American actor Robert De Niro is coming to Sarajevo, where he will present the cult film “Taxi Driver” at the opening of the 22nd edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Prominent actor, director and producer Robert De Niro, a double winner of Oscar, five times nominated for an Oscar, winner the Golden Globe awards, the winner of the first Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award for Lifetime achievement for outstanding contribution to film art.
The greatest recognition of the Sarajevo Film Festival will be awarded to Robert De Niro at the opening ceremony of the 22nd edition of the SFF, which takes place from the 12th to 20th of August this year.
“It is a great honor to have Robert De Niro as the first winner of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award for Lifetime Achievement. From the moment we first met, about 10 years ago at the Tribeca Film Festival, we started working to get him to come to Sarajevo. That day is finally here, and we are very excited about it. As a film professional and a great lover of film, I believe that I’m saying this, not only for myself, but on behalf of the public and my colleagues,” said the Director of the SFF, Mirsad Purivatra.
De Niro will present the film that will open this year’s festival to the audience of Sarajevo. It is a cult achieving of Martin Scorsese “Taxi Driver,” which is restored in honor of the 40th anniversary of its screening. The film will be shown at the National Theatre and Open Air Cinema at the same time, where the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo will be awarded to De Niro in front of 3,000 film enthusiasts.
“Taxi Driver” was rated by critics, filmmakers and audiences as one of the most important films of all times. The film was nominated for an Oscar in 4 categories, including the Best Picture and the Best Actor (De Niro), won the Golden Palm in Cannes Film Festival in 1976 and two Golden Globes.
Famous actor will talk about his career in the interview, which will be held at the National Theatre in Sarajevo in front of the audience and the media, and it will be moderated by Mike Goodridge, former editor of the prestigious magazine Screen International and current CEO of London-based company Protagonist Pictures. Goodridge is one of the selectors of the program Kinoscope Sarajevo Film Festival.
Previous winners of the Heart of Sarajevo Award, among others, were Angelina Jolie, Benicio Del Toro, Gael Garcia Bernal, Steve Buscemi and famous and internationally recognized and award-winning directors Atom Egoyan, Jafar Panahi, Mike Leigh, Béla Tarr and Danis Tanovic.
Heart of Sarajevo award was designed by the French designer and director Agnès b, who is the sponsor of the Festival.
(Source: klix.ba)