For more than three decades, the Sarajevo Film Festival has fostered and championed the film culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region. As the Festival has grown, so too has its responsibility to honor the artists whose work has left an enduring mark on Bosnian and Herzegovinian cinema. In recognition of this commitment, at its 32nd edition, the Sarajevo Film Festival will present the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo to Emir Hadžihafizbegović, one of the most distinguished actors in Bosnian and Herzegovinian and regional cinema, as a tribute to his many unforgettable performances and his outstanding contribution to the art of film.
“Among us are artists whose work becomes part of a community’s cultural memory. Looking back at the cinema of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider region, we find Emir Hadžihafizbegović’s presence everywhere – in performances woven deeply into some of its most significant film achievements. It is a privilege to present the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo to an artist whose body of work has helped define the cinema of the very place from which he emerged, the same place from which the Sarajevo Film Festival itself grew more than three decades ago. This recognition honors an acting career that transcends the boundaries of language, nation and stage,” said Jovan Marjanović, Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Emir Hadžihafizbegović was born on August 20, 1961, in Tuzla, where he completed his primary and secondary education. He graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo in 1986, in the class of Emir Kusturica. Following engagements at the National Theatre in Tuzla and the wartime period, he continued his artistic career in Sarajevo, where he has built one of the most distinguished and recognizable acting oeuvres in the region.
He has appeared in more than 70 feature films and over a hundred roles across theatre, film, and other media. His work has been marked by collaborations with directors such as Ognjen Sviličić, Rajko Grlić, Jasmila Žbanić, Pjer Žalica, Srđan Vuletić, and Emir Kusturica, while films in which he has appeared have received awards at major international festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, and Rotterdam. Among other accolades, he is the recipient of the Andrei Tarkovsky Award at Russia’s Zerkalo International Film Festival, held in the Ivanovo Region and named after Tarkovsky’s landmark film Mirror.
For his performance in These Are the Rules, he won the Best Actor award in the Orizzonti section at the Venice International Film Festival, as well as the Golden Arena in Pula and numerous international accolades. His roles in Armin, The Border Post, Death of a Man in the Balkans, May Labour Day, Fuse, Days and Hours, Our Everyday Life, and The Frog have likewise earned widespread recognition and awards at festivals across Europe, Africa, and North America.
Alongside his film career, he has developed a distinguished body of work in theatre as a leading actor and director of Kamerni Teatar 55 in Sarajevo. He is the author of four original stage projects (Years of Deceit, Beyond the Dream, Tarik Is Not Part of the Deal, and The Day of Judgment) which have toured internationally, with performances ranging from New York and Toronto to Paris, London, Berlin, and Sydney.
The 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival will take place from 14 to 21 August 2026.
