Diego Luna highlights cinema's role in tackling difficult issues at Sarajevo Film Festival

Mexican actor, director, and producer Diego Luna will be honored with the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo award at the Sarajevo Film Festival. He used the occasion to emphasize cinema's power in confronting challenging subjects, noting parallels between the difficult periods in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Mexico during the 1990s.

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There are parallels.

During a masterclass at the festival, Luna stated that both countries experienced violence that people initially wished to ignore. He drew a connection to the armed conflict in Mexico's Chiapas state, which began in 1994 with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) uprising, and the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995. Both conflicts involved impunity for paramilitary groups that committed atrocities against civilians, leading to massacres and displacement.

Luna described cinema as a mirror that allows artists to engage with complex social issues. "It doesn't have to offer solutions, but it should open a space where we can observe what we flee from from a different perspective," he said. The actor, known for his role as Cassian Andor in 'Rogue One' and the series 'Andor,' sees his character as inspired by unexpected rebellions.

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We also suffered violence in Mexico that we wanted to ignore. And then we woke up.

He also participated in protests supporting indigenous rights in 1994 during the EZLN's uprising against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which questioned land ownership. His latest film, 'Ceniza en la boca,' which premiered at Cannes and was shown in Sarajevo, depicts the struggles of Mexican immigrants in Spain. Luna believes the film should prompt questions about how society treats those in need, underscoring film's capacity to influence audiences.

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It doesn't have to offer solutions, but it should open a space where we can observe what we flee from from a different perspective.