Asghar Farhadi receives Honorary Heart of Sarajevo as festival celebrates his career
Iranian filmmaker and two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi received the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival, which celebrated his contribution to cinema with a special program of his work.
The festival, held from August 14 to 21, honored Farhadi for his outstanding contribution to the art of cinema. He attended the ceremony in person, while a selection of his films was shown as part of a special tribute program, IRNA reported on Friday.
Jovan Marjanović, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF), said Farhadi’s importance to world cinema was difficult to put into words. His body of work showed that the deepest dramas were often hidden in everyday life, Marjanović said, adding that Farhadi’s films did not offer simple answers but invited audiences to look more closely, listen more carefully and confront life’s complexities.
Farhadi’s latest film, Parallel Tales, was also screened at the festival. He met with audiences, students and young filmmakers in a Masterclass, where he discussed his experience and work.
The Iranian director previously served as president of the jury for the festival’s feature-film competition in 2018. His film Everybody Knows was also screened in the festival’s open-air program that year.
The retrospective of Farhadi’s career included several of his best-known films, including About Elly, A Separation, The Past, The Salesman and A Hero.
Farhadi’s cinema has largely focused on everyday life, human relationships and the moral complexities surrounding people’s choices.
The festival said the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo and the retrospective recognized one of the most important filmmakers in contemporary world cinema.