The 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival has announced its masterclasses program, bringing together some of the most celebrated filmmakers and actors in international cinema for a series of free public sessions. The Sarajevo Film Festival will run from August 14 to 21, 2026, with the masterclass program giving audiences an opportunity to hear directly from artists whose work has shaped contemporary cinema.
The lineup includes Diego Luna on August 15, Paweł Pawlikowski on August 16, Rodrigo Sorogoyen on August 17, Woody Harrelson on August 18, Emily Watson on August 19, Asghar Farhadi on August 20, and Céline Sciamma on August 21. Tickets for the free sessions, where seating is limited, became available online and through the festival’s mobile app on Friday, August 7.
The program reflects the Sarajevo Film Festival’s dual mission of celebrating major international cinema while maintaining its strong connection to the film culture of Southeast Europe. The masterclasses bring together acclaimed directors and performers whose careers span different generations, countries and cinematic traditions.
Acclaimed Filmmakers Take Center Stage
The director lineup features artists with remarkable international reputations. Paweł Pawlikowski, whose Ida won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film and whose Cold War earned him the Best Director award at Cannes, will open the festival with his latest film, Fatherland. The biographical drama follows Nobel Prize winning writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika during a road trip across divided post war Germany in 1949, with Sandra Hüller and Hanns Zischler among its stars.
Pawlikowski also has a long standing connection with Sarajevo, dating back to the screening of his documentary Serbian Epics at the festival in 1992. His return highlights the long relationship between the filmmaker and a festival that has developed alongside the city’s own cultural history.
Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, a two time Oscar winner for A Separation and The Salesman, will receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo. His appearance will coincide with a retrospective of his work, giving festival audiences an opportunity to explore the career of one of contemporary cinema’s most influential Iranian directors.
French filmmaker Céline Sciamma, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Petite Maman, will present her latest short film, Tutti Frutti, as part of her masterclass. Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, whose The Beasts received major recognition at the Goya Awards, will also take part and discuss his Cannes premiering film The Beloved.
The acting program is equally prominent, with the festival honoring Woody Harrelson, Emily Watson and Diego Luna. Harrelson, a three time Academy Award nominee for The People vs. Larry Flynt, The Messenger and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, will receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo and participate in a screening of Michael Winterbottom’s 1997 war drama Welcome to Sarajevo.
That screening creates a direct connection between Harrelson’s appearance and the festival’s history. Welcome to Sarajevo premiered at Cannes and was subsequently screened at the third Sarajevo Film Festival, linking a film about the city during the war to the continuing international importance of the festival itself.
Emily Watson, who received the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Actress at the Berlin International Film Festival for Small Things Like These and was appointed OBE for services to drama, will serve as jury president of the Competition Program Feature Film. She will also receive an Honorary Heart of Sarajevo.
Diego Luna, the Mexican actor, director and producer whose latest directorial feature Ashes premiered at Cannes in 2026, will also be honored. His masterclass will explore a career spanning film, television and theatre, as well as his continued work to expand Latino representation in the entertainment industry.
The Sarajevo Film Festival will close on August 21 with a 4K restoration screening of Danis Tanović’s 2001 Oscar winning Bosnian War film No Man’s Land. The closing screening provides a fitting conclusion to an event that began in 1995 during the Siege of Sarajevo and has since developed into one of Southeast Europe’s leading film festivals.
This year’s festival will feature 51 films competing across four programs for the Heart of Sarajevo. With its combination of major international names, regional filmmakers and a deep connection to the city’s history, the Sarajevo Film Festival continues to position Sarajevo as an important meeting place for global cinema.
