The Heart of Sarajevo (Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: Srce Sarajeva / Срце Сарајева) is the highest prize awarded in all the competition categories at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Heart of Sarajevo The official Heart of Sarajevo have been awarded since 2004, and the 10th anniversary of the Sarajevo Film Festival. Its design, as a visual identity for the festival, was chosen in 2004 from the shape that has been in informal circulation since the very beginning of the festival in the early 1990s, a heart designed by French fashion designer Agnès Andrée Marguerite Troublé a.k.a. Agnès B., a friend and patron of the Sarajevo Film Festival. The awards for 31st Sarajevo Film Festival were announced on 22 August 2025.
Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Feature Film
Year Film Original title Director(s) Nationality of director1996 Breaking the Waves Breaking the Waves 1997 My Life in Pink Ma Vie en Rose 1998 I Stand Alone Seul contre tous 1999 December 1–31 Dezember, 1-31 2000 Bleeder Bleeder 2001 No Man's Land Ničija zemlja 2002 Saturday Sábado 2003 Fuse Gori vatra 2004 Mila from Mars Mila ot Mars 2005 Lady Zee Leydi Zi 2006 Fraulein Das Fräulein 2007 Takva: A Man's Fear of God Takva 2008 Buick Riviera Buick Riviera 2009 Ordinary People Obični ljudi 2010 Tilva Roš Tilva Roš 2011 Breathing Atmen 2012 Everybody in Our Family Toată lumea din familia noastră 2013 In Bloom Grdzeli nateli dgheebi and Simon Groß 2014 Song of My Mother Annemin Şarkısı 2015 Mustang Mustang 2016 Album Albüm 2017 Scary Mother Sashishi deda 2018 Ága Ága 2019 Take Me Somewhere Nice Odvedi me na neko lijepo mjesto 2020 Exile Exil 2021 Great Freedom Große Freiheit 2022 Safe Place Sigurno mjesto 2023 Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry Shashvi shashvi maq'vali 2024 Three Kilometres to the End of the World Trei kilometri până la capătul lumii 2025 Wind, Talk to Me Vetre, Pričaj Sa Mnom 2026 Everytime Sandra Wollner Austria
Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Director Year Director Film Nationality of director2017 Meda or The Not So Bright Side of Things 2018 Lemonade 2019 A Tale of Three Sisters 2020 The Island Within 2021 Celts 2022 Klondike 2023 La Palisiada 2024 Arcadia , , 2025 Sorella di Clausura , , 2026 Supporting Role , ,
Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Actress Year Actress Film Nationality of actress2004 A Wonderful Night in Split 2005 What Is a Man Without a Moustache? 2006 Fraulein 2007 Egg 2008 Gitmek: My Marlon and Brando 2009 and Dogtooth 2010 Tuesday, After Christmas 2011 Loverboy 2012 Children of Sarajevo 2013 and Mariam Bokeria In Bloom 2014 Brides 2015 Mustang 2016 Godless 2017 Daybreak 2018 One Day 2019 Rounds 2020 Mare 2021 The Hill Where Lionesses Roar 2022 Corsage 2023 Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry 2024 The Village Next to Paradise , , 2025 Sarah Al Saleh, Alina Juhart and Mina Milovanović Fantasy ,
Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Actor Year Actress Film Nationality of actor2004 How I Killed a Saint 2005 Labour Equals Freedom 2006 All for Free 2007 It's Hard to Be Nice 2008 and Slavko Štimac Buick Riviera and 2009 Ordinary People 2010 Tilva Roš 2011 Breathing 2012 Redemption Street 2013 A Stranger 2014 Song of My Mother 2015 Chevalier 2016 Dogs 2017 Meda or The Not So Bright Side of Things 2018 The Load 2019 And Then We Danced 2020 Digger 2021 Great Freedom 2022 Safe Place 2023 Lost Country 2024 Holy Week ,2025 ,
Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Short Film Year Film Original title Director(s) Nationality of director2001 Copy Shop Copy Shop 2002 10 Minutes 10 minuta 2003 The Wallet Le portefeuille 2004 Me, Myself and the Universe Ich und das Universum 2005 Before Dawn Hajnal Bálint Kenyeres 2006 Good Luck Nedim Sretan put Nedime 2007 Waves Valuri 2008 Tolerantia Tolerantia 2009 Party Tulum 2010 Yellow Moon Žuti mjesec 2011 Mezzanine Mezanin 2012 The Return Kthimi 2013 Shadow of a Cloud O umbra de nor 2014 The Chicken Kokoška 2015 A Matter of Will Biserna obala 2016 Transition Tranzicija 2017 Into the Blue U plavetnilo 2018 Breath Dah 2019 The Last Image of Father Poslednja slika o ocu 2020 Antiotpad Antiotpad 2021 Everything Ahead Sve što dolazi 2022 Amok Amok 2023 27 27 2024 Absent Noksan 2025 Winter in March Lumi Saadab Meid Natalia Mirzoyan Armenia, Estonia, France, Belgium2026 Nobody Said Anything Niko nista nije rekao Tamara Todorović Serbia, France, Slovenia, Croatia
Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Student Film Year Film Original title Director(s) Nationality of director2017 Clean Čistoća 2018 Last Call Last Call 2019 Sherbet Šerbet 2020 The Great Istanbul Depression Büyük İstanbul Depresyonu 2021 Summer Planning Planuri de vacanță 2022 It's Not Cold For Mosquitoes Nije zima za komarce and Klara Šovagović 2023 Falling Falling 2024 The Smell of Fresh Paint Miris sveze farbe 2025 Tarik
Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Documentary Film Year Film Original title Director(s) Nationality of director2006 Facing the Day Što sa sobom preko dana 2007 Interrogation Informativni razgovori 2008 Corridor No. 8 Коридор No. 8 2009 The Caviar Connection Kavijar konekšn 2010 The Seamstresses Shivackite 2011 A Cell Phone Movie Mobitel 2012 Turn Off the Lights Lumea in patratele 2013 Sickfuckpeople Хворісукалюди 2014 Naked Island Goli 2015 Toto and His Sisters Toto şi surorile lui 2016 A Mere Breath Doar o răsuflare 2017 City of the Sun Mzis qalaqi 2018 Srbenka Srbenka 2019 When the Persimmons Grew Xurmalar Yetişən Vaxt 2020 Merry Christmas, Yiwu Merry Christmas, Yiwu 2021 Landscapes of Resistance Pejzaži otpora 2022 Museum of the Revolution Muzej revolucije 2023 Bottlemen Flašaroši 2024 A Picture to Remember 2025 Our Time Will Come Unsere Zeit Wird Kommen Ivette Löcker Austria2026 To Hold A Mountain Córki góry Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazić Montenegro
Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Short Documentary Film Year Film Original title Director(s) Nationality of director2022 We, ... Composition We, ... Composition 2023 Valerija Valerija 2024 Like A Sick Yellow Si e verdhë e sëmurë 2025 The Men's Land კაცების მიწა 2026 Holy Defiance Tiha misa Karla Jelić
Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award
Since 2005, the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo has been also awarded to individuals who have contributed to the development of the festival, as well as regional film in general, term which comprise filmmaking in broad area of Former Yugoslavia, Balkans, and Southeast Europe. In 2016, the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award for lifetime achievement was introduced. Its first recipient was Robert De Niro.
Year Winner Note2005 Director of Rome Film Festival2006 Former Minister of Culture and Sports in Bosnia and Herzegovina Film director2007 Actor and film director2008 Film producer2009 Executive director of Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung2010 Actor and producer Director of Berlin International Film Festival2011 Actress and film director Film director President of Atlantic Grupa2012 Film producer2013 Executive director of Eurimages Film director2014 Actor Film director Fashion designer2015 Film director Actor2016 Actor, film director and producerLifetime Achievement Award Film director Former Deputy Chief of Mission and Cultural Counselor at the Embassy of Switzerland in Bosnia and Herzegovina2017 Actor and film producer Film director and producer2018 Film director Owner and founder of the ASA Prevent Group and founder of the Hastor Foundation2019 Film director Actress Film director Actor2020 Film director Actor2021 Film director2022 Actor Film director Film director Film director2023 Film director Film director and writer Film director2024 Film director Actress Film director and writer Actor2025 Film director, screenwriter, and writer Actor Actor Actor2026 Actress Film director and screenwriter Actor, director, and producer Actor Actor
See also Sarajevo Film Festival 31st Sarajevo Film Festival Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress in a Drama Series Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress in a Comedy Series Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival Silver Bear and other awards at the Berlin International Film Festival Palme d'Or, the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival Golden Lion, the highest prize awarded at the Venice Film Festival
References
External links Sarajevo Film Festival (SFF homepage) IMDb - Sarajevo Film Festival, SFF at Internet Movie Database