Asghar Farhadi will receive an honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award at this year’s film festival.
In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the art of cinema, the famous Iranian director and screenwriter will personally accept the award, and a retrospective of his works is scheduled to be presented as part of the Sarajevo Film Festival tribute programme.
Farhadi returns to Sarajevo eight years after serving as president of the Feature Film Competition jury in 2018. That year, his film Everyone knows It was featured on the outdoor programme. He joins fellow Honorary Heart awardee Emily Watson, who also serves as chair of the festival’s jury in August.
“It is difficult to overstate Asghar Farhadi’s importance to world cinema,” said Jovan Marjanovic, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival. “His remarkable works remind us that the most profound dramas are often hidden in everyday life. His films do not offer easy answers; instead, they invite us to look closer, listen more carefully and grapple with life’s complexities. We are honored to welcome Farhadi back to the festival.”
Farhadi was born in 1972 in Iran. He became interested in cinema as a teenager and began his education in filmmaking by joining the Isfahan Youth Cinema Association in 1986, where he produced short films in 8mm and 16mm. He devoted his final thesis at the University of Tehran to Harold Pinter, in particular the importance of silence and pauses in the playwright’s work.
He made his directorial debut with Dancing in the dust (2002). After success About Lily (2009), for which he won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlinale. Farhadi also received international recognition and critical acclaim with his film Separation (2011). It won the Academy Award and Cesar Award for Best Foreign Film. Then he left Iran for France to film the movie The past (2013), Bérénice Bejo won the Best Actress Award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Farhadi returned to Iran to direct Seller (2016), which received its world premiere in the 2016 Cannes Film Festival competition and won the award for Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Shehab Hosseini). The film was Farhadi’s biggest success and earned him his second Academy Award. His latest works, hero and Parallel storiesalso debuted at Cannes in 2021 and 2026 respectively.
The 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival will take place from August 14 to 21.
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