Life is a miracle is approaching the end : a first version with definitive images will soon be screened for the actors.

Srecna Nova Godina ! Today starts the New Year, according to orthodox calendar.

New section opening : the Homages paid by Emir Kusturica to the great directors he admires. For the moment, you'll find Jean Vigo and Andréï Tarkovski. Many other names will soon be added to this list within the next weeks.

The americain DVD of Underground is now detailed. Comparative tests are clearly giving advantage to the belgian edition…

The new movie Life is a miracle is getting ready. Here are the latest news :

Books chronicles are being reorganised on the site. A new Literature station is opened for better making the difference between fictions close to Emir Kusturica's universe and the books dedicated to himself or his cinema (which remain in the books section). To inaugurate this new section, let me introduce Robert Hasz, an hungarian author, exiled from voïvodina, who wrote a little jewel of absurdity with ex-Yugoslavia's war in background The Fortress.

The “Amazon” links on english pages point now toward the americain Amazon.com website to help people order from any place in the world. This site proposes also references unfindable in some countries (like the VHS of When father was away on business or Time of the Gypsies)

From 14 to 31 january will be played at the Théâtre des Abbesses in Paris Dušan Kovačević's play : The Professional, the well known scenario-writer of Underground. Information : +33(0)1.42.74.22.77. A meeting with the author is organised by the Centre Culturel de Serbie et Monténégro on thursday 15th january at 19.30.