Diego Luna to Receive Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award
Mexican actor and director Diego Luna comes to Sarajevo for an honorary award, a screening of his directorial film Ashes and a masterclass with young authors.
- Diego Luna will receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival.
- The festival runs from August 14 to 21, 2026.
- His directorial film Ashes, first shown in Cannes, will screen at the festival.
- Luna will also hold a masterclass with young authors and film professionals.
Diego Luna, the Mexican actor and director, will receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the 32nd Sarajevo Film Festival, the festival confirmed ahead of its edition running from August 14 to 21, 2026. The award recognizes his remarkable career and the mark he has left on contemporary cinema.
Luna is no stranger to audiences across the region. He broke through internationally in the early 2000s in a film by Alfonso Cuaron, and then built a career that moved from major studio productions to intimate Latin American stories. In recent years, viewers remember him above all for the lead role in a series he carried, which brought him several nominations for prestigious awards.
Why is Diego Luna getting this year’s honor?
Festival director Jovan Marjanovic said Luna has left a strong mark on contemporary cinema through work that refuses to settle into a single genre. The Mexican artist is present both in front of the camera and behind it, and he also founded a traveling documentary film festival that has connected authors across the continent for years.
The Honorary Heart of Sarajevo has previously gone to major global names, so Luna joins a list of artists the festival has recognized as key voices in contemporary film. For the organizers, it confirms that Sarajevo still manages to attract world-class figures, even though its August slot overlaps with a string of other big showcases.
What does Luna bring to audiences in Sarajevo?
Beyond the award itself, audiences will have the chance to see his directorial work. The program includes the film Ashes, which premiered in Cannes, so the Sarajevo screening will be a chance for local viewers to see how Luna handles a story from the director’s chair.
For young authors, perhaps the most important part of his visit is the masterclass he plans to hold with film professionals and talents at the start of their careers. Such encounters have long been one of the Sarajevo festival’s trademarks, giving new authors the chance to hear firsthand how a path is built from independent film to major productions.
The exact order of his appearances is still to be confirmed, but the arrival of a name like this already raises the buzz ahead of the August edition. So we want to know, will you catch Ashes first, or would you rather sit in the front row at Luna’s masterclass?
