Willem Dafoe will become the latest recipient of Sarajevo Film Festival’s honorary Heart of Sarajevo award, at the festival’s 31st edition (Augu
Willem Dafoe will become the latest recipient of Sarajevo Film Festival’s honorary Heart of Sarajevo award, at the festival’s 31st edition (August 15-22).
Dafoe will give a masterclass at the festival, discussing his career and reflections on contemporary filmmaking with the local audience.
“[Dafoe’s] body of work is something to which every actor aspires,” said festival director Jovan Marjanovic. “Every time he steps in front of the camera, he demonstrates that he is a true master of his craft.”
Dafoe has worked with a roll call of top US and international filmmakers across his career, including Wes Anderson, Kathryn Bigelow, Anton Corbijn, Abel Ferrara, Werner Herzog, Spike Lee, David Lynch, Mary Harron, Guillermo del Toro and Lars von Trier.
He has received four Oscar nominations: best actor for At Eternity’s Gate in 2019, and three times best supporting actor, for Platoon in 1987, Shadow of the Vampire in 2001 and The Florida Project in 2018.
He joins previously announced 2025 honorees Paolo Sorrentino, Stellan Skarsgard and Ray Winstone; plus DAU director Ilya Khrzhanovskiy, who is subject of the festival’s ‘Tribute to’ programme. All of the honorary guests will give masterclasses.
Open Air
Skarsgard’s will present his latest role in Cannes 2025 Grand Prix winner Sentimental Value will screen as part of the festival’s Open Air programme.
Also on the Open Air programme is Miguel Angel Jimenez’s The Birthday Party starring Dafoe, just two weeks after its Locarno world premiere; and Sorrentino’s 2013 title The Great Beauty.
Further Open Air titles include Nadia Fall’s UK feature Brides; Dreams by Michel Franco, another honorary guest this year; and Amelie Bonnin’s Cannes opening title Leave One Day.
The Open Air strand also includes Open Air Premiere, for titles from the region or by regional filmmakers, with films including Thea Gajic’s Surviving Earth.
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