Thirty years after filming Welcome to Sarajevo in the city, celebrated Hollywood actor Woody Harrelson has been awarded the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo. Ahead of a special screening of Michael Winterbottom’s film at the Coca-Cola Open Air Cinema during the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival, the prestigious award for his overall contribution to the art of cinema was presented to him by Jovan Marjanović, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival.
“Woody, welcome back to Sarajevo,” Marjanović told the visibly moved actor, who accepted the award to a standing ovation in the cinema, filled to capacity.
“This is a lot more than I was expecting,” said Woody Harrelson. “There was a great shock in coming here just after the war. The devastation was unimaginable. Many of you, of course, know what I’m talking about. Despite everything you had been through, you showed me great kindness, warmth, and humor then, and I continue to feel that from you now.”
Recalling the filming of the movie, Harrelson gave a special shout-out from the stage to two people with whom he made Welcome to Sarajevo: first, Croatian actor Goran Višnjić, and then Emira Nušević Nuhić, who was only 11 years old when she appeared in the film. But he thanked the people of Sarajevo most of all.
“I can tell you now, from the depth of my being and with sincere humility, that this Heart of Sarajevo award means more to me than any honor I have ever received. I will place it in our living room, to always remind me of you—the beautiful people of Sarajevo. Thank you. With your courage, resilience, and passion for great art and great talent, you have genuinely touched my heart.”
The film Welcome to Sarajevo, in which Harrelson plays one of the lead roles, was partly shot in Sarajevo in 1996. The following year, it was screened for audiences first at Cannes and then at the Sarajevo Film Festival. Festival director Jovan Marjanović highlighted precisely this point in his opening remarks.
“There are evenings when a film returns to a cinema. And then there are evenings when a film returns to the place where it became part of a city’s memory. Welcome to Sarajevo was screened here, at this Open Air cinema, in 1997. Tonight, almost thirty years later, it returns to the same place, on 35mm. And the reason we are showing this particular film is very simple. When we spoke with Woody about receiving the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo, this was the film he wanted to screen”, said Marjanović.
“I think that says something about what Sarajevo means to him, and certainly about what this film still means to us. Michael Winterbottom’s film helped international audiences understand the siege of Sarajevo not through statistics or political explanations, but through people. Through journalists, children, families and lives caught inside history.
But tonight we are also here to celebrate Woody Harrelson and an extraordinary career that has now spanned almost four decades. Woody is one of those rare actors who can move completely naturally between very different worlds, from independent cinema to some of the biggest films and television productions of his generation. He can be funny, unsettling, vulnerable, dangerous, sometimes all of those things at once. There is an honesty and unpredictability to his performances that makes it very difficult to take your eyes off him. He has worked with some of the most important filmmakers of our time, earned three Academy Award nominations, and created an extraordinary body of work”, said Festival’s director Marjanović.
As one of the most respected and versatile actors of his generation, with a career equally successful in film, television, and theatre, Harrelson has been nominated for the Oscar® three times: for Best Actor for The People vs. Larry Flynt, and for Best Supporting Actor for The Messenger and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. He also delivered a notable performance in Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or–winning film Triangle of Sadness.
Audiences will soon see him in the lead role of the Apple TV+ series Brothers, alongside Matthew McConaughey, with its premiere scheduled for 23 September. Together with Kristen Stewart, Harrelson stars in Quentin Dupieux’s film Full Phil, which had its world premiere at Cannes this year. He recently wrapped shooting on the Netflix film The Cackling of the Dodos, in which he appears alongside Sam Rockwell, and is currently producing a documentary about the cult Austin concert venue Armadillo World Headquarters.
Just hours before receiving the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo, Woody Harrelson held a Masterclass at the Festival Centre (Bosnian Cultural Centre). During the conversation, moderated by film critic Neil Young, he spoke openly about his early life and career, as well as how much he enjoys being in Sarajevo. He also met with fans, the media and the audience on the Red Carpet outside the National Theatre Sarajevo.
