Author and poet Abdulah Sidran of Bosnia, who penned the screenplay for Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica’s Cannes-winning picture, passed away in Sarajevo over the weekend, according to local media. Sidran was 79 years old.
Sidran had experienced severe health problems during the previous year, which caused him to distance himself from the public and post on social media seldom. These could be the cause of his demise.
The screenplay for Kusturica’s 1985 Palme d’Or winner “When Father Was Away on Business” was written by Sidran, who passed away late on Saturday.
Sidran, who was born in Sarajevo in 1944, began releasing literary works in the 1960s, particularly poetry.
His mother, Behija (née Jukić), was a housewife, and his father, Mehmed Sidran (1915–1965), was a locksmith at a railway workshop. He was born to Bosnian Muslims.
The hamlet of Biograd, close to Nevesinje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is where the Sidran family’s origins may be found. In 1903, Hasan Sidran, Abdulah’s paternal grandpa, moved from Belgrade to Sarajevo.
He was a vocal opponent of the forces, especially those from his home city of Sarajevo, that have torn the Balkans apart on several occasions.
He was awarded numerous literary honors both domestically and abroad, and he was a member of the Bosnian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ANUBiH).
Sidran never revealed any information about his wife and children. The identities of his wife and children are currently unknown.
