News [Archives - 2nd quarter 2004]

• Life is a miracle scores now 500.000 entries in France. The film will make the opening of the festival of Jerusalem on july 8, and will be released in Israël on july 9. Remember also that the film is released tomorrow (june 30) in Belgium !
• It's the gypsy summer at the Cabaret Sauvage in Paris from july 1st to 24th, with the big names of gypsy music like Taraf de Haïdouks, Zaragraf, Urz Karpatz, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Rona Hartner, Kočani Orkestar, Taraf Borzo, and Goran Bregović with his weddings & funerals orchestra.
• Many pictures of the first concerts are available onlinne on the official website of the No Smoking Orchestra.
• The building of the village Emir Kusturica has begun in Serbia-Montenegro goes well : ”I lost my city during the war. This is why I wished to build my village. I gave it a German name : Küstendorf. I will organize there seminars for people who want to learn how to make cinema, concerts, ceramics, painting. It is the city where I will live and where certain people will be able to come from time to time. There will be of course other inhabitants who will work there. I dream of an open place open with cultural diversity and set up against globalization.”

• Emir Kusturica is grand-father for the first time ! Janko, son of Stribor, was born on friday 11th of June.

• No Smoking Orchestra's official website has been completely reworked and now presents up-to-date information. Its address has also changed. It is now www.thenosmokingorchestra.com. The authors say there will be dayly updates, and we can even already see pictures from the first concert in Istanbul.
• The 2004 tour has begun ! The group was very happy with the first concert in Istanbul … Today, the plans are to make from 50 to 60 dates through the world.
• On july 10th, at Embrun (Hautes-Alpes, France), the concert will take place within a unique and original show : during the concert, films will be screened on huge water walls each side of the stage switching between live pictures and extracts of the director's films. Finally on unza unza time an 8 minutes pyrotechnical choregraphy will explode in the sky…
• News from Goran Bregović : he will also tour this summer in France on 07.25 (Saint Malo) and 08.06 (Langres), and in Germany on 07.05 (Stuttgart), 0.706 (Munchen) and 07.31 (Neuhardenberg).
• Symbole of the after-war reconstruction, the new bridge of Mostar will be officially inaugurated on july 23rd 2004, more than ten years after its destruction by the croat artillery. Before & After picture were added to the Bosnia & Herzegovina page.
• Moscow film museum is in danger… please visit the dedicated website to help them.

• The lyrics page has been redesigned, and it includes now the song When life was a miracle, as well as the translation of Ederlezi.
• Informations on this gypsy celebration (the Saint-Georges day) were added on the Gypsies page.
• News on the UNICEF project All the invisible children : 6 directors on the 7 needed are already announced : John Woo (China), Ridley & Jordan Scott (UK), Stefano Veneruso (Italy), Katia Lund (Brazil), Mehdi Charef (Africa) and Emir Kusturica (Serbia-Montenegro) will each make a segment of the whole film.
• Life is a miracle goes very well and has already be seen by 300.000 people in France. Here are the confirmed dates for foreign releases :
  • Belgium : 30 june 2004
  • Russia : 2 september 2004
  • Argentina : 9 september 2004
  • Netherlands : 7 october 2004

• The complete results of the 57th Cannes Film Festival are :
  • Palme d'or : Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore
  • Grand Prix : Old boy by Chan-Wook Park
  • Prix du Jury ex-aequo : Irma P. Hall for Ladykillers by Coen brothers and Tropical malady by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
  • Prix de la mise en scène : Tony Gatlif for Exils
  • Prix du scénario : Agnès Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri for Comme une image
  • Prix d'interprétation masculine : Yagira Yuuya for Nobody knows
  • Prix d'interprétation féminine : Maggie Cheung for Clean
  • Caméra d'or : Or (mon trésor) by Keren Yedaya
  • Palme d'or du court métrage : Trafic by Catalin Mitulescu
  • Prix du jury du court métrage : Flatlife by Jonas Geirnaert
  • Prix de la critique internationale :
    • Official competition : Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore
    • Un certain regard : Whisky by Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll
    • Semaine Internationale de la Critique : Atash by Tawfik Abu Wael
    • Prix de l'Education nationale : Life is a miracle by Emir Kusturica
• The tour dates are updated : 12 shows are already confirmed.
• During recent Interviews or press conferences Emir Kusturica made some confidences :
  • About the end of the film : a more philosophical end was first planned, where Luka would be double : he would have appeared simultaneously in Serbia and in Australia. This scene was not shot in order not to add unreal elements in the film.
  • About the title of the film : Hungry Heart was dismissed because he was told the french translation was more connected to gastronomy than poetry. Furthermore, this title had no relationship with the Bruce Springsteen's song.
  • The Diego Maradona project is not abandonned, but of course, Emir waits Diego to get in a better shape before thinking again to this project.
  • Emir has promised one of his next films will be shot in France, in french. He even already has a scenario : the story would take place in the Middle-Age (a time - these are his own words - he's familiar with), and it's about a man and a forest.
  • With UNICEF, Emir Kusturica will participate to a short films project : All the invisible children, with other great directors like John Woo and Ridley Scott.
  • Emir has confirmed he still had to finish the manuscript of a book “journal d'un idiot politique” for Lattès editions (“otherwise, I have to give the money back…”). The editor expects it for november 2004 for a release scheduled in 2005.
  • Emir hasn't got much time to go on internet, but he knows there is a site “kustu… something” and that is pretty good…

• The Prix de l'Education nationale, given for the second year to a film in both official selections is going to Life is a miracle. Headed by director Claude Miller, the 9 members jury of an educational and professionnal community had to choose a film in the official competition of “Un Certain Regard” selection for its “cinematographic and pedagogical interest as well as artistic qualities”. In 2003, the first Prix de l'Education nationale went to “Elephant” by Gus Van Sant, also Palme d'Or and Prix de la mise en scène the day after. This award makes the film a pedagogical reference of the year for cinema schools. A cd-rom will be made to help understanding it and analysing it for the pupils.
• The complete results will be given on saterday 22.

• Life is a miracle was screened yesterday in Cannes. Emir Kusturica was present with Slavko Štimac, Nataša Šolac, Vesna Trivalić, Dejan Sparavalo, Dr. Nele Karajlić, Marie-Christine Malbert and Alain Sarde. Much applauded, even ovationed, the film strongly impressed the audience…
• Just before had Emir Kusturica participated to a press conference and interview : they can be viewed on the site of the festival de Cannes.
• Where does the story of the film comes from ? In octobre 1995, Emir Kusturica comes to Toulouse (France) for avant-première screening of his film Underground. Kusturica sees his friend director Mladen Materic, founder of the Theatre Tattoo, who tells him the strange story he learnt from a bosnian Serb, Srdjan Ivanović, refugee in Toulouse. Kusturica took contact with Srdjan and his famille. He had to leave Sarajevo in 1992, due to the war, and went to France. His brother, prisoner of the muslims was then held in a camp. The father takes contact with the muslim forces who ask a young girl to be freed before the exchange of prisoners which could make his son free. So he searches for a prisoner girl coming from the eastern part of Bosnia, holding an authorization from the serbian authorities letting M. Ivanović give her to the Red Cross. But the girl doesn't want to leave her keepers because she fell in love of one of them. A second attempt allows M. Ivanović to bring her back. Housed a few months in the serbian family while the negociations continued, the young muslim girl became friend of the Ivanović. She doesn't want to get back to Bosnia, what her mother advices her to, because war rages. At the separation in Belgrade the young girl and the serbian family cry while in Bosnia, Muslims, Croats and Serbs kill each other… The case of the young girl disappears in the negociations, but the prisonner exchange still occur. The Ivanović get their son back, and help the young muslim girl to get to Austria where she meets her uncle, and then fly to the United States. Srdjan stayed in Toulouse and still feels in the exile the pain Kusturica expresses on the disasters of the past. “We left, we're somewhere… We're from a country that doesn't exist anymore” he says while he waits to see Life is a miracle…

• 6 video extracts of Life is a miracle are available on Allociné website. 3 extracts in original language, 3 in French :
  • Extract 1 : the depressive donkey (F)
  • Extract 2 : Miloš goes to the army (F)
  • Extract 3 : breakfast with Sabaha (F)
  • Extract 4 : the opening of the railroad (O), also on the DVD
  • Extract 5 : Bombs falling (O)
  • Extract 6 : Love… (O)
• Press projections were made in april, the first critics ca be read in may magazines. The first critics of Life is a miracle are online : the notes are pretty good !
• In the archives of Le Monde, I found a scream Emir Kusturica wrote on april 24th 1992 when Sarajevo was burning.
• In the last news, it was meant to be “saterday may 8th” for the broadcast date of the film and documentary on CinéCinéma.

• The original film soundtrack is released today in France. Joyfully delirious, it makes us think of the atmospheres of Black Cat, White Cat, but also of the sad melodies of Time of the Gypsies, as well as the fanfares of Underground… In short, the perfect music ! Moreover, it is accompanied by a bonus DVD including two extracts of the film, the clip Unza Unza Time and a gallery of pictures, which will give us patience to wait until May 14. FNAC musicstores offer a CD with 3 extra titles.
• 2004 tour dates will be regularly updated on the No Smoking Orchestra page.
• Independant cinema French magazine Brazil put Emir Kusturica on cover. After the “5 stars” critic of the film Life is a miracle, the magazine gives a 8 pages interview with the director. Always in the same magazine, after an interview with Vincent Gallo, we witness quite a tough verbal fight between the two men, through their interviews.
• Two new Interviews were added : one of july 2000, published in L'Evénement du Jeudi, the other in april 1988, published in Le Monde.
• CinéCinéma loves Emir Kusturica ! In may, the satellite television company has an interesting programme :
  • Saterday may 8 on CinéCinéma Premier : 22h15, Emir Kusturica Girald Fox documentary, 2000.
  • Saterday may 8 on CinéCinéma Premier : 23h00, Black Cat, White Cat
  • Monday may 17 on CinéCinéma Auteur : 21h00, Do you remember Dolly Bell ?
  • Monday may 17 on CinéCinéma Auteur : 22h50, Emir Kusturica, tender Barbarian, new documentary by Marie-Christine Malbert, 2004.
  • Monday may 17 on CinéCinéma Auteur : 23h40, Auteur auteur : Kusturica, light on Emir Kusturica, new, 2004.

Note : Emir Kusturica, tender Barbarian will also be broadcast on friday may 21 at 23.45 on the franco-german channel Arte during a “thema” evening dedicated to Emir Kusturica.

• “Open, original, mixing genres”, such has resumed Thierry Frémaux, artistic director of the 57th festival de Cannes. We now have confimation that Life is a miracle is in official competition for the 57th festival international du film de Cannes. Here are the 18 films in competition :
  • 2046 (Wong Kar-Wai)
  • Clean (Olivier Assayas)
  • Comme une image (Agnès Jaoui)
  • Diarios de motocicleta (Walter Salles)
  • Edukators (Hans Weingartner)
  • Exils (Tony Gatlif)
  • Fahrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore)
  • Innocence (Mamoru Oshii)
  • Woman is the future of man (Hong Sang-Soo)
  • La niña santa (Lucrecia Martel)
  • Le conseguenze dell'amore (Paolo Sorrentino)
  • Nobody knows (Kore-Eda Hirokazu)
  • Old Boy (Park Chan-Wook)
  • Shrek 2 (Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon)
  • The ladykillers (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
  • The life and death of Peters Sellers (Stephen Hopkins)
  • Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
  • Life is a miracle (Emir Kusturica)

With Quentin Tarantino as president, the jury will be composed of Emmanuelle BEART (Actress - France), Edwidge DANTICAT (writer - USA), Tilda SWINTON (Actress - UK), Kathleen TURNER (Actress - USA), Benoît POELVOORDE (Actor, writer - Belgium), Jerry SCHATZBERG (Director - USA), Hark TSUI (Director - Hong-Kong), Peter VON BAGH (Critic - Finland). The festival will run from 12 to 23 may.

• Meanwhile, Emir Kusturica can already be seen in Pas assez de volume (notes sur l'OMC), the new film of Vincent Glenn. Director of Davos, Porto Alegre and other battles, released in january 2003, Vincent Glenn signs there a documentary in the continuity of his militant activities. Mainly built on interviews with politicians, economists and artists (former president of OMC, Mike Moore, economy Nobel Prize Joseph Stiglitz, as well as Susan Gorge, José Bové, Harlem Désir or Emir Kusturica), the film also contains archive footage, concerts extracts, photographic works as well as a personnal touch of the director with a sardonic humour.

• Emir Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra will tour just after the festival de Cannes ! Here are the first dates of what is going to be a world tour !
  • june 5th : Istanbul
  • june 17th : Paris, Grand Rex
  • july 12th : Istres (France)
  • july 13th : Lyon (France)
  • july 30th : Saint-Jean de Luz (France)
  • juy 31st : Montpellier (France)
  • august, 1st : Langon (France)
• The film soundtrack will be released on may 4th 2004. The album will contain the music of the film plus 5 extra tracks. The “collector” edition will be accompanied by a DVD (no information on this DVD for the moment). This album can already be pre-ordered on Amazon.fr (who ships worldwide).
• Life is a miracle will be released in Belgium on june 2nd 2004.

• The french poster of new movie Life is a miracle is revealed.
• New Interviews of Emir Kusturica were added, from 1989 to 2004.
• Recently inteviewed about his new film Coffee & cigarettes, Jim Jarmusch said : ”Finally, an extensible family has created. It contains people I put in my movies, and others I consider as my pairs : Aki Kaurismaki, Claire Denis, Emir Kusturica… people of my generation who make cinema by love for this kind of art.”

• The trailer of Life is a miracle is soon going to be screened in theatres.
• Tender Barbarian, the Marie-Christine Malbert documentary on Emir Kusturica will be broadcast on Satellite channel Ciné-Cinéma on may 14th 2004. It will also be included as a bonus in the belgian DVD (Cinéart), scheduled for 2005.
• The official international website www.lifeisamiracle-themovie.com is now open.
• A new interview, from february 2001 was added. Emir speaks politics, rasons why he gave up some projects, and a new movie… The Nose ! Thank you Jelena for the translation.
• The last news on Duran-Duboi was, of course, an april fool…

• Last minute : After having seen compatriot Enki Bilal's new movie, Emir Kusturica felt much impressed by the progress in computer animation and the savoir-faire of French company Duran-Duboi, who is also responsible for the special effects of Life is a miracle !. A graphic designer from Duran-Duboi told me Emir asked them very recently to quickly find the 3D models of the fish used in the dream sequences of Arizona Dream in order to add it as a joke in the new film. This will not be the first time Emir self quotes, neither that he peforms last minute modifications to a film just before its screening at Cannes…
• French official site www.lavieestunmiracle.com is open ! The english version www.lifeisamiracle-themovie.com should follow soon.
• The transfer of kustu.com website to the new host was done without any problem. Bandwidth is increased by 10 and should be able to greet the new visitors expected for the new film…
• Release date in France has been rescheduled to 14th may 2004. This date should match the screening date in Cannes. But nothing is sure yet before the official press conference on april 15th.
• French distributor will make 150 copies in France. As a comparison, at the same time, Pedro Almodovar's “La Mala Educacion” will have 300 copies, and “Kill Bill 2” 500.
• The site still grows… a new section : Religion which will soon be getting some more information.