Maradona by Kusturica

Emir Kusturica sets out to follow Diego Maradona and puts his own admiration at the centre of the documentary. He films in Buenos Aires and Naples, talking about Maradona's politics, his fight with addiction and his life away from football. The director narrates himself. It runs 90 minutes, in English and Spanish. Rodrigo Pulpeiro Vega photographed it and Stribor Kusturica wrote the music. Jose Ibanez produced and Wild Bunch distributed, with production companies including Pentagrama Films, Telecinco Cinema, Wild Bunch and Fidelite. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008 and was released on 28 May 2008. The box office stopped at roughly 683,632 dollars. The choice of music sets the tone, mixing punk, world music and the Argentine rock tradition. Who it is for: viewers who love Maradona and Kusturica's extravagant manner. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a portrait with distance. The director keeps putting himself in frame, and at times the documentary is about Kusturica more than about Maradona.