In the 90s, Emir Kusturica said he earned more with the commercials he directed than with his films…
To change his mind, but also after the The polemic 'Underground' when Emir Kusturica had announced he would retire from cinema, he some several commercial films. Emir Kusturica continued this experince ever after since he seemed to enjoy the exercise.
There is thus a whole filmography of TV commercials relatively unknown which makes part of his work.
Some commercials are broadcast in “realvideo” streaming. To see these films, you need the Real One Player plug-in , available here.
Cigarette brand (Switzerland)
The film called “Parisienne People by Emir Kusturica” has a very sophisticated visual and a music of Goran Bregović ; we see jugglers in a fire atmosphere. The camera moves slowly in this strange place, between a circus and an underground bar.
![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Comité pour le sucre (France)
Two funny films from the serie “If you love the sugar… tell him !”, with actors from Jean-Pierre Jeunet's movie Delicatessen.
Banque Populaire (France)
Shot shortly after Underground, we find in this film the Flight theme, a Kusturica's classic. The film takes place in Mongolia. The shooting was a true expedition of 16 days in the land of Genghis Kahn. Scenes were shot in typical mongolian tents, in Ulan Bator, and in the Gobi desert.
Strongly impressed by the landscapes and the mongolian people, with deep nomad roots, Emir Kusturica even told them he would one day come back to make a feature movie there…
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
![]() |
Paco Rabanne perfume (France)
In a very “hot” atmosphere, Emir Kusturica's film is pretty well in the mood of the perfume : “virile” et “modern”…
In this film we see a man waiting for a woman ; she appears in television set “walking down” the stairs… The woman starts to dance and explodes the screen.
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Shot at the time of Black Cat, White Cat, we recognize in this commercial the actress Branka Katić
German film, AIDS campaign
Produced by Karl Baumgartner, this film had Thierry Arbogast for director of photography.
Shot just before ”Unza Unza Time”, this film already owned most of its visual elements. People disappear one by one in a bus, each time it passes through a tunnel…
Renault Occasion (France)
These two ads show persons obsessed by the little details that can spoil the living… In the first film, a girl watches a gorgeous sunset on the sea when a boat passes in front of it ; and in the other one, a man is furious because a rebel hair refuses to get dressed properly.
The message is to say that even for this kind of people, Renault Occasion shall satisfy their customers in every detail…
IOL (Italia On Line), internet access provider (Italy)
Ali Baba doesn't remember the magic formula to open his cave… Luckily, one of his fellows has a portable computer with a wireless internet connection !
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Fruit juice (Serbia)
The shooting of this commercial took 18 days and it was broadcast in Serbia at the moment of the release of Life is a miracle.
Ketchup Baltimor (Russia)
Shooting of this TV ad was made in Küstendorf. We see some funny characters and a laughing horse … of course, with gypsy music.
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Mavi Jeans (Turkey)
The shooting of this commercial took place in Belgrade. We can recognize Marija Petronijević and Nele Karajlic, and, of course, a clear homage to Underground…