Just because I believe in the identity and integrity of my country doesn't make a xenophobe or a nationalist.
Emir KusturicaMy father was an atheist and he always described himself as a Serb. OK, maybe we were Muslim for 250 years, but we were orthodox before that and deep down we were always Serbs, religion cannot change that. We only became Muslims to survive the Turks.
Emir KusturicaYou know, in each segment of ex-Yugoslavia, multi-ethnic life is lost, except I think we somehow still have this in Serbia.
Emir KusturicaMaking movies is a dangerous job. Because you are always the one who stands at the center of the universe when making movies.
Emir KusturicaWhat you have now is a Hollywood that is pure poison. Hollywood was a central place in the history of art in the 20th century: it was human idealism preserved. And then, like any great place, it collapsed, and it collapsed into the most awful machinery in the world.
Emir KusturicaThe advantage of the gypsy language, even though I don't understand it that much, the language is perfect melody. So if you propose the movie the way I do, then the language is just one part of the melody. Orchestrating all inside, and the language is following the meaning of what they say, and it's never the same as written.
Emir Kusturica