At the Sarajevo International Film Festival, the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award was presented to Asghar Farhadi; the director winner of two Academy Awards and other prestigious honors remarked, “It is a great moment for me”.
According to the report of Mansour Jahani, an independent and international film journalist, in recognition of Asghar Farhadi’s outstanding contribution to the art of cinema, and as part of a tribute to this distinguished filmmaker, the honorary Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award was presented to one of Iran’s most acclaimed directors. The award was conferred by Jovan Marjanović, Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival, at the National Theatre in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the festival’s 32nd edition. It serves as a tribute to an auteur filmmaker whose works, spanning decades, have not dictated how audiences should think, but have instead taught them to observe the world around them with greater precision.
Farhadi: I was delighted to discover the Sarajevo Festival
Upon receiving the award, Farhadi said: “I was so happy to discover this Festival and I’m happy to see how the Sarajevo Film Festival has shaped itself over the past years: it’s a special cinematic identity.”
Farhadi Has Created a Unique Artistic Body of Work
Noting that Farhadi has created a unique body of work, Ivan Marijanović said: “There are filmmakers who build their cinema around extraordinary events; yet Asghar Farhadi does something that is perhaps even more difficult. He finds extraordinary drama within the fabric of everyday life a marriage, a family, a misunderstanding, or a decision that initially seems trivial and suddenly, we find ourselves in a situation where every choice carries consequences, every individual is understandable, and no one is entirely innocent.”
Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival: Farhadi’s films are incredibly precise
The director of the Sarajevo Film Festival added: “Farhadi’s films are incredibly precise, but they never feel constructed. They begin with people and their everyday lives and gradually open into much larger questions about truth, responsibility, dignity, family, and the choices we make when there is no perfect choice.”
Farhadi’s distinctive filmmaking style has established him as a prominent figure in cinema
Marjanović added: “A very particular way of making films has made you one of the defining filmmakers of contemporary world cinema. Your films have crossed languages, cultures and borders, while always remaining deeply rooted in the lives and societies from which they come. This year, through our Tribute To programme, we have had the privilege of looking back at this remarkable body of work with you here in Sarajevo. You already have a history with this Festival. You were President of our Jury for the Competition Programme – Narrative Feature Film in 2018, and it is wonderful to have you with us again.”
It is a great honor for me to present the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo to Farhadi
Continuing his remarks, the director of the Sarajevo Film Festival said: “But tonight is about your films, and about what you have given to cinema. And rather than say more about them, let’s take a look. And now, please welcome to the stage, Asghar Farhadi. Asghar, this Heart recognises an extraordinary career, but also something that is much harder to measure: the way your films have made audiences around the world look at people, and perhaps at themselves, a little more carefully. It is my great honour to present you with the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo.”
Farhadi: Receiving this award is a deeply meaningful moment for me
Later in the ceremony, Asghar Farhadi addressed the audience at the National Theatre, beginning his remarks by saying: “It is a great moment for me to receive this career award. It is a meaningful award and I am grateful to the Sarajevo Film Festival to receive this award. It is my second time in the city of Sarajevo. Last time I was here I was a part of the jury. I like all of the atmosphere in the city here. I want to mention tonight that there is a huge number of audience that comes here. I had a screening here and thousands of people saw my film here. I was so happy to discover this Festival and I’m happy to see how the Sarajevo Film Festival has shaped itself over the past years: it’s a special cinematic identity”.
A retrospective of Asghar Farhadi’s works as part of the festival’s special Tribute To
At the 32nd Sarajevo International Film Festival, a retrospective of Asghar Farhadi’s works was presented as part of the festival’s special Tribute To section. The honorary Heart of Sarajevo award ceremony concluded with a special screening of “A Separation” one of his most celebrated and award-winning masterpieces.
Asghar Farhadi’s Masterclass at the Bosnian Cultural Center in Sarajevo
A Masterclass with Asghar Farhadi, one of the most significant Iranian and international filmmakers of the 21st century, was held at the Bosnian Cultural Centre in Sarajevo. Moderated by British film critic Neil Young, the conversation explored Farhadi’s childhood, his first encounters with cinema, storytelling, the responsibility of the filmmaker, and his belief that cinema should never offer simple answers to complex human questions.
Farhadi explores the profound ethical and social dilemmas of ordinary lives in his films
Today a two-time Academy Award winner, Farhadi gained international recognition through films that uncover profound moral and social dilemmas within seemingly ordinary lives. He won the Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film for A Separation, making it the first Iranian film to receive the award. He won his second Oscar® for “The Salesman”. His body of work also includes “About Elly”, “The Past”, “Everybody Knows” and “A Hero”, which earned him the Grand Prix at the Cannes International Film Festival.
His relationship with cinema began in his childhood, in a small Iranian town where cinemas were far away and going to the movies was almost a small adventure.
Farhadi: I think we all carry some kind of emotional bank within us
Speaking at a masterclass at the Bosnian Cultural Center, Farhadi said: I think we all carry some kind of “emotional bank” within us. From the time we are children, we begin collecting experiences, images, feelings, encounters, and stories that we later carry with us, often without even realizing it. Every summer I spent time with my father, observing the people around me. Today I understand that this was my first film education.
Farhadi made his first short film at the age of 13
He made his first short film at the age of 13, and a special place in his memory is his grandfather, whom he regarded as a hero.
Farhadi: Storytelling Became My Way of Self-Expression
Continuing his remarks, the renowned international filmmaker said: “My grandfather was my hero. Whenever he came to visit, he could turn everything into a story. I carry his name and, in a way, I feel that the two of us are connected through storytelling. Storytelling became my way of expressing myself.”
Farhadi and his friends would secretly take a bus to a neighbouring town
His first encounter with cinema was, paradoxically, an incomplete one. Since there was no cinema in his town, he and his friends would secretly take a bus to a neighbouring town. The bus, however, was almost always late, meaning they would arrive just before the end of the screening.
Farhadi: I was about seven years old, and would only see the endings of films
He added: “I was about seven years old, and I would only see the endings of films. It was strange, but it had a huge impact on me. When you see the ending without knowing what happened before it, your imagination starts working. I started creating my own films. Today I think that experience taught me not to simply accept a story as it is presented to me.”
After the Iranian Revolution, television opened a window to world cinema for Farhadi
In the years following the Iranian Revolution, when access to foreign films was limited, television became his window into world cinema. At the beginning of his professional career, he wrote a radio play primarily because he needed money. That assignment opened the door to television and changed the course of his life. He moved from writing for radio to television scripts and eventually to filmmaking.
He wants the audience to make its own assessment of the characters and their actions
For Farhadi, however, artistic development is inseparable from curiosity about the world. This is precisely why his films rarely offer definitive judgments. He wants the audience to make its own assessment of the characters and their actions.
Asghar Farhadi: Life is Never Linear
The director said: “Life is not linear; it is layered. Everything that happens to us remains somewhere inside us and later returns through what we create. In classical cinema, the filmmaker often takes responsibility for telling the audience who is good and who is bad. In contemporary cinema, I want the audience to take that responsibility. I do not want to tell them what to think; I just want to give them enough reasons to reach their own conclusions.”
Screening of “A Separation” at the Sarajevo Film Festival
This approach is particularly evident in A Separation, which was screened at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival as a gala screening. The film begins as a story of a marriage in crisis before expanding into a complex drama about class, responsibility, faith, parenthood and truth.
Farhadi: Working with children is one of the most challenging aspects of filmmaking
Farhadi also spoke about working with children, acknowledging that it is among the most demanding aspects of filmmaking, yet children in his films serve a particular dramatic purpose.
Children bring an emotional dimension to the story, they intensify the drama
This two-time Oscar-winning director believes: “They bring an emotional dimension to the story. Children are also observers; they watch everything that is happening, and precisely because of that, they intensify the drama.”
Directors Compete for Heart of Sarajevo Awards
The 32nd Sarajevo International Film Festival is taking place in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from August 14 to 21, 2026. The event features screenings of films by directors from around the world across several Competition categories including; Feature Film Competition, Documentary Competition, Short Film Competition and Student Film Competition where entries vie for the Heart of Sarajevo awards additionally, several Out of Competition sections at the Sarajevo National Theatre, the Coca-Cola Open Air Cinema, the Stari Grad Open Air Cinema, the Safet Zajko Open Air Cinema, and the Cineplexx cinema in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Credit images from the website of the Sarajevo Film Festival
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