Paolo Sorrentino to Receive Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival
Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino has been honored with the prestigious Honorary Heart of Sarajevo award at this year’s 31st Sarajevo Film Festival. This accolade will be presented to him during the festival, which will also feature a special retrospective showcasing his remarkable body of work as part of a dedicated “tribute to” program. Festival organizers announced this recognition on Tuesday, highlighting Sorrentino’s exceptional contributions to the art of cinema.
In addition to receiving the award, Sorrentino will lead a masterclass where he will engage in a dialogue about contemporary art with festival attendees. Expressing his gratitude, Sorrentino stated, “I am deeply honored to receive this prestigious recognition and grateful for the attention given to my filmography. I look forward to being with you in Sarajevo. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
The impact of Sorrentino’s work on audiences has been profound. Jovan Marjanović, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival, remarked, “Paolo Sorrentino has achieved what every filmmaker dreams of – leaving a global mark through intimate, local stories. His visually stunning, emotionally resonant, and intellectually rich style has captivated audiences worldwide, allowing them to see reflections of their own lives in his characters, no matter how eccentric or withdrawn. The Honorary Heart of Sarajevo celebrates the beauty he has brought to cinema.”
Born in Naples in 1970, Sorrentino made his feature film debut with One Man Up in 2001, which was showcased at the Venice Film Festival. His subsequent films, including The Consequences of Love (2004) and The Family Friend (2006), competed for the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes, as did Il Divo, which won the jury prize in 2008. He returned to Cannes in 2011 with This Must Be the Place and again in 2013 with The Great Beauty, which garnered an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film.
Sorrentino continued his success at Cannes with Youth in 2016, and he created the acclaimed TV series The Young Pope that same year. He later directed the film Loro in 2018 and the series The New Pope in 2019. In 2021, he released The Hand of God, which won the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the Venice International Film Festival and five David di Donatello awards. His upcoming project, Parthenope, is set to premiere in 2024.
Notable past recipients of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo include acclaimed figures such as Meg Ryan, Alexander Payne, John Turturro, and many others. The festival’s “tribute to” program has previously spotlighted filmmakers like Elia Suleiman, Jessica Hausner, and Nuri Bilge Ceylan, celebrating the contributions of influential directors to the world of cinema.
Join us in celebrating Paolo Sorrentino’s extraordinary achievements and his lasting impact on film at the Sarajevo Film Festival!
