U.S. star Woody Harrelson will be honored with an award at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival in recognition of his contribution to cinema.
He’ll receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the Bosnian festival, joining fellow 2026 recipients Emily Watson (also president of the Sarajevo jury), Asghar Farhadi, and the recently announced Diego Luna.
Harrelson has earned three Oscar nominations, including best actor for The People vs. Larry Flynt and best supporting actor for The Messenger and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. He accrued more critical acclaim for starring in Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner Triangle of Sadness.
“Woody Harrelson is one of those actors you believe in even in the most improbable roles, while at the same time you can easily imagine him as someone you might spend time with every day,” said Jovan Marjanović, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival. “That remarkable ease of performance is, in fact, one of the hardest qualities to achieve on screen, yet he delivers it film after film. His talent, charisma, and boldness serve as an inspiration to many future generations. It is our great honor to present him with the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo.”
In honor of Harrelson, Michael Winterbottom’s 1997 film Welcome to Sarajevo, which premiered at Cannes and was also screened at the third-ever Sarajevo Film Festival later that year, will be screened for audiences. The film examines the war in Bosnia in the mid-1990s, and the role of journalists in its media coverage. It is based on journalist Michael Nicholson’s book Natasha’s Story. The screening will take place at the Coca-Cola Open Air Cinema as part of the Open Air program.
He next leads Apple TV’s Brothers alongside Matthew McConaughey, premiering Sept. 23, and stars opposite Kristen Stewart in Quentin Dupieux’s Full Phil, which debuted at Cannes this year. He recently wrapped Netflix’s The Cackling of the Dodos with Sam Rockwell and is producing a documentary on Austin’s iconic Armadillo World Headquarters.
Harrelson also wrote, directed and starred in Lost in London, the first feature film shot in a single continuous take and broadcast live to theaters. His television credits include Cheers, True Detective and The White House Plumbers.
The 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival will run Aug. 14-21.
