Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu to Receive 'Heart of Sarajevo Award'

26/07/2019 - Mexican director, producer and screenwriter Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is to receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award at the 25th Sarajevo Film Festival.

The honor is given “in recognition for his exceptional contribution to the art of film.” “It gives us great pleasure to honor this distinguished auteur who keeps pushing the limits by transforming his unique artistic vision into unpredictable and outstanding movies,” said festival director Mirsad Purivatra. “His films are characterized by a distinctive style and pace and they captivate and thrill audiences and film critics around the world.” Inarritu made his feature directorial debut in Cannes’ Critics’ Week in 2000 with “Amores Perros,” which was nominated for a foreign-language film Oscar. His credits include “21 Grams,” which received two Oscar nominations in 2004; “Babel,” which won Cannes’ best director award in 2006, and garnered seven Oscar nominations, winning in one category; and “Biutiful,” presented in competition in 2010 at Cannes, where it won best actor for Javier Bardem, and picked up two Oscar nominations.

Inarritu took home Oscars for director, picture and original screenplay for “Birdman” in 2015, and the following year, he won the best director Oscar again for “The Revenant.” He created the VR installation “Carne Y Arena,” which previewed at Cannes in 2017 as the first VR project ever included in the Official Selection, and garnered him his fifth Academy Award. During the 25th Sarajevo Film Festival, Inarritu will hold a masterclass, and the festival will screen “Birdman.”

(VARIETY)