Darko Lungulov, a talented filmmaker hailing from Serbia, embarked on an exciting journey in the world of cinema by moving to New York City. He pursued his passion for filmmaking by graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film and video from City College of New York (CCNY).
Darko's debut feature film, Here and There, garnered immense recognition and acclaim. It won the prestigious Best NY Narrative Award at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2009 and received glowing reviews from renowned publications such as The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and The New York Times. The film went on to win 20 awards at over 50 international film festivals, solidifying its status as a critically acclaimed masterpiece.
Here and There was initially selected as Serbia's Oscar candidate, but unfortunately, it was disqualified due to containing "too much English dialogue" for the foreign-language category. Despite this setback, Darko received the Best Director award from FIPRESCI Serbia in 2009.
The film was later theatrically released in the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, and Greece, showcasing Darko's versatility as a filmmaker. Interestingly, it was one of the early Netflix-streamed films, available to audiences from 2010 to 2012. Currently, it streams on the Amazon Prime platform.
In 2010, Darko served as a jury member at the Tribeca Film Festival. He then went on to direct his next film, a dark comedy titled Monument to Michael Jackson, which premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2014. The film received critical acclaim from Variety and won several awards, including The Best Eastern European Film Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in 2015.
Darko's subsequent projects included co-writing the official Sundance 2016 entry, A Good Wife, directed by Mirjana Karanovic. He also directed two seasons of the TV series The Suspects for Serbian national television in 2016 and 2017.
In 2022, Darko served as a director consultant on Mirjana Karanovic's second directorial effort, Mother Mara. His latest project, the music documentary Yu Grupa - A Fleeting Dream, had its national premiere in March 2023. This 7-year labor-of-love tells the story of a family and Yugoslavia through the lens of the rock band Yu Grupa, using unseen Super 8 home films and footage from Yugoslav Film Archives. The documentary is an intimate portrait of a close-knit family and their struggles, collapsing barriers between epic and intimate, past present and.
