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Meg Ryan to Receive Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award at the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival

In recognition of her outstanding contribution to the art of film, actress Meg Ryan will receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award at the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival.

A Hollywood star known for her versatility and natural charm in every role she plays, Ryan will also present a special screening of her 1998 hit romantic comedy You've Got Mail at Coca-Cola Open Air Cinema. The famous actress will greet the audience at the same venue where this film was screened 25 years ago, at the 5th Sarajevo Film Festival in 1999.

Ryan will also hold a masterclass moderated by award – winning Bosnian director Danis Tanović, best known for his Oscar®-winning film No Man's Land. The masterclass will be a special opportunity to have an insight into key aspects of Ryan's career and her new film What Happens Later, which will also be screened at the Festival. A romantic comedy which Ryan directed, wrote and in which she stars opposite David Duchovny, What Happens Later from Bleecker Street Media marks Ryan's second directorial effort following the 2015 independent film Ithaca.

“Meg Ryan had our hearts at hello! Not only has she charmed us all with her unforgettable performances, but she has also proven her prowess behind the camera as a director and screenwriter. It is our honor to present her with the Heart of Sarajevo,” says Jovan Marjanović, director of the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Meg Ryan’s comedic appeal was widely recognized in her first Golden Globe-nominated performance as Sally Albright in When Harry Met Sally, directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron. She went on to star in Nora Ephron’s hit romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle, opposite Tom Hanks, garnering a second Golden Globe nomination. Her latest collaboration with Ephron and Hanks was the romantic comedy You've Got Mail, which once again gained Ryan international recognition as she was awarded her third Golden Globe nomination for her role in the film.

Acclaim has also come to Ryan for her distinctive dramatic portraits, including her role opposite Denzel Washington as the first military woman nominated for a Medal of Honor in Courage Under Fire, directed by Ed Zwick, and her moving portrayal of a wonderful woman with a drinking problem in Luis Mandoki’s When a Man Loves a Woman, opposite Andy Garcia. For her performance opposite Kiefer Sutherland in the Sundance Institute’s Promised Land, she earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

The Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award was established in 2005 with the aim to give a recognition to individuals for their outstanding contribution to the affirmation and development of the film industry and the support and development of the Sarajevo Film Festival.

The 30th Sarajevo Film Festival will take place from August 16 to 23, 2024.

Previous Recipients of the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award include:
Mark Cousins (2023), Lynne Ramsay (2023), Charlie Kaufman (2023), Jesse Eisenberg (2022), Ruben Östlund (2022), Sergei Loznitsa (2022), Paul Joseph Schrader (2022), Wim Wenders (2021), Michel Franco (2020), Mads Mikkelsen (2020), Tim Roth (2019), Isabelle Huppert (2019), Alejandro González Iñárritu (2019), Paweł Pawlikowski (2019), Nijaz Hastor (2018), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (2018), Oliver Stone (2017), John Cleese (2017), Wolfgang Amadeus Brülhart (2016), Stephen Frears (2016), Robert De Niro (Lifetime Achievement Award, 2016), Benicio Del Toro (2015), Atom Egoyan (2015), Agnès B. (2015), Danis Tanović (2014), Gael García Bernal (2014), Béla Tarr (2013), Roberto Olla (2013), Branko Lustig (2012), Emil Tedeschi (2011), Jafar Panahi (2011), Angelina Jolie (2011), Dieter Kosslick (2010), Manfred Schmidt (2009), Cat Villiers (2008), Steve Buscemi (2007), Mike Leigh (2006), Gavrilo Grahovac (2006), Marco Müller (2005).