The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Kirill, offered warm congratulations to the renowned Serbian director Emir Kusturica on his seventieth birthday, a gesture conveyed by the diocese’s official website. The moment carried significant meaning as the Russian Orthodox Church publicly acknowledged cinema’s power to reinforce cultural memory and shared values across Slavic communities and their diaspora in North America.
In a formal ceremony, Kirill presented Kusturica with the Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov, first degree, recognizing his long-standing commitment to preserving traditional values within modern society. The decoration signals the belief that film can contribute to moral discernment and communal cohesion, while inviting dialogue among viewers in Canada, the United States, and beyond about art’s role in social life.
The patriarch’s remarks described Kusturica’s body of work as anchored in contemporary Serbian art with a distinctive Balkan flavor, producing stories that raise enduring questions about life, love, faith, and personal choice. His cinema, the bishop noted, resonates beyond borders through original sensibilities and a capacity to spark reflection on virtue, responsibility, and the impact of art on society as a whole.
The bishop emphasized that for a devout Orthodox believer, it is uplifting to see a filmmaker who testifies to Gospel ideals of love and brotherhood, underscores the importance of strong family ties, and champions a high moral standard in public life. Such values, he said, deepen the human experience and enrich the cultural conversation about what holds a community together in times of change.
On November 24, Kusturica stated that he planned to travel to Russia to shoot a film based on the works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, signaling ongoing cross-cultural collaboration and a willingness to translate classic literature into cinema that speaks to global audiences, including North American viewers.
Earlier, Kusturica expressed readiness to undertake a project about Vladimir Putin, indicating a willingness to engage with contemporary political themes in a way that uses storytelling to explore power, responsibility, and moral dilemma, inviting diverse international audiences to reflect on these issues through film.