• The release of Do you remember Dolly Bell ? and When father was away on business on DVD in the USA (zone 1, NTSC) is announced for 12th april. The DVD are already available for pre-order on Amazon.com with a 30% discount. It's the first time for both films that they are made available on DVD with english subtitles.
• Student of Emir Kusturica at the Columbia University in New York, Giovanni Robbiano talks about his unfinished film Hermano, italian cinema, the “Kustu-class” and their friendship. The exclusive - and passionnating - interview he gave to me can be read here.

• Life is a miracle has won the César (French Academy Award) for the best film of the European Union, ex-aequo with Just a kiss by Ken Loach.
• A Forum has been added to the website kustu.com. Several sections have been created :
  • A “general” section where you can discuss about all or nothing, about Emir Kusturica and the Balkans, or not, and where you can sell, search or swap objects.
  • The films : one forum per film in order to give your own impressions or to ask questions …
  • The music : one forum on the No Smoking Orchestra, and another on Goran Bregović.

This forum being brand new, it will seem to be quite empty at the begining, but it's up to you to make it living and friendly. I invite you to create an account, and to let it know to your friends. The direct address of the forum is : http://forum.kustu.com. I am the moderator of this forum and I'll keep an eye on the discussions. I count on you ! Only one constraint : please write in english so that a maximum of people can participate. I'll keep listening to your comments : the sections may evolve according to there use.

• Stored a long time in The drawer, Maradona documentary project is now more than ever in Emir's mind. Indeed, after the tour in South America, whenb the rest of the band gets back to Europe, Emir shall stay in Argentina in order to shoot the first pictures at Diego Maradona's daughter's birthday. We know Emir Kusturica's passion for football (since when father was away on business until the memorable scene of Life is a miracle), it's in fact Diego Maradona himself who has chosen Emir Kusturica to take care of his image, and to restore the harmony within his family. Some sequences should then be shot in Napoli (Italy), Barcelona (Spain) and in Cuba, for a shooting length of 5 months (nevertheless the No Smoking Orchestra tour, and the Cannes festival jury presidence). This film isn't included in the StudioCanal contract, we can guess it will be produced by Rasta international, Maja and Emir Kusturica's production company.
• The belgian edition of Life is a miracle DVD released in the beginning of february contains Marie-Christine Malbert's documentary Tender Barbarian in place of the DVD-Rom part.

• Complete information on Emir Kusturica's very first movies now are present in the before Dolly Bell page, and mostly on The brides are coming (1978), a film treating of incest, and Titanic (1979), adaptated from an Ivo Andrić novel and which was already announcing Underground.
• On 20th april at the Zénith in Paris, the Cabaret des Triplettes (music from the animation film Les Triplettes de Belleville, aka Belleville rendez-vous) will make the opening of the concert of the No Smoking Orchestra.
• New dates are announced for the tour :
  • 16/06/05 : Tarbes, France
  • 17/06/05 : Biarritz, France
  • 18/06/05 : Bilbao, Spain
  • 20/06/05 : Toulouse, France
  • 21/06/05 : Avignon, France
• Emir Kusturica will direct a TV commercial for russian ketchup brand Baltimor.
• And don't forget to visit the symbols : new pictures were added to them.

• French editor TF1 video will finally release on april 22nd 2005 Underground in a collector 3 DVD edition :
  • DVD 1 : the film in French language
  • DVD 2 : the film in Serbian language with French subtitles
  • DVD 3 :
    • previously unreleased documents
    • interviews & behind-the-stage
    • trailers
    • diaporama
    • filmographies
    • shooting picture book

As encoding for both languages is on two discs, we can expect a high DVD transfer quality. For the moment, we have no information on the exact content of the “previously unreleased documents”. This collector set is already available for pre-order on Amazon.fr for 24.98 euros, shipping worldwide.

• DVD again, the one of Life is a miracle is now officially available in 3 countries : Russia, Belgium and France. Quality is gorgeous and reproduces greatly the specific landscapes colours of the film. As for the bonus, the making-of gives an interesting look at the people who are behind this neverending shooting. Content of the bonus and the DVD-Rom will soon be more detailed.
• DVD finally, the one of Time of the Gypsies, initially scheduled for march 2005, is delayed Sine die. There are still some copyrights problems to solve…
• The No Smoking Orchestra tour goes on. New dates are in bold :
  • 02/03/05 - Santiago, Chili
  • 03/03/05 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • 05/03/05 - Cordoba, Argentina
  • 06/03/05 - Rosario, Argentina
  • 08/03/05 - Neuquén, Argentina
  • 10/03/05 - Cordoba, Argentina
  • 12/03/05 - Mar del Plata, Argentina
  • 15/03/05 - Medellin, Colombia
  • 16/03/05 - Bogota, Colombia
  • 09/04/05 - Vilnius, Lituania (warning, the date of this concert has changed, and is not definitively confirmed)
  • 12/04/05 - Riga, Latvia
  • 19/04/05 - Bourges, France
  • 20/04/05 - Paris (Zenith), France
  • 22/04/05 - Strasbourg, France
  • 06/07/05 - Athens, Greece
  • 07/07/05 - Athens, Greece
  • 19/07/05 - Perpignan, France
  • 21/07/05 - Bollene, France
  • 23/07/05 - Nice, France
  • 04/08/05 - Crozon, France
• Regarding the Cannes Film Festival 2005, for which Emir Kusturica will be president of the jury : if you between 18 and 25, you can participate at the young jury :

A call for candidates is launched by ministery of youth for the Prix de la Jeunesse of the next Cannes festival, that will take place from may 11 to 22.
60 young people coming from all regions of France and all member countries of the European Union are invited by the Ministery to participate to the Cannes festival and to express their artistic point of views. Nine will constitute the Jury-jeunes, which will give the 24th Prix de la Jeunesse to a film chosen between the two official selections (Official Compétition and Un Certain Regard).
In order to participate to the Prix de la Jeunesse, the candidates must be between 18 and 25 years old and send before march 15th 2005, the following documents to the Centre régional d'Information Jeunesse (CRIJ) :

• a CV
• four ID pictures
• a motivation letter
• A 2 to 4 pages letter explaining their feelings with cinema et with films through the theme of this year : the look.

All the peopl pre-selected will participate at the actions proposed around the Prix de la Jeunesse : workshops, documentaries, projections and debates.
Last year, the jury-jeune, which was composed of seven young cinephiles, gave the Prix de la Jeunesse to the hungarian film KONTROLL by Nimrod Antal, presented in the section Un Certain Regard.

• Life is a miracle is nominated for the French academy awards, the Césars for the best European Union Film. The ceremony will take place on 26th february 2005. The film will be opposed to Just a kiss by Ken Loach, La mala educacion by Pedro Almodovar, Mondovino by Jonathan Nossiter, and Saraband by Ingmar Bergman.
• Here are the new dates of the No Smoking Orchestra tour :
  • 02/03/05 - Santiago, Chili
  • 03/03/05 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • 05/03/05 - Cordoba, Argentina
  • 12/03/05 - Mar del Plata, Argentina
  • 15/03/05 - Medellin, Colombia
  • 10/04/05 - Vilnius, Lituania
  • 12/04/05 - Riga, Latvia
  • 19/04/05 - Bourges, France
  • 20/04/05 - Paris (Zenith), France
  • 22/04/05 - Strasbourg, France
  • 19/07/05 - Perpignan, France
  • 21/07/05 - Bollene, France
  • 23/07/05 - Nice, France

Many other concerts are also being prepared, and can still not be officially announced, but be aware that the tour will continue at least until september 2005…

• At Mokra Gora, near Küstendorf, Emir Kusturica is fighting against a british nickel mining company that threathens to spoil the magnificent landscapes seen in Life is a miracle. The mining company has had the necessary authorizations despite the reluctance of the government. That's why local authorities have asked UNESCO to put the site in the Man & Biosphere plan.

• Emir Kusturica will be the president of the 58th Cannes Film Festival, which will take place from may 11 to may 22 ! After having received 2 Palmes d'or for When father was away on business and Underground, as well as the prix de la mise en scène for Time of the Gypsies and last year the prix de l'éducation nationale for Life is a miracle, Emir Kusturica is used to the Croisette : two years ago, he was president of the jury of the shorts films. He just declares : ”I want to thank the Festival de Cannes which, twice, has given to my films the golden palm (…). Now, it's my turn to defend the valeurs of the Festival : my mission as the president of the jury is to place the aesthetic and the artistic at the heart of the event.”. Emir Kusturica will succeed to Quentin Tarantino at the prestigious title of Président du jury, once the world tour with the No Smoking Orchestra is finished. Emir also loves to say “I was born several times, and one of my births took place in Cannes”…
• On january 27 2005 will be released in Hungary the DVD of When father was away on business. Those who speak hungarian can order it on http://www.netpiac.hu
• Many new posters of the films from all over the world were added in the website. Thanks to Robert B. for his help !

• Best wishes for 2005 !
• Life is a miracle DVD is now available for rent in France since january 3rd. No interactivity (for the commercial version, we have to wait for february 7th), but choice between French and Serbian languages.
• In 2005, Emir Kusturica continues touring with his band ; they are going to fly to South America in february. This tour is a huge success : all the concerts are sold out weeks in advance, and the group members take a great pleasure every evening. Next dates are :
  • 09/01/05 - Logrono, Spain (ACTUAL Film Festival)
  • 12/01/05 - Barcelona, Spain
  • 14/01/05 - Madrid, Spain
  • 15/01/05 - Murcia, Spain
  • 17/01/05 - Lisboa, Portugal
  • 03/02/05 - Haïfa, Israel
  • 05/02/05 - Tel Aviv, Israel
  • 25/02/05 - Mexico, Mexico (Film festival)
• New Interviews (may 2004 and september 99) were added.
• The tour should last a few months more, and then Emir shall return to Küstendorf where some new challenges are waiting for him.