Paolo Sorrentino to Receive "Honorary Heart of Sarajevo" at This Year's SFF

(patria) - Celebrated, multi-award-winning Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is this year's recipient of the "Honorary Heart of Sarajevo" award and will be honored in the "Tribute to" program with a complete retrospective of his films, announced the organizers of this year's 31st Sarajevo Film Festival, which will be held in August.

The 31st Sarajevo Film Festival will thus pay tribute to Sorrentino in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the art of filmmaking.

Sorrentino will also hold a Masterclass, sharing his thoughts on contemporary art in conversation with the audience.

"I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious award and grateful for the attention given to my filmography. I look forward to being with you in Sarajevo. Thank you from the bottom of my heart," he said.

"Paolo Sorrentino has achieved what every filmmaker dreams of – leaving a global mark with local, personal stories. With his visually rich, emotionally resonant, and intellectually insightful style, he has won the hearts of audiences worldwide, who, in his characters, no matter how eccentric or reclusive, have seen a reflection of our world, often absurd, sometimes cruel, but always deeply human. The Honorary Heart of Sarajevo is an award for the great beauty he has gifted us with his films," stated Sarajevo Film Festival Director Jovan Marjanović, as announced by the SFF Directorate.

Film director and screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino was born in Naples in 1970. His first feature film, "The Man in Addition," was selected for the Venice International Film Festival in 2001. His next two films, "The Consequences of Love" (2004) and "The Family Friend" (2006), competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes, as did his film "Il Divo," which won the Jury Prize in 2008.

He returned to the official competition of the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 with "This Must Be the Place," and two years later with "The Great Beauty," which won an Oscar®, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film, as well as three European Film Awards.

In 2016, he was again in competition at the Cannes Film Festival with "Youth." The film won three EFA awards, an Oscar nomination, and two Golden Globe nominations.

In the same year, he created and directed the TV series "The Young Pope," nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor and for Emmy Awards in the categories of Best Production Design and Best Cinematography. In 2018, he directed the film "Loro" with Toni Servillo, and in 2019, a second series set in the world of contemporary papacy – "The New Pope," starring Jude Law and John Malkovich.

In 2021, he directed the film "The Hand of God," nominated for an Oscar in 2022 for Best International Feature Film, for which he won the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prize and the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, five David di Donatello Awards, including Best Film and Best Director, as well as four Nastri d'argento Awards, including Best Film.

In 2024, he wrote and directed the film "Parthenope," which was screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Biglietto D’oro award as one of the most watched films of the year.

The Honorary Heart of Sarajevo was established in 2005 with the aim of recognizing individuals for their exceptional contribution to the promotion and development of the film industry, as well as their support for and development of the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Previous recipients of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo include: Meg Ryan (2024), Alexander Payne (2024), John Turturro (2024), Philippe Bober (2024), Christof Papousek (2024), Mark Cousins (2023), Lynne Ramsay (2023), Charlie Kaufman (2023), Jesse Eisenberg (2022), Ruben Östlund (2022), Sergei Loznitsa (2022), Paul Joseph Schrader (2022), Wim Wenders (2021), Michel Franco (2020), Mads Mikkelsen (2020), Tim Roth (2019), Isabelle Huppert (2019), Alejandro González Iñárritu (2019), Paweł Pawlikowski (2019), Nijaz Hastor (2018), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (2018), Oliver Stone (2017), John Cleese (2017), Wolfgang Amadeus Brülh.art (2016), Stephen Frears (2016), Robert De Niro (Lifetime Achievement Award, 2016), Benicio Del Toro (2015), Atom Egoyan (2015), Agnès B. (2015), Danis Tanović (2014), Gael García Bernal (2014), Béla Tarr (2013), Roberto Olla (2013), Branko Lustig (2012), Emil Tedeschi (2011), Jafar Panahi (2011), Angelina Jolie (2011), Dieter Kosslick (2010), Manfred Schmidt (2009), Cat Villiers (2008), Steve Buscemi (2007), Mike Leigh (2006), Gavrilo Grahovac (2006), Marco Müller (2005).

Previous guests of the Sarajevo Film Festival's Tribute to program:

Elia Suleiman (2024), Jessica Hausner (2023), Sergei Loznitsa (2022), Wim Wenders (2021), Michel Franco (2020), Paweł Pawlikowski (2019), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (2018), Joshua Oppenheimer, Oliver Stone (2017), Amat Escalante (2016), Brillante Mendoza, Atom Egoyan (2015), Michael Winterbottom (2014), Cristi Puiu (2013), Todd Solondz (2012), Lucrecia Martel (2011), Bruno Dumont (2010), Jia Zhang-ke (2009), Todd Haynes (2008), Tsai Ming-Liang, Ulrich Seidl (2007), Abel Ferrara, Béla Tarr (2006), Alexander Payne (2005), Dušan Makavejev, Gaspar Noé (2004), Peter Mullan (2003), Stephen Frears (2002), Mike Leigh (2001), Steve Buscemi (2000).

The 31st Sarajevo Film Festival will be held from August 15 to 22, 2025.