Danis Tanović was born in 1969 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He first studied at the Sarajevo Film Academy, but the war forced him to interrupt his studies. He then left his country and settled in Belgium, where he continued his studies at INSAS, developing his politically engaged cinematic style.

In 2001, his first feature film, No Man's Land, a satire of the Bosnian War, was critically acclaimed. The film won the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes, the César Award for Best First Film, and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

He followed this with Inferno (2005), a film based on a screenplay by Krzysztof Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz. In 2010, he directed Cirkus Columbia, which was selected to represent Bosnia at the Oscars. His film The Scrap Dealer's Wife (2013) was presented in competition at Berlin, where it won the Silver Bear for Best Actor and the Grand Jury Prize.

In 2016, Death in Sarajevo triumphed at the Berlinale with another Grand Jury Prize. Alternating between drama and comedy, he explores themes related to the history and society of the Balkan region.

In 2024, he directed My Late Summer, a dramedy shot on a Croatian island, confirming his talent for telling stories that are both intimate and universal.