Drvengrad

Drvengrad (Serbian Cyrillic: Дрвенград, lit. 'Timber Town', pronounced [dř̩ʋeŋɡrad]), also known as Küstendorf (Serbian: Kustendorf / Кустендорф) and Mećavnik (Serbian Cyrillic: Мећавник, pronounced [mětɕaːʋniːk]), is a traditional village that the Serbian film director Emir Kusturica built for his film Life Is a Miracle. It is located in the Zlatibor District near the city of Užice, two hundred kilometers southwest of Serbia's capital, Belgrade. It is located near Mokra Gora and Višegrad, best known for Ivo Andrić's Nobel-winning novel, The Bridge on the Drina. Kusturica was the 2005 recipient of the Philippe Rotthier European Architecture award.[1]

Drvengrad

Дрвенград

Küstendorf (Kustendorf / Кустендорф)
Mećavnik
Мећавник
Village
Ethno village - Drvengrad
Drvengrad
Location within Serbia
Coordinates: 43°47′44.25″N 19°30′29.13″E
Country Serbia
DistrictZlatibor District
MunicipalityUžice
Founded byEmir Kusturica
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
Websitemecavnik.info

The idea

Emir Kusturica stated:

I lost my city [Sarajevo] during the war. That is why I wished to build my own village. It bears a German name: Küstendorf. I will organize seminars there, for people who want to learn how to make cinema, concerts, ceramics, painting. It is the place where I will live and where some people will be able to come from time to time. There will be of course some other inhabitants who will work. I dream of an open place with cultural diversity which sets up against globalization.[2]

Village
Overview of the entire Drvengrad village

Drvengrad is also known as Küstendorf, as a word play on German "dorf" (village) and Kusturica's nickname, "Kusta". Also, "Küste" is German for coast. Kusturica has also been known to call it Mećavnik, which is the name of the neighbouring village.

Drvengrad has a library, named the Ivo Andrić Library; an artist gallery named Macola in honor of sculptor Dragan Jovićević (it was previously known as Anika, after a character from Ivo Andrić's prose); Stanley Kubrick Cinema; a main house which houses a cinema-hall in the cellar, a living room, a guest room, a closed yard, a swimming pool, a gymnasium, a sauna and private rooms for the Kusturica family; a sports hall; a restaurant; a cake shop, as well as a souvenir shop; and finally, a Church dedicated to St. Sava.

Nearby is also a ski slope with four trails, as well as a hotel named Mladost ("Youth").

The streets in the village bear the names of various individuals that Kusturica holds in high esteem or finds to be personally significant: Nikola Tesla, Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Diego Maradona, Miodrag Petrović Čkalja, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Joe Strummer, Novak Djokovic and of course, Ivo Andrić, after whom the main street is named.

Film and music festival

Since 2008, the village hosts the annual Küstendorf Film and Music Festival,[3] which showcases films and music from all around the world. The festival is known for not having a red carpet as well as none of the popular Hollywood festival artifacts.

In 2010, it was visited by actor Johnny Depp. During his visit, a statue dedicated to him was unveiled.

  • St. Sava church in Drvengrad
  • One of the restaurants in Drvengrad
  • Drvengrad houses

See also

References
  1. Movie-maker, musician, architect: Emir Kusturica is coming to London, The Sunday Times
  2. Küstendorf at kustu.com
  3. INTERNATIONAL FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL KUSTENDORF/
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