Sarajevo Film Festival to honor Hollywood's Meg Ryan, John Turturro

The Sarajevo Film Festival, the largest movie showcase serving an area spreading from Vienna to Istanbul, will honor Hollywood star actors and directors Meg Ryan, John Turturro and Alexander Payne for their contributions to the artform, the festival organizers said on Monday.

The Honorary Heart of Sarajevo award will also go to Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, the organisers added.

Recipients of awards will attend the screening of their most popular movies, present their latest productions and hold masterclasses during the 30th edition of the festival, to be held from Aug. 16-23, the SFF said.

The SFF was founded towards the end of the Bosnian war of 1992-1995 by a group of movie enthusiasts and has been supported since then by figures in the industry from across the world.

SFF Director Jovan Marjanovic said it was a "great privilege" to be able to bring such industry figures to Sarajevo and connect them with young people from the region. "These are the ties that last and we see the people returning, enabling the festival to grow and develop."

The world premiere of "My Late Summer" by Bosnian Oscar-winning director Danis Tanovic will open the festival, which will showcase 240 films in total this year.

Ryan will present a special screening of her 1998 hit romantic comedy "You've Got Mail" at the open-air cinema that can accommodate 2,000 viewers, as well as her latest directorial effort "What Happens Later", in which she also stars.

Fifty-four films from southeastern Europe, Ukraine and the southern Caucasus will compete in four selections - features, short films, documentaries and student films - for the Heart of Sarajevo award, including 19 world premiers.

"What unites all these countries is that they are actually the periphery, both geopolitically and culturally," Marjanovic told Reuters.

"So the Sarajevo Film Festival has positioned itself as the centre of all these cinematographies, their window to the world to some extent, a platform for their mutual cooperation and the cooperation with the rest of the world."