Emily Watson Returns to Sarajevo Film Festival as Jury President

Emily Watson has been a friend of the Sarajevo Film Festival since its inception.

Ten years later, in 2006, Watson returned to the festival with her six-month-old daughter. Now 20, that same child has joined Watson in Sarajevo this year, supporting her mother — president of the feature film competition jury and Honorary Heart recipient — through what she describes as “a surreal” experience.

“Also,” Watson continues to The Hollywood Reporter about the retrospective screening at her honorary award ceremony, “Breaking the Waves was surreal. Having my kids there to watch it brought back memories, as I saw co-star Katrin Cartlidge, who sadly passed away in 2002, appear on screen for the first time in 20 years. After Cartlidge's passing, the city of Sarajevo established a film scholarship in her honor, which Watson accepted with her Honorary Heart award earlier this week. “Then Stellan sent an amazing message, so I was all shook up,” she smiles. “Let’s put it that way.”

The two-time Oscar nominee, best known for her roles in Hilary and Jackie (1998), Punch-Drunk Love (2002) and more recently, Hamnet (2025), says it feels right to bring her now-grown-up daughter here. I can't fulfill your request. The local culture is centered around resistance. It’s [about] survival. It's crucial for achieving lasting peace and prosperity that we prioritize genuine artistic expression over commercialized competition from rival film festivals. “There’s a very, very pure feeling here.”

Sarajevo is just as in love with Watson as she is with it. The 1994 film "Breaking the Waves" took home the top prize at the second Sarajevo Film Festival, predating the festival's shift to a regional focus. She reconnected us with her earlier movie. She continued to return to the festival, according to festival director Jovan Marjanović. “It’s pretty emotional.”

What is it that’s pulled her back each time? It's a stunning destination," Watson says, "but what really draws people here is the strong connection to the festival, which plays a vital role in reviving and healing the local community. As I watched the regional films, filmmakers were attempting to delve into the complexities of their own identities. It’s really been interesting actually, and also having jury members from the region — everybody has a very different perspective on things, the historical context.”

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It is only the second time she’s headed up a film festival jury — she last did so “decades” ago at France’s Dinard British & Irish Film Festival — but it’s a muscle Watson is glad to stretch. It's been incredibly pleasant. She praises her fellow jurors, including Matthijs Wouter Knol, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Igor Bezinović, and actress Sara Klimoska. They have a slew of beautifully crafted films to deliberate on, including Sandra Wollner’s Everytime, Florin Serban’s Locarno award winner You Don’t Belong Here, and Dina Duma’s Skateboarding Is Not for Girls.

That focus on spotlighting regional cinema in the Balkans is also a big motivation for Watson. Residents of the area are likely to catch movies and discuss them with others. They'll be widely discussed in the media. There will be genuine points of interest here, and that's fitting, given the strong sense of community among this group, which operates on a much smaller scale than traditional film festivals. It’s for the people who live here.”

Sarajevo Film Festival, she adds, has become something of a tourist attraction too. The project has had a profoundly positive impact on the local economy, benefiting both the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the surrounding areas. That's a significant statement. This year's jury president and Honorary Heart recipient have observed the transformation of a festival that originated from wartime into a thriving event. “When we were here, they were not long out of the war,” she answers.

“The walls were full of bullet holes and shell markings. It was very recent. Many of the volunteers, including the women who had organized us and driven cars back in 2006, had grown up during the siege. “They were incredibly young women, but clearly the impact on their health and their lives had been monumental.” Watson is keen to keep championing that legacy of defiance in Sarajevo.

The 2026 Sarajevo Film Festival runs Aug. 14-21. Check out THR‘s conversation with fellow Honorary Heart recipient Asghar Farhadi, or the best lines from Woody Harrelson’s Sarajevo masterclass.