European Film Academy director Matthijs Wouter Knoll and Yorgos Lanthimos Athena producer Rachel Tsangari are among the industry professionals selected to join British star Emily Watson on the Sarajevo Film Festival jury.
He will judge, along with director Igor Bezinovic and actress Sara Klimoska, the feature film competition at the Bosnian Film Festival, which runs for a week in mid-August.
Watson joins a rich lineup of authors who have previously chaired the Sarajevo jury on previous editions, including Mike Leigh, Jeremy Irons, Asghar Farhadi, Ruben Östlund, and Mia Wasikowska.
The group will award the Heart of Sarajevo awards in the feature film competition at the ceremony that will be held on August 21.
Watson most recently starred as Shakespeare’s Mary in Chloe Zhao’s film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning historical novel. Hamnet. Her notable film credits include Lars von Trier Breaking waves,A24 God’s creatures Opposite Paul Mescal Little things like thisNetflix drama Steveand Oscar winner Gosford Park. On television, Watson currently leads the HBO/Max series Dune: Prophecy He just finished filming the second season.
Croatian director Bežinović is best known for his 2025 film Fume, Mort!Which won several awards, including the European Film Award for Best Documentary, as well as the AFA Awards (Adriatic Film and Television Awards) for Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. His other works include documentaries Siege (2012) and Feruda – a film about Boyan (2015), both of which won the Octavijan Award for Best Croatian Documentary Film. His first novel, Short trip (2017), premiered in Rotterdam and won the Grand Golden Arena Award for Best Film at the Pula Film Festival.
Klimoska is an actress from North Macedonia, most recently in a leading role Brother sister manhole coverdirected by Milcho Mancevski, is scheduled to premiere in 2026. This marks her third collaboration with the famous director, following Willow and Kaymak. Her credits also include You won’t be alone by Goran Stolevski, which premiered at Sundance and Housekeeping for beginnersWhich was shown at the Venice Film Festival. Internationally, it has appeared in Nico By Ellen Gehring, Family secrets By Malik Vithal, W Reboot By Jason Lester. Klimoska was part of the Talents Sarajevo program at the Sarajevo Film Festival, and the corresponding scheme at the Berlinale. In 2022, she was nominated for the Heart of Sarajevo Award for her role in the TV series under.
Noel is a famous film producer, lecturer, editor and journalist from the Netherlands. Since 2021, he has been CEO and Director of the European Film Academy. He is responsible for the executive management, vision and all programs relevant to the Academy’s current and future activities, including brand and audience development, knowledge exchange and cinematic heritage projects, and the annual European Film Awards. Noll has been part of the main jury at the Buenos Aires, Jerusalem, Istanbul and Locarno festivals.
Greek director, screenwriter and producer Tsangari is considered the main instigator of the Greek New Wave. Her genre-bending films explore power and desire, gender, class, and otherness. Her first project,
Slow business to go (2001), was a science fiction film filmed in hotel rooms in nine cities around the world. The film has won numerous Best Picture and Best Director awards worldwide, and is now in MoMA’s permanent film collection.
Her advantage was in her sophomore year Attenberg (2010) It premiered in competition in Venice, where it won the Coppa Volpi and the Lina Mangicapre Directing Award. Chevalier (2015) won Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival and was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Independent Spirit Awards. Both films were Greece’s official submissions for Best International Film at the Academy Awards. Under the banner of her Athens-based company Haos Film, she has produced a number of award-winning films such as the film by Yorgos Lanthimos. Kenita and Alps“Georgis Gregorakis” diggerand was co-produced by Richard Linklater Before midnight.
Its latest features, cropa neo-Western starring Caleb Landry Jones and Harry Melling, filmed in the Scottish Highlands and premiering in Venice in 2024.
