Honorary guest of the 20th SFF is Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal

The honorary guest of this year's Sarajevo Film Festival will be the famous Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, it was announced today at a press conference in Sarajevo, writes the BH news agency Patria.

The festival will open with the film “Amores Perros” (Love's a Bitch) which made Bernal famous, and he will also be awarded the honorary Heart of Sarajevo. This award will also be presented to designer Agnes B. and the multi-award-winning director Danis Tanović on the last day of the SFF.

The famous Mexican actor, through his work and dedication to cinematography, especially Mexican, has deserved this significant award, it was emphasized at today's press conference.

- Through his selfless work, especially when it comes to young people, talents, and work on improving the art of film, he has undoubtedly deserved the honorary Heart of Sarajevo - said the Director of the SFF, Mirsad Purivatra.

Bernal also plays the main role in the film „Amores Perros“ which will open the festival this year.

- It is a film whose story never gets old, and even today when you watch it, you feel as if it was filmed recently - explained Purivatra, thus clarifying why this film opens the 20th SFF.

The jubilee twentieth „Sarajevo Film Festival“ will open with three film screenings, unlike previous years when one film was shown. In addition to the film „Amores Perros“, the films „Bridges of Sarajevo“ and „Of Horses and Men“ by Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson will also be screened.

Bernal will stay in Sarajevo for several days, and he will also hold an introductory lecture for all participants of „Talents of Sarajevo“, which is realized in cooperation with Berlinale.

Most of this year's Festival screenings will be held at iconic locations.

- Metalac HT Eronet Open Air cinema, where the gala screening of the film „Amores Perros“ begins, then the National Theatre, which has become both a cinema and a place that has changed the image of the SFF, and the Meeting Point cinema, which has become an oasis for art-house films - said Purivatra.

As emphasized, there is great interest in this year's Festival, and so far eight directors have confirmed their attendance, including Bosnian-Herzegovinian director Aida Begić, Isilde Le Besco, Luis De Matta Almeida, Jean-Michel Frodon, and others, reports Patria.