FILM DIRECTORS from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Top 4

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Bosnian, Herzegovinian Film Directors of all time. This list of famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Film Directors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Emir Kusturica (1954 - )

With an HPI of 68.21, Emir Kusturica is the most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 64 different languages on wikipedia.

Emir Kusturica (Serbian Cyrillic: Емир Кустурица; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and musician. He also has French citizenship. Kusturica is one of the most distinguished European filmmakers active since the mid-1980s, best known for surreal and naturalistic movies that express deep sympathies for people from the margins. He has also been recognized for his projects in town-building. He has competed at the Cannes Film Festival on five occasions and won the Palme d'Or twice (for When Father Was Away on Business and Underground), as well as the Best Director prize for Time of the Gypsies. Kusturica has won a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for Arizona Dream, a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival for Black Cat, White Cat and a Silver Lion for Best First Work for Do You Remember Dolly Bell?. He has also been made a Commander of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Since the mid-2000s, Kusturica's primary residence has been in Drvengrad, a town built for his film Life Is a Miracle, in the Mokra Gora region of Serbia. He had portions of the historic village reconstructed for the film. He has been a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republika Srpska since 9 November 2011. Among other accolades, Kusturica became a UNICEF ambassador in 2002 and eight years later he was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour in France. He published an autobiography "Smrt je neprovjerena glasina" (“Death Is an Unverified Rumour”) in 2010, followed by a book of fiction, "Sto jada" (“Hundreds of Troubles”), in 2013.

2. Jasmila Žbanić (1974 - )

With an HPI of 49.15, Jasmila Žbanić is the 2nd most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Film Director.  Her biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Jasmila Žbanić (Bosnian pronunciation: [jasmǐla ʒbǎːnitɕ]; born 19 December 1974) is a Bosnian film director, screenwriter and producer. She has received numerous accolades, including nominations for the Academy Award and two BAFTA Awards. Žbanić has also won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and has been nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. She is known for writing and directing the 2020 war drama film Quo Vadis, Aida?, which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language and the BAFTA Award for Best Direction.

3. Danis Tanović (1969 - )

With an HPI of 48.66, Danis Tanović is the 3rd most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Film Director.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Danis Tanović (born 20 February 1969) is a Bosnian film director and screenwriter. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for the Golden Bear and the Palme d'Or. Tanović is known for having directed and written the script for the film No Man's Land (2001), which won him many awards, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He has also written and directed the award-winning films An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker (2013) and Death in Sarajevo (2016). Tanović is the only person born in the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina to have won an Academy Award.

4. Nina Kusturica (1975 - )

With an HPI of 28.76, Nina Kusturica is the 4th most famous Bosnian, Herzegovinian Film Director.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Nina Kusturica is a Bosnian-born Austrian film director, film editor and film producer.