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Lajos Koltai

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Lajos Koltai
Lajos Koltai in 2013
Born (1946-04-02) 2 April 1946 (age 78)
Occupation(s)Cinematographer, Film director
Years active1969–present

Lajos Koltai, ASC, HSC, (born 2 April 1946) is a Hungarian cinematographer and film director best known for his work with legendary Hungarian director István Szabó, and Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000 for his work on the film Malèna.

Early years and career

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Born at the beginning of the Cold War, he became interested in film at a very young age, though in Hungary at the time, film containing subversive content was heavily censored. He shot his first short on a Super 8 film camera at the age of 14 and began to draft short scripts and turn them into movies starring friends and family. One year he won first and second prizes at a local amateur film festival, and coincidentally another young filmmaker, István Szabó, was the head of the jury. Koltai graduated from the School of Drama and Film in Budapest, a school known for nurturing such legends as Vilmos Zsigmond and László Kovács.

Collaboration with István Szabó

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Still early in his career he gained international recognition during his collaborations with Szabó, namely his film Mephisto, which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and the cult political classic "Angi Vera" by Pal Gabor. At this point the international film community was starting to take notice of these Eastern European films. While Hollywood was at the peak of creativity a decade before after several decades of turning out films that didn't face the same restrictions as in these parts of the world, the Hungarian artistic spirit was beginning to find its place in the world, and many Hungarian directors were confronting truths about their country's tainted Nazi-affiliated history . What followed was several artistic and political masterpieces, the teen-oriented Time Stands Still (1982), a film many considered to be well ahead of its time, Cannes Film Festival winner Colonel Redl (1985), which garnered yet another Oscar nomination, and Hanussen, another political drama loosely based on the rise of Hitler.

In 1995 at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival he won the Special Silver St. George for the Director of Photography for his work on the film Mario and the Magician.[1]

Work in Hollywood

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Around this time Koltai decided to make the move to the United States, a dramatic departure for any European filmmaker, let alone cinematographer, though clearly many opportunities lied in the Hollywood playing field. So he joined the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and began to compile an impressive body of work, notably Luis Mandoki's White Palace, Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, Born Yesterday, When a Man Loves a Woman, Just Cause, Jodie Foster's Home for the Holidays, and Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau's last film together Out to Sea. While none of these films had a particularly signature or even beautiful style (save perhaps Mandoki's White Palace), due to the cookie-cutter industry standards Hollywood notoriously places over artistic license, it was around this time that another fateful collaboration took place, and that would be with Giuseppe Tornatore, the legendary director of Cinema Paradiso. The Legend of 1900 would be their first film together, a story about a piano player who was born and raised on a steam boat. Tornatore brought out some of Koltai's best work by allowing an actual creative collaboration to take place on set, instead of the cinematographer just taking orders from the director, and the result is what many (including Koltai himself) consider to be his most beautiful work. This led to a career high for any cinematographer, being nominated for an Academy Award for Tornatore's sweeping love story Malèna in 2000.[2]

Fateless

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In 2004 Koltai directed his first film, the Holocaust drama Fateless (Sorstalanság), based on the novel by the same name by Nobel Prize winning writer Imre Kertész. It was released in Hungary in February 2005 with moderate success and it was released in the United States in the fall of 2005. It has had much exposure and success on the film festival circuit premiering at the Telluride Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, the Los Angeles Film Festival, the Washington Jewish Film Festival, The Boston Jewish Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Woodstock Film Festival, the Berlinale, or Berlin Film Festival, where it was nominated for the prestigious Golden Berlin Bear, and countless others. It was also nominated for Best Score (Ennio Morricone) and Best Cinematography (Gyula Pados) at the European Film Awards, and Hungary nominated it for the 2006 Academy Awards, but out of the list of 58 countries as potential nominees for Best Foreign Film, it didn't make it to the final five.

Recent work

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As of 15 February 2006: Koltai finalized his first American directing deal for Focus Features, on the film Evening, scripted by Susan Minot (Stealing Beauty) and Michael Cunningham (The Hours). Shooting took place summer 2006 in Rhode Island. Actresses Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Vanessa Redgrave and Meryl Streep star in the movie.

Koltai's next projects are Aline & Wolfe, and Spider Dance. The former, which is scheduled to commence principal photography in 2009, tells the story of American writer Thomas Wolfe (1900–1938, Look Homeward, Angel) and his tumultuous affair with the much older and married arts patron and Broadway set designer Aline Bernstein, who is credited with inspiring Wolfe's writing career. Spider Dance is based upon the life of Lola Montez; focusing on her travels in Australia and is set for release in Christmas 2010.

He directed the 2023 film Semmelweis, a biopic about the life of 19th-century physician Ignaz Semmelweis, which Hungary selected to recommend for nomination in the International Feature Film category at the 2025 Academy Awards.[3]

Filmography

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Cinematographer

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Short film

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Year Title Director Notes
1971 Három lányok Dezsö Magyar
1972 Tisztelt cím Lívia Gyarmathy
Magyar vakáció György Szomjas
2002 Ten Minutes After István Szabó Segment of Ten Minutes Older: The Cello

Documentary short

Year Title Director Notes
1970 Vankó Imréné Dudás Juli Domokos Moldován Credited as "Koltay Lajos"
Nászutak György Szomjas With Mihály Halász
Illetlen fotók Géza Böszörményi
1971 Archaikus torzó Péter Dobai
1972 A lörinci fonóban Márta Mészáros
Ifivezetök Gábor Bódy
Sárospatak Ferenc Kardos
1973 Füredi Annabál György Szomjas
Gyakorlatok

Feature film

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Year Title Director Notes
1971 Agitátorok Dezsö Magyar
Prés Gyula Maár
A Harmadik Gábor Bódy Shared credit with Gábor Bódy;
Also credited as writer
1973 Szabad lélegzet Márta Mészáros
Álljon meg a menet! Lívia Gyarmathy
1974 Végül Gyula Maár
Ámokfutás Lajos Fazekas
1975 Jutalomutazás István Dárday
Györgyi Szalai
Adoption Márta Mészáros Shared credit with Márta Mészáros
Mrs. Dery Where Are You? Gyula Maár
Autó Géza Böszörményi
1976 Szépek és bolondok Péter Szász
A járvány Pál Gábor
1977 Teketória Gyula Maár
Rain and Shine Ferenc András
1978 Amerikai cigaretta János Dömölky
Filmregény - Három növér István Dárday With Ferenc Pap
The Stud Farm András Kovács
Just like Home Márta Mészáros
Angi Vera Pál Gábor
1979 Ajándék ez a nap Péter Gothár
1980 Bizalom István Szabó
The Green Bird
Harcmodor István Dárday
Györgyi Szalai
With Ferenc Pap
Színes tintákról álmodom László Ranódy
Haladék Lajos Fazekas
1981 Mephisto István Szabó
1982 Time Stands Still Péter Gothár
Guernica Ferenc Kósa
1983 The Princess Pál Erdöss With Ferenc Pap and Gabor Szabo
Mennyei seregek Ferenc Kardos
1985 Colonel Redl István Szabó
1986 Hajnali háztetök János Dömölky
1987 Gaby: A True Story Luis Mandoki
1988 Hanussen István Szabó
1989 Homer and Eddie Andrei Konchalovsky
Georg Elser - Einer aus Deutschland Klaus Maria Brandauer
1990 White Palace Luis Mandoki
1991 Mobsters Michael Karbelnikoff
Meeting Venus István Szabó
1992 Sweet Emma, Dear Böbe
1993 Born Yesterday Luis Mandoki
Wrestling Ernest Hemingway Randa Haines
1994 When a Man Loves a Woman Luis Mandoki
Mario and the Magician Klaus Maria Brandauer
1995 Just Cause Arne Glimcher
Home for the Holidays Jodie Foster
1996 Mother Albert Brooks
1997 Out to Sea Martha Coolidge
1998 The Legend of 1900 Giuseppe Tornatore
1999 Sunshine István Szabó
2000 Malèna Giuseppe Tornatore
2001 Taking Sides István Szabó
2002 The Emperor's Club Michael Hoffman
Max Menno Meyjes
2004 Being Julia István Szabó
2006 Relatives
2020 Zárójelentés

Television

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TV movies

Year Title Director
1973 Három nap a hétböl Levente Málnay
1974 A kulcs László Ranódy
1975 Kínai kancsó
Fürdés
Az utolsó tánctanár Géza Böszörményi
1977 A löcsei fehér asszony Gyula Maár
1983 Katzenspiel István Szabó
1984 Der Snob Wolfgang Staudte
Bali István Szabó
1985 Lenin Pál Sándor
1989 Perfect Witness Robert Mandel
1990 Descending Angel Jeremy Kagan
1996 Offenbachs Geheimnis István Szabó

TV series

Year Title Director Notes
1982 Schwarz Rot Gold Dieter Wedel Episode "Alles in Butter"

Director

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Awards and nominations

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Academy Awards

Year Category Title Result
2000 Best Cinematography Malèna Nominated

Berlin International Film Festival

Year Category Title Result
2005 Golden Bear Fateless Nominated

Camerimage

Year Category Title Result
1998 Golden Frog The Legend of 1900 Nominated

Chicago International Film Festival

Year Category Title Result
2005 New Directors Competition Fateless Nominated

David di Donatello

Year Category Title Result
1998 Best Cinematography The Legend of 1900 Won
2000 Malèna Won

European Film Awards

Year Category Title Result
1998 Best Cinematographer The Legend of 1900 Won
1999 Sunshine
2004 Being Julia Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "19th Moscow International Film Festival (1995)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-03-22. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
  2. ^ "Oscar List Cinematographers". International Cinematographers Guild. Archived from the original on 2009-02-10. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  3. ^ "Hungary Selects Semmelweis for Oscar Submission in International Film Category". HungarianConservative.com.
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