Overview

• Speaking at a master class at the 31st Sarajevo Film Festival, where he received the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo, Dafoe revisited the 1988 controversy over The Last Temptation of Christ.
• He said the campaign initially came from the American religious right and later shifted into an antisemitic narrative about “Jews in Hollywood.”
• Dafoe said the uproar kept the film from being widely distributed despite its sincere focus on faith and its restrained, low-budget approach.
• He called the part one of his favorite roles, describing the fast, resource-limited shoot as lending the film grace and simplicity.
• In a broader career discussion, he praised the physicality of the original Spider-Man, briefly sidestepped a question about President Trump, and noted upcoming premieres in Venice and Toronto.