When Father Was Away on Business

When Father Was Away on Business (1985) is Emir Kusturica's drama, available to watch online on iFILM. In late-1940s Sarajevo, six-year-old Malik can't figure out where his father has suddenly gone.

This is the time of Tito's break with Stalin, when a careless remark can cost a man his freedom. Mehmed (Miki Manojlović), a charming womanizer, is informed on and shipped off to a labor camp. The boy gets a tidier story: dad is away on business. What follows is three hard years that Malik's mother Senija (Mirjana Karanović) shoulders mostly alone, caught between poverty, fear and her own resentment. The big politics stay at the edges, glimpsed through a child's eyes that never quite grasp the adult secrets.

The film took the Palme d'Or at Cannes — Kusturica's first — then went on to compete for the Foreign Language Oscar, pushing him into Europe's directorial front rank. The bleak years come wrapped in wry humor, music and warmth that would become his signature. It rewards anyone who loves slow, humane dramas with real history underneath. Stream When Father Was Away on Business (1985) online on iFILM.