Danis Tanović (born 20 February 1969) is a Bosnian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for having directed and written the script for the 2001 Bosnian movie No Man's Land which won him many awards, including an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film among many others. Tanović has also written and directed the award-winning Bosnian films An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker and Death in Sarajevo. He is regarded as one of the best Bosnian directors and screenwriters of all time, and also one of the best from Southeast Europe. Tanović is the only person born in the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina to have won an Academy Award. Life and career Tanović was born in Zenica, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia on 20 February 1969. He was raised in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, where he also received his primary and secondary education. Tanović also attended the University of Sarajevo Music Conservatory, where he played the piano. As a young adult, he decided to study at the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo. However, due to the Siege of Sarajevo and the Bosnian War, Tanović was forced to stop his studies in 1992. Immediately after war broke out, Tanović formed a film crew that followed the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina going on dangerous missions. The material that he and the film crew produced has since been used in numerous films and news reports about the Siege of Sarajevo and the Bosnian War. In late 1994, Tanović left the film crew he had worked with for over two years. A year later, he decided to resume his studies, this time in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 1997, he completed his studies in Brussels, graduating at the top of his class. During his studies, Tanović made several documentary films. Shortly after, he began his first movie project, entitled No Man's Land. He wrote and directed the movie, which was completed in 2001 and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival that same year. No Man's Land went on to win the Award for Best Screenplay (Prix du scénario) at Cannes, followed by numerous awards including the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2001, the European Film Academy Award for Best Screenplay, the César for the Best First Feature