Overview

• Winstone accepted the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival after leading a candid masterclass on his five decades in screen acting.
• He warned that franchise priorities and follower counts increasingly shape casting and financing, squeezing culturally rooted films that offer actors substantive roles.
• Recalling his Marvel experience, he said Black Widow required reshooting all his scenes, which he called a low point, though he returned under contract to complete the work.
• He hailed Gary Oldman as the best director he has worked with and described Nil by Mouth as a career milestone grounded in social realism.
• He shared stories of Scorsese selecting him for The Departed and praised Spielberg’s distinctive shooting style, and he noted ongoing work on The Gentlemen plus a Jimmy White biopic now in editing.