When did you realised you wanted to be a director\writer?

I started as a scriptwriter, writing a lot of scripts for series or film directors. And I was once given the gift of my first directing job. An excellent Hungarian film director read the script I had written for him and said he thought I could direct it well. And he gave me this opportunity and he became the producer of the film. It's a poetic feature film, the most popular Hungarian actors, a real budget, a real big film. And I could do everything the way I wanted to see the film. Such luck is rare in life.


Do you remember your first time at the Movies?



In Hungary, in the seventies and eighties, cinemas distributed all kinds of valuable American and European films, from Fellini to Truffaut, and only the value of the American film industry. As teenagers we watched these films. I don't know when I went to the cinema for the first time, but I remember the first film that really made an impression on me was DINO RISI'S WHITE  PHONES. After that I was looking for Italian films, I became a lover of neo-realist Italian films.




If you should change country where would you like to work?



In Italy. Either near Venice, or in the south, below Naples, for example in Agropoli.

Two films that have marked your life for better or for worse…

One is ALL THAT JAZZ , a film by Bob Fosse, the other is FORREST GUMP.

What do you think about Acting/ filmmaking schools?

Schools work well when they are taught by real masters. You cannot learn this from books, only from personal examples. The other is if the school lets art students into the world of technique, showing them the technical background of filmmaking. Without this knowledge, neither the screenwriter nor the director can really create something valid. In India I had the opportunity to study acting and directing at the same time. There, the first two years do not decide who will be an actor and who will be a director or writer. It evolves during the education, a very interesting method. In Hungary, actors are trained at university level, which is not good. By the time you get to university, it takes a few years, then five years of university to get a university degree. And in the meantime, the part of his life in which he could play great young roles has passed. It was an extremely bad idea to introduce this.



Have you ever hated your ambition?



Never.

Francois Truffaut used to think that "Film Lovers are sick people”… was he right?



Even great artists sometimes say stupid things. They have the right to do so.

Close your eyes…if I say “Cinema” what do you see?



A Hungarian cinema, where we organise the annual Pápa International Historical Film Festival and where I am the director. In one of the buildings in the country that is still really only used as a cinema. Cinemas in my country have moved into shopping centres and the real cinemas have disappeared. This is still there. We meet here every year with very filmmakers from all over the world.

Who’s the Director\Actor\Writer that taught you the most?



Dino Risi, Bob Fosse, Antonioni, Bunuel.

About your job, tell us your biggest dream and your worst nightmare…



Dreams are there to be made real. I have. Over the last fifteen years I have made fifteen feature films, several documentaries, and I have chosen the subject of each one, or rather I have dreamed it. Thanks to those who gave me the opportunity to make it happen. My last three films have won hundreds of festival awards and I go wherever I can, this is another dream come true. To make people from different cultures love my films. My worst nightmare? That one day computer programs will write the script and artificial intelligence will take over the direct role of humans in art.



How important is to have a good Cinematographic Culture?



Film can be entertainment and it can be art. Both are valid. Good entertainment, good entertaining film, makes life better for millions of people. And for those who want more than that, who want to find true artistic catharsis in a film, it is important that they find their own. But film also has a social role, think of countries where independent filmmakers are persecuted and where film is an expression of social justice. There, film can play a major role in creating freedom and democracy. The emergence of film has been important in the life of mankind because it unites the other arts, theatre, visual arts, photography, architecture, poetry and everything else. Only if it is a good and talented film, of course.



What would you like to improve as a director\Writer?



I don't know, because I work by instinct. I choose subjects or partners instinctively. The films I write and direct always find an audience. Like all art, it has to be understood as a game. Film directing is a game, beautiful and noble, but a game. 

A big producer give you the chance to direct the remake of

one of your favorite black and white Movie (if you have one)… what film do you choose?



I'd love to see Chaplin's film MODERN TIMES staged in today's context. Of course, you would have to find an actor as brilliant as Charlie Chaplin.

Film Industry it’s a tough place and sometimes is normal to feel lost and discouraged… who’s the person that keeps you motivated?

First and foremost my family, especially my wife, who supports me in all decisions and is usually better at deciding between situations than I am.  And because I have had many real masters who are no longer alive, I always think about how they would appreciate a piece of work. I would like to live up to them, even if they are no longer alive.

Alfred Hitchcock said: "To make a good film you need 3 things: The script, the script and the script".  Do you agree with him?



Yes, but only if the scenario includes the possibility of implementation. I also write the screenplay for my films, because I can see the whole film in my mind when I write the script. It's difficult to pass that on to another director because they may not see the same thing. The script alone is not enough. Hitchcock worked from extremely precise and accurate scripts and made very precise and accurate films. He did not deviate from the script he wrote. I give him the opportunity to make changes during the directing process if I see them, or a more valid solution than what was written.



What’s your most ambitious project for the future?

I would love to direct a large-scale dance film with dancers from all over the world. And to make a film without text, with just the images, music and choreography. THE BIRTH OF EROTICS, that would be the title, and it would work on the period in primitive society when eroticism was born. Because I think it was a big part of becoming human. For this film I am looking for a brave producer.

Do you think that sadness or at least melancholy let be more creative?

A director of a cabaret theatre told me that I could write really funny cabaret sketches when I was really bitter about something or in an impossible situation. And then I'd find him and write comedy sketches for him. He was right.

What do you wish to yourself as a directorr?

There are a few plans that I would really like to implement. But you always have to focus on the next job. In a couple of weeks I'm going to start shooting a historical film that I've been waiting ten years for, but I've already got the plan for the next film. As long as I can, I dream. And while I dream, I fight to make the dream come true.