5. THE CINEMA GLOBETROTTERS

1. EMIR KUSTURICA: THE GYPSY GLOBETROTTER

Kusturica is a Serbian director, actor and musician known for his many films of international acclaim.. He made his cinema debut in1981 with Do you remember Dolly Bell? which won the prestigious Golden Lion in Venice for the best first film of that year. Kusturica earned more recognition for Time of the gypsies, a film on Rom culture and exploitation of young people. Kusturica and his work have often caused controversy at home and abroad: many critics have argued that the director was promoting a pro-Serbian vision of the war in Yugoslavia and even ethnic intolerance during the Second World War. All said and done, he uses his films to present East European and Romanian culture to the world.

Video. THE CULT FILM OF KUSTURICA

2. SHYAMALAN: THE NEW HITCHCOCK

Originally called Manoj Nelliyattu, Shyamalan was born in India but grew up in the elegant suburb of Penn Valley in Philadelphia. His first film, Praying With Anger (1992), is based in some ways on his return visit to the land of his birth India.. He became famous internationally with the film The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable (2000) and Signs (2002). He has the habit of making cameo appearances in his films like Alfred Hitchcock, to whom he has been compared to by critics. His films tend to focus on religious or sad themes like marital separation which happens frequently in the United States and which is a strong symbol in the East.

Video. CONVERSATIONS WITH SHYMALAN

3. WONG KAR-WAI: SENTIMANTAL METAPHORS

Born in Shanghai, he moved to Hong Kong with his parents at the age of five. International acclaim first came at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997, where he won the Best Director award for Happy Together. In The Mood For Love (2000) and Six Days (2002) which also received positive feedback from the critics and the public. His first full length film in EnglishMy Blueberry Nights opened the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 as one of the 22 films in the competition. The American singer-songwriter Norah Jones made her debut in the film. Wong Kar-Wai uses a lot of symbolism or intense metaphors in various situations in his films to represent his characters’ state of mind while they are doing something seemingly trivial on the screen. Whether his films are set in the 60s or the present day they always have 60s music playing in the background.

Video. In The Mood For Love

4. FERZAN OZPETEK: THE ITALIAN TURK

He is a Turkish director and scriptwriter; he studied in Italy where he has become famous. His debut behind the camera was in 1997 with the film The Turkish Bath (Hamam), an Italian, Spanish and Turkish co-production. He identifies himself as an Italian citizen and he is one of the few immigrant directors to have been given this honour. In 2001 he directed His Secret Life, interpreted by Margherita Buy and Stefano Accorsi, a bitter sweet comedy of friendship and homosexuality. The film was a great success at the box-office, becoming one of the most important films of the year and won 3 Golden Globes and 4 Silver Ribbons. In 2008 the MoMA in New York dedicated a retrospective look at the life of the Italian-Turkish director which was repeated recently in Budapest, Rome and London.

Video. GAY CULTURE IN LOOSE CANNONS

5. PENELOPE CRUZ: THE SPANISH ENCHANTRESS

Known outside her homeland as the “Spanish enchantress”, Penélope Cruz Sánchez was born in Madrid from Eduardo (a retailer) and Encarna (a hairdresser). In 2001 was a turning point in Cruz’s career with her appearances in the American films Vanilla Sky and Blow. She has had many opportunities to work with her favourite directors and in big productions like Gothika, Head in the Clouds and Vicky Christina Barcelona, for which she won an Oscar. In her thank you speech she mentioned the Spanish director Almadovar and drew attention to her life away from her homeland, paying tribute to her Spanish heritage with the following words: “I grew up in a place called Alcobendas, where this was not a very realistic dream”.

Video. THE SECRETS OF MY SUCCESS