Farhadi Named Jury President of Sarajevo Film Festival

The festival slated for August 10 to 17 will screen Farhadi’s latest movie “Everybody Knows” in its “Open Air” Section, ISNA reported.

Starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, the Spanish-language film by Farhadi was premiered as the opener of the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month.

Among other awards, Farhadi has received a Golden Globe Award as well as two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film for his films A Separation (2012) and The Salesman (2017).

This has made him one of the few directors in the world who have won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film twice, along with prestigious film directors such as Akira Kurosawa and René Clément.

His third film, Fireworks Wednesday, had won the Golden Hugo at the 2006 Chicago International Film Festival. His fourth film, About Elly, won him the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 59th International Berlin Film Festival and also Best Picture at the Tribeca Film Festival.

In 2012, he was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.

Last year, Mexican filmmaker Michael Franco presided over the five-person jury of Sarajevo Film Festival during which an overall 235 films from 54 countries were screened. At least 100,000 viewers watched the movies during the ten days of the festival.

Georgian Director Ana Urushadze’s “Scary Mother” took home the festival’s top prize, the Heart of Sarajevo, for best feature film, which includes an $18,500 financial award.