When Father Was Away on Business

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7.301

NR

Genre: Drama
Release year: 1985
Running time: 136 min
Country: Yugoslavia

In a post-WWII Yugoslavia still under Stalinist rule in the 1950s, six-year-old Malik is oblivious as to why his father, Mehmed, has suddenly disappeared. In truth, Mehmed has been sent to a labor camp as punishment for acts of sexual indiscretion involving young girls. Malik's mother, Senija, however, has no answers, and the family must cope in the father's absence.

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Predrag 'Miki' Manojlović
Mehmed 'Meša' Zolj, otac
Mira Furlan
Ankica Vidmar
Eva Ras
Ilonka Petrović
Mustafa Nadarević
Zijah 'Zijo' Zulfikarpašić
Emir Hadžihafizbegović
Fahro Zulfikarpašić
Jasmin Geljo
Davor Dujmović
Mirza Malkoč, brat
Pavle Vuisić
Muzafer Zulfikarpašić, dedo

Emir Kusturica
Director
Vilko Filač
Director of Photography
Abdulah Sidran
Writer
Mirza Pašić
Producer
Zoran Simjanović
Original Music Composer
Divna Jovanović
Costume Design
Andrija Zafranović
Editor
Predrag Lukovac
Production Design

deepkino 9/17/2025 10:40:10AM 8.4

Emir Kusturica's When Father Was Away on Business is a courageous, funny, and deeply moving film that blends comedy, family drama, and political realism. The title refers to the lie a family tells a six-year-old boy to explain his father's imprisonment in a labor camp for a thoughtless remark that offended Communist officials. It won the Palme d'Or at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

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