Stephen Frears, one of the most famous and the most provocative British directors, last night received the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award for extraordinary contribution to the art of film. The director said that the Open Air Cinema is the best in Europe, and that he will be showing his films here in the future.
He thanked for the award and said that he is honored to come to Sarajevo.
“I remember when we just read about you in the papers, about your courage and your resistance. If the British government behaved badly at the time, I apologize. We got rid of Douglas Heard, Milosevic’s very good friend, and now we have to get rid of Donald Trump as well,” said Frears.
Director of the Festival, Mirsad Purivatra, said that previous night was great and that they prepared more surprises.
“Tonight we have the honor to welcome Stephen Frears, favorite director of the audience and critics. He’s a master of drama and comedy who never disappoints us and who gives maximum film satisfaction,” said Purivatra.
Some of his most important film achievements were showed on the screen, and this is his third visit to Sarajevo. Purivatra stated that this is one of the main reasons why he was awarded with the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo.
Frears walked the red carpet in front of the National Theater in Sarajevo and said that Sarajevo is a wonderful city. His latest film “Florence Foster Jenkins” who stars Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, is about love. Sarajevo Film Festival in 2002 dedicated his “Tribute to” program to Stephen Frears.
Frears was born in Leicester back in 1941 and he studied law at the University of Cambridge after which he started his career in the Royal Court Theatre where he worked as an assistant to director Karel Reisz on the film “Morgan” and Lindsay Anderson on the film “If”. Frears directed many notable TV dramas based on texts by Allen Bennett, Tom Stoppard, Peter Prince, Neville Smith and Adrian Mitchell in the seventies of the last century.
(Source: L. C./Klix.ba)
