BELGRADE: The acclaimed Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica has started shooting a new feature film, Čuružanka, on 10 June 2026. A solely Serbian production, the film is based on the novel The Last Term by the late Russian writer Valentin Rasputin (1937-2015).
Čuružanka (in English, The Lady/Woman of Čurug, although no official English title hasn’t been released yet) is in production till the end of October 2026. Most of the shooting is taking place in the town of Čurug, in the north of Serbia.
“In this film, there is a picture of a family, a Serbian family, that will never fall apart. However, what happens there is directly related to the time in which we live, and all the challenges and everything that happens in our environment actually merge somewhere in that fairytale house. I think it is love, which is not expressed in that family, but it is the main basis of this film”, Emir Kusturica said at a press conference held in Čurug on 9 June 2026.
Kusturica wrote the script with young David Jakovljević, who previously penned the script of The Beheading of St. John the Baptist / Usekovanje (2022) and Lilacs / Jorgovani (2024), both of directed by Siniša Cvetić and produced by Košutnjak Film.
“The difference between the script and what was written in the novel is actually one level of emancipation that has been introduced through the character of Ana (played by Vesna Trivalić). In the novel she is a woman who uncontrollably gives birth to nine children, and here she is a teacher who keeps that family in a kind of educational tone. But what is important, the universalism of Chekhov’s perception was very easily translated into the Serbian language here. I must point out that the dialogues are mainly the work of David Jakovljević, who has an unusual sense of the melody of the Serbian language, and that he contributed to the fact that this text, which originally came from a southern Ukrainian province during the Soviet Union and is much colder and more alienated, has now become warmer”, Kusturica also said.
The cast consists of: Vesna Trivalić, Jovana Gavrilović, Vahid Džanković, Tamara Dragičević, Andrija Milošević, Tamara Krcunović, Anđelija Mandić, Predrag Miki Manojlović, Milan Marić, Andrija Kuzmanović, Seka Sablić, Isidora Janković, Milan Vasić, and Slaviša Čurović.
Čuružanka is a coproduction among Serbian production houses Lotika, Rasta Film, and Košutnjak Film. Zoran Janković is the executive producer.
Production Information:
Producers:
Lotika (Serbia)
Rasta Film (Serbia)
Košutnjak Film (Serbia)
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Credits:
Director: Emir Kusturica
Scriptwriters: Emir Kusturica, David Jakovljević
DoP: Timofey Lobov
Composer: Stribor Kusturica
Production designer: Ivana Protić
Costume designer: Magdalena Klašnja
Cast: Vesna Trivalić, Jovana Gavrilović, Vahid Džanković, Tamara Dragičević, Andrija Milošević, Tamara Krcunović, Anđelija Mandić, Predrag Miki Manojlović, Milan Marić, Andrija Kuzmanović, Jelisaveta Seka Sablić, Isidora Janković, Milan Vasić, Slaviša Čurović
