Black Cat, White Cat

In his sixth feature film, made from a screenplay by Gordan Mihić, Kusturica once again turns to the lives of the Roma. The story is set on the banks of the Danube, home to Matko, a Roma small-time smuggler.

One day he comes up with the idea of hijacking a train carrying fuel from Belgrade to Turkey and making a tidy profit. But he needs someone to bankroll the job, so Matko and his son Zare go to see Grga Pitić, the Roma “Godfather” and an old family friend. Grga Pitić agrees to finance the venture, but Matko turns out not to be up to the task: he is outsmarted by Dadan, a young gangster with a taste for cocaine and techno music. Naive Matko ends up in Dadan's debt and proposes that his son Zare marry Dadan's tiny sister Bubamara. Zare, however, loves another girl, the fair-haired Roma Ida. The wedding day arrives. Everyone is celebrating except Ida and Zare. While the guests make merry and Dadan dances, the resourceful bride Bubamara seizes a moment when no one is looking and runs away from her own wedding. As she flees, she meets Grga Veliki, and the two fall in love. Zare, finally free, climbs into a boat with Ida and sails off down the Danube…

“Black Cat, White Cat” is a film about friendship, love and growing up amid the ruins of a society and a system of values that is disappearing.

The film premiered at the 1998 Venice Film Festival, where Emir Kusturica won the Silver Lion for Best Director. Its Belgrade premiere was held on October 16, 1998.

Cinematography is by Thierry Arbogast, production design by Milenko Jeremić, costume design by Nebojša Lipanović and editing by Svetolik Zajc, while the music for the film was written by Dr. Nele Karajlić.

…graduated in acting from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade and for a while pursued acting and music side by side (he played drums in the well-known Belgrade band EKV). He later devoted himself entirely to acting. He is one of Belgrade's most sought-after young actors.

…graduated from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. She made her debut in the film “Nije lako s muškarcima” even before she studied acting. After graduating she performed on stage in Subotica, Novi Sad and Belgrade. She became widely popular through her roles in film and television series.

…lives in Topana, one of the oldest Roma communities in the Skopje region, where he works in a tobacco factory. For a while he was the star of the local TV station “BTR Nacional”, where he hosted a comedy and entertainment show. He has also been a singer, and he recently released, together with friends, an audio cassette of sketches in the style of the popular Sarajevo show “Audicija”. This is his second film role. He made his debut in Stole Popov's “Gipsy Magic”.

…the son of an international boxing champion, he started acting while still in primary school. He is a member of the Roma Drama Theater in Priština and attends a mechanical engineering school. This is his first film role.

…lives in Bar. She first appeared on screen in 1987, in Emir Kusturica's “Time of the Gypsies”. The role made her popular, and together with the film's crew Ljubica Adžović also went to the Cannes Film Festival. She has shot a commercial for Point cigarettes. Although she was offered roles in Germany, she turned them down because, as she says, she works only with Kusturica.