‘Maradona by Kusturica’ Trailer
We previously wrote about Kusturica’s ‘Maradona‘ movie and short interview with Diego Maradona at Cannes Film Festival.
YouTube has a bunch of clips and trailers for this documentary. I thought you might enjoy this.
Maradona steals the show – Cannes 2008
Documentary film ‘Maradona by Kusturica‘ directed by the award-winning Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica had its premiere at 61st Cannes Film Festival, out of competition.
Maradona is at the festival to promote a self-titled docu.
Often considered as the best and most famous footballer in the world, Diego Maradona is also known for his cocaine addiction.
Gallingly for England fans, Kusturica portrays Maradona’s notorious handball in the 1986 World Cup as “a leap for justice”.
Another documentary about a flawed sporting icon, Mike Tyson, is doing the rounds at Cannes.
Maradona said there was little comparison between them:
“He lives in suffering, I live in joy. It is that which distinguishes us from one another.”
Of his one-time drug addiction, he said:
“I live my life in a different way now. I have abandoned those bad habits. Now I have a different life, I’m not living at 100mph as I used to. I’m taking it more gently.”
He explained why he agreed to the documentary:
“People have written a lot of books about me, made a lot of films about me. I have been portrayed as somebody evil, somebody bad, somebody mediocre. Emir was able to penetrate to my heart, to talk about what I have been through in the good and the bad moments of my life.”
The film portrays Maradona as a Messianic figure to Latin Americans.
“I don’t really feel that I am God. There is one one God and it’s not me,” he said, but added: “People have faith in me, they believe in me as perhaps they believe in God… and I’m not going to contradict them.”
He did pass on one anecdote, about a time when he was on an aeroplane with his daughter when it hit turbulence. Seeing that she was frightened “a man saw me on the plane, leaned over to my daughter and said, ‘Don’t worry, God is with us.’”
Asked to name his favourite actress, Maradona replied:
“Julia Roberts. I would do anything to see her come along the Croisette. I would cut off my hand for that, even the hand with which I scored against England.”
Some excerpts from Press Conference: “Maradona by Kusturica”
Emir Kusturica’s docu about Maradona – 61st Cannes Film Festival
New film ‘Maradona‘ directed by the award-winning Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica, in a few days, during the press conference of the 61st Cannes Film Festival, will finally have the premiere – out of competition/special screenings.
The famous Argentine football player Diego Maradona should also be present during the festival.
The huge delay on this film can be partly explained by the difficulties that Emir Kusturica has had to gather the rights on the numerous archive tapes he wanted to use.
Often considered as the best football player in the world, Diego Maradona is also known for his addiction to drugs. Wishing to show his true face, Emir Kusturica signs in this film an intimate portrait of the Pibe de Oro.
UPDATE 05/21/2008 Diego Maradona and Emir Kusturica about ‘Maradona‘ film
Kusturica has talked of this project several times :
”It is the first film that will treat all the aspects of the life of Maradona.
The film will be very complex to make, because I want to show the true personality of Maradona. Football is a science of great mathematical precision!
The film ends when the former football player is in good health, and has no more addiction to drugs.
We will shoot in the Aztec Stadium in Mexico, where Diego scored one of his most famous goals, during the World Cup 1986 against the English team”.
Former member of the band “Mano Negra”, Manu Chao composed great song for this documentary, ‘La vida es una tombola‘ (’The Life is Gamble’)
“We met all the three in Naples and it was wonderful. Emir wanted me to sing “Santa Maradona”, but I didn’t like the idea, so I composed a new song,” said Manu Chao.
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Flash video.
‘La vida es una tombola’ – Manu Chao
Kusturica unveils new festival
A new film festival dedicated to showcasing the work of film school students opens Monday in the Serbian mountain resort of Mokra Gora.The brainchild of international award-winning Serbian director Emir Kusturica, the Kustendorf Film Festival will promote the development of a new generation of film auteurs through a student competition and showcasing the work of new and established filmmakers.A Russian retrospective will screen student films from Mikhalkov (who also has his own retrospective), Andrei Tarkovsky and Andrei Konchalovsky.The festival will feature some of the best auteur films of last year with workshops and screenings of films by German director Fatih Akin (“The Edge of Heaven”), Cannes winner Cristian Mungiu (“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”), Israel’s Eran Kolirin (“The Band’s Visit”) Cristian Nemescu’s “California Dreamin’ ” and Kusturica’s “Promise Me This.”
