He made his feature film debut in 1981 with '' Do You Remember Dolly Bell ? '' , a coming-of-age drama that won the prestigious Silver Lion for Best First Work at that year 's Venice Film Festival . The same year , at the age of 27 , he became lecturer at the newly established Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo , a job that he performed until 1988 . He was also art director of Open Stage Obala ( '' Otvorena scena Obala '' ) . Kusturica 's second feature film , '' When Father Was Away on Business '' ( 1985 ) , earned a '' Palme d'Or '' at Cannes and five Yugoslav movie awards , as well as a nomination for an American Academy Award for Best Foreign Film . Kusturica wrote the screenplays for both '' Do You Remember Dolly Bell ? '' and '' When Father Was Away on Business '' . In 1989 Kusturica earned more accolades for '' Time of the Gypsies '' , a film about Romani culture and the exploitation of their youth . In 1989 he was a member of the jury at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival
Cannes
1985 Cannes Film Festival
Emir Kusturica