Balázs Béla Award-winning cinematographer, university professor. He has photographed more than 30 feature films as well as documentaries, short films, TV films, ads, video clips and concert films. His films have received a number of international prizes, The Revolt of Job was even nominated for an Academy Award. Meteo became a cult classic in the movies after the democratic transformation of 1989. In 2017, he was awarded Best Cinematographer (in Budapest and in Parma) via three separate forums for the film Strangled, which was available on HBO and Netflix.
Besides making films, he has taught cinematography at a number of universities both in Hungary and abroad for decades. As a cinematographer, he was the first to have a PhD/DLA, to habilitate and to receive the title of university professor. He teaches even today, and his A Film Book has become a must-read in film studies. He is the founder and current president of the Hungarian Cinematographers Association (HCA).
Festival jury
She was born in Slovakia, but graduated at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest in 2012. Then she joined the company of the Katona József Theatre, while she has also acted in several films and television series in the past years. In 2017, she received the European Actress award of the European Film Academy for her role in the film On Body and Soul. In Hungary, she also received both the Jászai Mari Award, the Hungarian Film Award and the Hungarian Film Critics' award the following year. Her latest major film role was in the drama The Hungarian Dressmaker, a Slovak, Czech and Hungarian coproduction.
Photo: Gergő Pejkó
She graduated at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in 2018. Her first short film, Beautiful Figure, was nominated at the Student Academy Awards in the best foreign language narrative film category in 2016 and was invited to more than 100 festivals. Her graduation film Last Call received several prizes around the world, including the award for best student film at the Sarajevo Film Festival, then it was available on ARTE, HBO and Disney+.
Her first feature, Wild Roots, premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2021. Since then, it has been distributed in around 20 countries and has received 17 awards in Hungary and abroad, including awards in different categories at the Hungarian Motion Picture Festival. Wild Roots is available on HBO Max and Netflix, too. Her new film project, Ich Bin Marika, which is now in the financing phase, was selected to take part in the Nipkow Program (Berlin), in the prestigious Sam Spiegel International Film Lab and then in the Berlinale Co-production Market, where it won the Arte-Kino Award. Hajni Kis received the Junior Prima Award in 2020.
He started his career as an assistant cinematographer in 2007, and graduated in cinematography at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in 2020. During and after his studies, he photographed several successful short films. His first feature is Árni, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2023, and received the awards of both the Hungarian Cinematographers Association (HCA) and of the rental company Vantage Vision at the Vilmos Zsigmond International Film Festival in 2024. In 2025, he also received the best cinematography award at the Hungarian Film Week as well as the Hungarian Film Critics' Award for best cinematography. A member of HCA since 2025, now he is preparing many bigger and smaller projects for the future.
He worked in international co-productions at Focus Film Kft., then became a founder of Laokoon Filmgroup. He has been the producer, co-producer or executive producer of more than 100 films, including shorts that were screened at festivals (Venice, Berlinale, Cannes), a popular TV series, feature films including Kills On Wheels, Sunset (Venice Film Festival), Those Who Remained (short-listed for the Academy Awards), as well as Natural Light (Silver Bear at the Berlinale), Things Worth Weeping For (Sarajevo) and Rumours, with Cate Blanchett, in competition in Cannes.
Together with producer Gábor Sipos, he has produced Son of Saul by László Nemes Jeles, which has won 65 awards, including the best foreign language film award at Cannes, at the Golden Globes, at BAFTA as well as at the Academy Awards in 2016.
Founder of the camera and equipment rental companies Vision Team (later Vantage Vision) and Special Grip Hungary, and of the studio complex Astra Filmland. The rental companies have supported the Vilmos Zsigmond International Film Festival from the very beginning and also hand out an award every year which supports one talented young Hungarian cinematographer with high-value camera services.