The 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival opens today in the Bosnian capital, bringing more than 250 films from around 70 countries to theaters and open air venues across the city for an eight day celebration of regional and international cinema. Running from August 14 to 21, the Sarajevo Film Festival will feature 51 films competing for the prestigious Heart of Sarajevo awards, alongside red carpet premieres, masterclasses and honorary tributes. For an event that was founded during the siege of Sarajevo in 1995, the 32nd edition represents both a homecoming and a celebration of artistic resilience, combining regional filmmaking with major international names.
British actress Emily Watson will lead this year’s feature film competition jury and receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo for her contribution to world cinema. She will be joined by Greek filmmaker Athina Rachel Tsangari, Croatian director Igor Bezinović, Macedonian actress Sara Klimoska and Matthijs Wouter Knol, CEO of the European Film Academy. The opening ceremony, hosted by young Bosnian actor Kerim Čutuna, will feature the Bosnian-Herzegovinian premiere of Paweł Pawlikowski’s Fatherland, a biographical drama about Nobel laureate Thomas Mann.
International Stars and Regional Cinema Take Center Stage
The festival will also honor four other major screen figures with the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo. American actor Woody Harrelson, Mexican actor Diego Luna, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and Bosnian actor Emir Hadžihafizbegović will each receive the award. Harrelson and Luna will also participate in masterclasses alongside Pawlikowski, Tsangari, Watson, Farhadi and French filmmaker Céline Sciamma.
Farhadi will be celebrated with a retrospective of his work, while Luna’s 2026 drama Ashes will screen during the festival. The range of international guests reflects the Sarajevo Film Festival’s long standing role as a meeting point between European, Middle Eastern and Balkan cinema. That position has helped establish the event as one of Southeast Europe’s most important cultural gatherings.
The competition program places a strong emphasis on regional filmmakers. Selection organizers reviewed 1,215 submissions before choosing 51 films across narrative feature, documentary, short and student categories. The narrative feature competition includes world premieres from Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia, while the Oscar qualifying documentary competition provides a platform for filmmakers from Bulgaria, Serbia, Turkey and other countries.
A new Prix Cineplexx Award will add another incentive for filmmakers, with €20,000 in marketing support and cash going to the best film in the Open Air program based on audience voting. The Open Air and Kinoscope sections will also present major European and international productions under Sarajevo’s summer sky, giving audiences another opportunity to experience the festival beyond its main competition.
Radiotelevision of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT) returns as the festival’s main media partner and will broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies live on BHT1. Its coverage will also include daily red carpet reports, festival chronicles and interviews with filmmakers and actors across television, radio and digital platforms.
The festival will close on August 21 with a screening of Danis Tanović’s 2001 Oscar winning war film No Man’s Land. The choice connects the closing night with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s cinematic heritage and the festival’s own history. With regional cinema at the center of the program and international attention focused on its competition, the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival is once again positioning the city as a major meeting point for filmmakers, critics and audiences from across Europe and beyond.
