Robert De Niro will present the iconic “Taxi Driver” at the Opening of 22nd edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival.
Preeminent Actor, director and producer Robert De Niro, two-time Academy Award® winner, five-time Academy Award® nominee and Golden Globe® winner, will receive the first Honorary Heart of Sarajevo – Lifetime Achievement Award for his extraordinary contribution to the art of film at Opening Night of the 22nd edition of Sarajevo Film Festival taking place from the 12th to the 20th of August.
“We are honored to have Robert De Niro as the first recipient of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo – Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Mirsad Purivatra, Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival.
“Ever since we met ten years ago at the Tribeca Film Festival, we were hopeful that Robert De Niro would be able to come to Sarajevo. That day has come and as a film professional and a great lover of film, I am sure that when I say this, I am speaking for both the audience and film professionals too – we are truly excited!”.
In honor of its 40th Anniversary, De Niro will present Martin Scorsese’s restored “Taxi Driver,” in which he starred. The film will be screened as part of the prestigious Open Air Program, the festival’s largest screening venue, where De Niro will also receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo in front of an audience of 3,000 film enthusiasts. “Taxi Driver” is regularly cited by critics, film directors, and audiences alike as one of the greatest films of all time. Nominated for four Academy Awards®, including Best Picture, and Best actor for De Niro, it won the Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival and two Golden Globe® Awards. Along with “Taxi Driver,” De Niro and Scorsese made eight movies together: “Mean Streets” (1973), “New York, New York” (1977), “Raging Bull” (1980), “The King of Comedy” (1983), “Goodfellas” (1990), “Cape Fear” (1991) and “Casino” (1995).
The acclaimed actor will also hold a talk about his career “In Conversation” for the festival audience and press at the Festival’s flagship National Theatre in Sarajevo moderated by Mike Goodridge, former journalist and CEO of London-based Protagonist Pictures who also programs the Kinescope section of the festival.
De Niro is currently in post-production on “The Comedian” with director Taylor Hackford and HBO’s “Wizard of Lies,” in which he is starring as Bernie Madoff and is executive producer. He will next be seen in The Weinstein Company’s boxing film “Hands of Stone” and Grindhouse Entertainment’s “Bus 657.”
Previous recipients of the Sarajevo Film Festival’s Heart of Sarajevo Award include Angelina Jolie, Benicio Del Toro, Gael Garcia Bernal, Steve Buscemi and acclaimed international award-winning directors Atom Egoyan, Jafar Panahi, Mike Leigh, Béla Tarr and Danis Tanović, amongst others. The Heart of Sarajevo Award was designed by French designer and filmmaker agnès b who is also a patron of the festival.
(SFF)