Woody Harrelson to Receive Career Award at Sarajevo Film Festival

To mark the honor, the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival is pairing Woody Harrelson’s tribute with a special screening of Michael Winterbottom’s Welcome to Sarajevo—a return to a film shot on the city’s streets not long after the siege, and one that threads real news footage into its drama.

Harrelson’s latest accolade comes on top of a Primetime Emmy, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and three Academy Award nominations. For many viewers, he’s indelibly tied to Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games and Marty Hart in True Detective—very different roles that helped build the case for a lifetime honor.

“In recognition of his exceptional contribution to the art of film, Woody Harrelson will receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival,” the festival announced.

Festival director Jovan Marjanović praised Harrelson’s chameleon-like range in the official statement, calling his ability to slip into wildly different characters “one of the hardest qualities to achieve on screen.”

The Honorary Heart of Sarajevo places Harrelson among past recipients such as:

• Robert De Niro
• Angelina Jolie
• Morgan Freeman
• Willem Dafoe
• Benicio Del Toro

Back to Sarajevo

Released in 1997, Welcome to Sarajevo follows British TV journalist Michael Henderson as his reporting turns personal after he encounters an orphanage during the siege. The film, inspired by Michael Nicholson’s book Natasha’s Story, blends on-the-ground immediacy with archival footage and premiered at Cannes before becoming one of the era’s most unflinching depictions of the Bosnian war.

This year’s festival will also close with a newly restored version of Danis Tanović’s Oscar- winning No Man’s Land, marking 25 years since its Cannes premiere. In addition to Harrelson, Bosnian screen veteran Emir Hadžihafizbegović will receive an Honorary Heart of Sarajevo.