Four-time Oscar-nominated actor Willem Dafoe (“Platoon”, “The Poor”) was one of the prestigious Heart winners of the Sarajevo Award for this year’s career achievement, visiting the Sarajevo Film Festival and BH Telecom, introducing the sold-out masterclass and Miguel Angel Gimenez’s “birthday party.”
The visit marked Dafoe’s return to the Bosnian capital 25 years after the announcement of Steve Buscemi’s “animal factory.” “The festival is really thriving and growing,” he observed. “I just talked and it was a very enthusiastic reception. People believe in films, so I’m happy to be able to go where those people are.”
The actors are, of course, very used to being on the festival trails. After Sarajevo, Dafour heads to Venice to premiere Kent Jones’s “Late Fame” and Gaston Solniki’s “The Suffleur” and Nadia Latif’s “The Man in My Basement.”
“Festivals are particularly important for small and international films that are funded through co-productions,” he observed. “It’s important to see them and bring people behind them. When you make something you believe in, it breaks your heart, and you think it’s a beautiful film, and you can’t see it.
“The festival introduces new filmmakers, and it also raises discourse about the film and keeps the film alive,” he concluded.
Over 50 years of over 150 projects, Dafoe has worked with established filmmakers such as Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese and William Friedkin, but earlier in his career he worked with names such as Sean Baker and Robert Eggers, working with first-time promising directors.
The actor said experienced filmmakers have “a certain kind of expertise, elevated crafts.” “But they’ve seen better days. It’s good that the young people at the beginning of their careers get so turned on, and sometimes they don’t know much better. As you get seasoned, certain kinds of corruption and everyday life can creep up into your work. Young directors have nothing to compare it to.
As for the future of the industry, he has been around for almost half a century, but Dafoe is worried about devaluing the theatrical experience (“If you don’t pay attention, you won’t go to a challenging film that requires your attention, that’s what I’m worried about.
“Although certain levels of films are in danger, I feel like there’s a lot to do and I’m excited,” he said.
