25 Best Hungarian Directors
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- Director
- Writer
- Production Designer
He was born in 1917 and between the two World War he finished his primary and secondary school. After them he graduated in the College of Fine Arts, which helped him later to be a production-designer. He liked to learn and joined the Academy of Theatre and Film Arts. He bacame a director and actor. In the beginning of his career he was a production-designer, actor and he directed in theatres. He liked illustration and made many book illustrations. After the 2nd WW he was the main director of the Magyar Theatre, and in 1947 he was the member of the National Theatre. In 1950 he got a job in the Film Factory as an art director. Occasionally he wrote scripts. His first film Vihar (1952) is filmed in a Hungarian village. At the height of his career he made the internationally renowned film Merry-Go-Round (1956). He died in heart-attack when he was 77.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
István Szabó was the first director to bring home to Hungary the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie receiving the award was his 1981 film Mephisto. In January 2006, it became public that he had been an agent of the III/III department, a former communist agency of interior intelligence. After the revolution in 1956, he was blackmailed and forced to cooperate, though later he was considered willingly cooperative. Allegedly, he wrote reports about fellow Hungarian directors, actors, and actresses such as Miklós Jancsó, Mari Töröcsik, Károly Mécs. Szabó has never denied the charges and considers his agent work heroic and needful, claiming he saved the life of a friend sentenced to death for his involvement in the revolution of 1956.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Géza von Radványi was born on 17 December 1907 in Kassa, Hungary, Austria-Hungary [now Kosice, Slovak Republic]. He was a writer and director, known for Uncle Tom's Cabin (1965), Európa nem válaszol (1941) and Mädchen in Uniform (1958). He was married to Mária Tasnádi Fekete and Eva Daghofer. He died on 27 November 1986 in Budapest, Hungary.- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Károly Makk was born on 22 December 1925 in Berettyóújfalu, Hungary. He was a director and writer, known for Another Way (1982), Love (1971) and The Gambler (1997). He was married to Andrea Zsiga Kiss, Marianne Krencsey, Virág Dõry and Hanna Dömötör. He died on 30 August 2017 in Budapest, Hungary.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Szabolcs Hajdu was born on 26 January 1972 in Debrecen, Hungary. He is an actor and director, known for Fehér tenyér (2006), Bibliothèque Pascal (2010) and It's Not the Time of My Life (2016).- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
György Pálfi was born on 11 April 1974 in Budapest, Hungary. He is a director and writer, known for Taxidermia (2006), Hukkle (2002) and Free Fall (2014).- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Kornél Mundruczó was born on 3 April 1975 in Gödöllõ, Hungary. He is an actor and director, known for Jupiter's Moon (2017), White God (2014) and Pieces of a Woman (2020). He is married to Kata Wéber.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
András Jeles was born on 27 March 1945 in Jászberény, Hungary. He is a director and writer, known for Dream Brigade (1983), A kis Valentinó (1979) and József és testvérei - Jelenetek a parasztbibliából (2004).- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Ildikó Enyedi was born on 15 November 1955 in Budapest, Hungary. She is a director and writer, known for On Body and Soul (2017), Simon, the Magician (1999) and My Twentieth Century (1989).- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Attila Gigor was born on 13 February 1978 in Budapest, Hungary. He is a writer and director, known for A nyomozó (2008), Terápia (2012) and Ember a tükörben (2005).- Actor
- Director
- Script and Continuity Department
Zoltán Várkonyi was born on 13 May 1912 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was an actor and director, known for Simon Menyhért születése (1954), Sóbálvány (1958) and Fekete gyémántok (1977). He was married to Vera Szemere and Dóra Fáy Kiss. He died on 10 April 1979 in Budapest, Hungary.- Director
- Writer
- Editor
István Gaál was born on 25 August 1933 in Salgótarján, Hungary. He was a director and writer, known for The Falcons (1970), Sodrásban (1964) and Legato (1978). He died on 25 September 2007 in Budapest, Hungary.- Director
- Cinematographer
- Writer
Sándor Sára was born on 28 November 1933 in Tura, Hungary. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Sodrásban (1964), Feldobott kö (1969) and Könyörtelen idök (1992). He was married to Szegedi, Erika (I) and Marianna Moór. He died on 22 September 2019 in Budapest, Hungary.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Péter Gothár was born on 28 August 1947 in Pécs, Hungary. He is a director and writer, known for Time Stands Still (1982), Paszport (2001) and Vaska Easoff (1996). He was previously married to Juli Básti.- Producer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Béla Tarr was born on 21 July 1955 in Pécs, Hungary. He is a producer and director, known for Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), The Turin Horse (2011) and Satantango (1994). He is married to Ágnes Hranitzky.- Director
- Actor
- Cinematographer
György Fehér was born on 12 February 1939 in Budapest, Hungary. He was a director and actor, known for Passion (1998), Twilight (1990) and Satantango (1994). He died on 15 July 2002 in Budapest, Hungary.- Director
- Writer
Ferenc Kósa was born on 21 November 1937 in Nyíregyháza, Hungary. He was a director and writer, known for Ten Thousand Days (1967), Guernica (1982) and Judgement (1970). He was married to Itomi Shinobu. He died on 12 December 2018 in Budapest, Hungary.- Writer
- Director
- Script and Continuity Department
Péter Bacsó was born on 6 January 1928 in Kosice, Czechoslovakia [now Slovakia]. He was a writer and director, known for Forró vizet a kopaszra! (1972), Nyár a hegyen (1967) and Jelenidö (1972). He died on 11 March 2009 in Budapest, Hungary.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
János Herskó was born on 9 April 1926 in Budapest, Hungary. He was an actor and director, known for Két emelet boldogság (1960), Vasvirág (1958) and N.N. a halál angyala (1970). He was married to Anna Herskó. He died on 12 October 2011 in Budapest, Hungary.- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Ibolya Fekete was born on 23 January 1951 in Pásztó, Hungary. She is a director and writer, known for Chico (2001), Bolse vita (1996) and Mom and Other Loonies in the Family (2015).- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Miklos Jancsó was born in 1921 in Vac, Hungary. His mother Angela Poparada was Romanian and his father Sandor Jancsó Hungarian. Jancsó received a degree in Law from the University of Cluj-Napoca in 1944. After fighting in WWII and a brief period as a POW, he chose to join the Film and Theater Academy in Budapest, and graduated with a diploma in Film Directing in 1950. His fifth feature film The Round-Up (1966) was a huge hit domestically and internationally and is often considered a significant work of world cinema. Hungarian film critic Zoltan Fabri called it "perhaps the best Hungarian film ever made." Film critic Derek Malcolm included the film in his list of the 100 greatest films ever made. In Hungary, it was seen by over a million people (in a country with a population of 10 million). His next film The Red and the White (1967) became Jancsó's biggest success internationally. It won for example the 'Best Foreign Film' award from the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. In his following films he developed a personal style of historical analysis using complex camera movements, dance and popular songs, creating his own cinematic style he called "political musical". The long takes became a trademark of Jancsó, so for example the 80-minute long Winter Wind (1969) consists of only 12 shots. Jancsó received the 'Best Director' award at the Cannes Film Festival 1972 for the film Red Psalm (1972). During the 1970s, Jancsó divided his time between Italy and Hungary and made a number of films in Italy, the best known of which is Private Vices, Public Virtues (1976). At that time, his films Hungarian Rhapsody (1979) and Allegro barbaro (1979) were the most expensive to have been produced in Hungary, but the critical reaction was muted. Jancsó was awarded the Career Golden Lion at the Venice Film festival in 1990. After little success and a long break Jancsó returned with The Lord's Lantern in Budapest (1998), which proved to a be a surprising comeback for the director. This success led to a succession of 5 more Pepe (Zoltán Mucsi) and Kapa (Péter Scherer) films, the last in 2006. Jancsó also cemented his reputation by making appearances in a number of films, for example as himself in his Pepe and Kapa films and in guest roles in works by up-and-coming Hungarian directors. Jancsó died of lung cancer on 31 January 2014, aged 92. Fellow Hungarian director Béla Tarr called Jancsó "the greatest Hungarian film director of all time" and acknowledged Jancsó's influence on his own work.- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Gábor Bódy was born on 30 August 1946 in Budapest, Hungary. He was a director and writer, known for Amerikai anzix (1975), Narcissus and Psyche (1980) and Kutya éji dala (1983). He was married to Veronika Baksa-Soos (Veruschka Body). He died on 25 October 1985 in Budapest, Hungary.- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
He learnt directing from Pál Fejös, and László Vajda as an assistant director. In 1937 he made his first film followed by 2 other films in the same year, (A harapós férj, a Viki and Torockói menyasszony). Between 1939 and 1944 he couldn't make films because he was Jewish. After the 2nd WW, he made the first Hungarian film (A tanítónö). First he worked at the firm Orient Film Factory, and in 1948 he moved to the National Film Factory. In 1950 he began to teach in the Academy of Theatre and Film Arts. Between 1949 and 1953 he made the most watched comedies, with Kálmán Latabár.- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
István Szöts was born on 30 June 1912 in Szentgyörgyválya, Austria-Hungary [now Valea Sangeorgiului, Romania]. He was a director and writer, known for Emberek a havason (1942), Ének a búzamezökröl (1947) and Szerelmes szívek (1944). He died on 5 November 1998 in Vienna, Austria.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Pál Zolnay was born on 26 March 1928 in Budapest, Hungary. He was a director and writer, known for Fotográfia (1973), Embriók (1986) and Arc (1970). He was married to Katalin Berek and Éva Schubert. He died on 17 October 1995 in Budapest, Hungary.