IEC
#1: 2006
LAJOS KOLTAI HSC/ASC
Born: 2 April 1946, Budapest, Hungary.
Education: Színház- és Filmmüvészeti Fõiskola [now Színház- és Filmmüvészeti Egyetem]/Academy of Drama and Film, Faculty of Film and Television, Budapest [SFF] [one of his teachers was doph György Illés] [graduated in 1969].
Career: 'At 14, he shot his first 8mm movie during a family vacation. He later wrote, directed and photographed many small movies starring his classmates. His sister, who worked as an assistant director for the state television network, occasionally gave him rolls of outdated 16mm b&w film. One year, while Koltai was in his teens, he won first and second prizes at an amateur film festival. When Koltai graduated from high school, he wanted to study cinematography at Budapest's School of Drama and Film, but no openings were available. So he spent a year pulling focus on a live video camera at the national TV network. The following year, he was admitted as one of only a few new students at the Film Academy.' [From article by Bob Fisher on the ICG website.]
After graduation he worked at the Hungarian State Television and later at the Béla Balázs Studio shooting exp films, short features and doc's. In 1974, Koltai shot his first film [dir by István Szabó] for Hungarian tv.
Ph commercials.
Active member of the ASC since September 1992.
Professor at the Academy of Drama and Film, Budapest.
Awards: Béla Balázs Prize [1977]; 'Merited Artist' [1982]; 'Oscar' AA nom [1983] for 'Mephisto'; Kossuth Prize [1985]; Hungarian Film Week Award [1987] for 'Hajnali háztetök'; European Film Award [1999], Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [1999] & 'David di Donatello' Award [1999] for 'La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano'; European Film Award [1999] for 'Sunshine'; 'Oscar' AA nom [2001] for 'Malèna'; ADF Cinematography Award [2002] for 'Taking Sides'; European Film Award nom [2004] for 'Being Julia'.
| FILMS AT THE SFF | |
|---|---|
|
1966 |
Vasasok [Tamás Farkas] ? |
|
1966 |
A hetedik napon [Lajos Koltai] b&w; doc/13m |
|
1966 |
Elöjáték [Gyula Gazdag] b&w; ?/17m |
|
1966 |
Hippodrom [Lajos Koltai or Tamás Farkas] ?; ?/13m |
|
1967 |
Csendes éj [Tamás Farkas] ? |
|
1968 |
Három lányok [Dezsö Magyar] b&w; short/26m |
|
1968 |
Határok [Maja Boriszova] ? |
|
1969 |
Express kaland [Tamás Farkas] ? |
| FILMS | |
|---|---|
|
1965 |
Kerítés [Lajos Koltai] ?; amateur film/?m |
|
1965 |
Improvizációk [Lajos Koltai] ?; amateur film/?m |
|
1969 |
Agitátorok/Propagandists/Agitators [Dezsö Magyar] b&w; docudrama/68m |
|
1969 |
Vankó Imréné Dudás Juli/Vankóné Dudás Juli [Domokos Moldován] b&w; doc/25m |
|
1970 |
Nászutak/Honeymoons [György Szomjas] b&w; doc/36m |
|
1970 |
Illetlen fotók [Géza Böszörményi] b&w; doc/13m; cph: István Zöldi |
|
1970 |
Lányok/Girls [György Szomjas] ?; doc/18m |
|
1970 |
Sárospatak [Ferenc Kardos] ?; doc/8m |
|
1971 |
Prés [Gyula Maár] b&w |
|
1971 |
Archaikus torzó/Archaic Torso [Péter Dobai] b&w; doc/32m |
|
1971 |
A harmadik/The Third One [Gábor Bódy] b&w; doc/50m |
|
1971 |
A Lörinci fonóban/At the Lörinc Spinnery [Márta Mészáros] ?; doc/16m |
|
1971 |
Tisztelt cím!/Dear Address [Lívia Gyarmathy] b&w; doc/19m |
|
1972 |
Füredi Annabál [György Szomjas] ?; doc/27m |
|
1972 |
Magyar vakáció [György Szomjas] ?; doc/16m |
|
1972 |
Tengerszint feletti magasság/Height Above Sea Level [Ferenc Téglássy] b&w; doc/18m |
|
1972 |
Valami mást - Kongresszusi levelek [Pál Erdöss] b&w; doc/30m |
|
1972 |
Ifivezetök [Gábor Bódy] 16mm/b&w; doc/42m |
|
1973 |
Álljon meg a menet!/Wait a Minute [Lívia Gyarmathy] c |
|
1973 |
Gyakorlatok/Exercises [György Szomjas] b&w; doc/22m |
|
1973 |
Szabad lélegzet/Riddance [Márta Mészáros] b&w |
|
1973 |
Végül/At the End of the Road/After All [Gyula Maár] b&w |
|
1973 |
Regruták/Rookies [Pál Erdöss] c; doc/38m |
|
1974 |
Amokfutás [Lajos Fazekas] c |
|
1974 |
Autó/The Car [Géza Böszörményi] c |
|
1974 |
Jutalomutazás/Holiday in Britain/The Prize Trip [István Dárday] c |
|
1975 |
Az egyedi eset természetrajza/The Natural History of an Industrial [Györgyi Szalai] b&w; doc/120m |
|
1975 |
A járvány/The Epidemic [Pál Gábor] c |
|
1975 |
Örökbefogadás/Adoption [Márta Mészáros] b&w; cph: M. Mészáros |
|
1975 |
Veri az ördög a feleségét/The Devil Is Beating His Wife/Rain and Shine [Ferenc András] c; cph: Akos Kertesz |
|
1975 |
Déryné, hol van?/Mrs. Dery, Where Are You? [Gyula Maár] c |
|
1976 |
Szépek és bolondok/On the Side-Line [Péter Szász] c |
|
1976 |
Teketória/Entanglement [Gyula Maár] c |
|
1977 |
Tárgyilagosan/The Objective Way [Pál Erdöss] 16mm-35bu/b&w; doc/102m; cph: László Vitézy |
|
1977 |
Olyan mint otthon/Just Like at Home [Márta Mészáros] c |
|
1977 |
Amerikai cigaretta [János Dömölky] c |
|
1977 |
Filmregény - Három növér/Three Sisters - A Film Novel [István Dárday] b&w; doc/270m; cph: Ferenc Pap |
|
1978 |
Angi Vera/Vera’s Training [Pál Gábor] c |
|
1978 |
A ménesgazda/The Stud Farm [András Kovács] c |
|
1979 |
Ez a divat '78-79. ösz-tél [Pál Sándor] ?; doc/?m |
|
1979 |
Ajándék ez a nap!/A Priceless Day [Péter Gothár] c |
|
1979 |
Bizalom/Confidence [István Szabó] c |
|
1979 |
Harcmodor/Strategy [István Dárday] c; cph: Ferenc Pap |
|
1979 |
Der grüne Vogel/The Green Bird [István Szabó] c |
|
1980 |
Haladék [Lajos Fazekas] c |
|
1980 |
Mephisto [István Szabó] c; collab Paris: Jean Badal |
|
1980 |
Színes tintákról álmodom [László Ranódy] c |
|
1981 |
Megáll az idö/Time Stands Still [Péter Gothár] b&w-c |
|
1982 |
Adj, király katonát! hazajáró lélek/The Princess [Pál Erdöss] b&w; cph: Ferenc Pap & Gábor Szabó |
|
1982 |
Guernica [Ferenc Kósa] c |
|
1983 |
Mennyei seregek/Heavenly Hosts [Ferenc Kardos] c |
|
1985 |
Hajnali háztetök/Roofs at Dawn [János Dömölky] c |
|
1986 |
Gaby - A True Story [Luis Mandoki] c |
|
1988 |
Homer & Eddie [Andrei Konchalovsky] c |
|
1988 |
Hanussen [István Szabó] c |
|
1988 |
Georg Elser - Einer aus Deutschland/Seven Minutes [Klaus Maria Brandauer] c; addph: Wolfgang Treu & Helmut Pirnat |
|
1990 |
Meeting Venus/Találkozás Venusszal [István Szabó] c |
|
1990 |
White Palace [Luis Mandoki] c; 2uc (New York) (+ c.op main unit): Michael Stone |
|
1990 |
Mobsters/The Evil Empire [Michael Karbelnikoff] c; filmed 1990-91 |
|
1991 |
Édes Emma, drága Böbe - vázlatok, aktok/Sweet Emma, Dear Böbe - Sketches, Nudes [István Szabó] c |
|
1992 |
Born Yesterday [Luis Mandoki] c |
|
1992 |
Wrestling Ernest Hemingway [Randa Haines] c; filmed 1992-93 |
|
1993 |
When a Man Loves a Woman/To Have and to Hold/Significant Other [Luis Mandoki] c; 2uc (San Francisco): Frank Holgate; uwph (Mexico): Pete Romano; Wescam ph (San Francisco): Hans Bjerno |
|
1993 |
Mario und der Zauberer [Klaus Maria Brandauer] c |
|
1994 |
Just Cause [Arne Glimcher] p/c; 2uc: Alexander Witt; aph: Frank Holgate; wildlife ph: Alan Degan |
|
1995 |
Home for the Holidays [Jodie Foster] c; uwph: Pete Romano |
|
1995 |
Mother [Albert Brooks] c; San Francisco ph: Bill Butler; filmed 1995-96 |
|
1996 |
Out to Sea [Martha Coolidge] c |
|
1996 |
Steadying the Boat [István Szabó] c; doc/58m |
|
1997 |
Der Vulkan [István Szabó] project; film was dir by Ottokar Runze and ph by Michael Epp |
|
1997 |
La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano/The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean/The Legend of 1900 [Giuseppe Tornatore] tvi/c; replaced doph Dante Spinotti |
|
1998 |
Sunshine/A napfény íze [István Szabó] c |
|
2000 |
Malèna [Giuseppe Tornatore] p/c |
|
2000 |
Taking Sides [István Szabó] c; filmed 2000-01 |
|
2001 |
Max [Menno Meyjes] c |
|
2001 |
Ten Minutes Older: The Cello [seg 'Ten Minutes After' dir by István Szabó] b&w-c; 8 seg + links; other ph: Agnès Godard, Fabio Cianchetti, Pascal Rabaud, Andreas Höfer, a.o. |
|
2001 |
The Emperor's Club/The Palace Thief [Michael Hoffman] c |
|
2002 |
Albert Nobbs [István Szabó] pre-production; cancelled due to financing issues; filmed in 2010-11 (d: Rodrigo García; ph: Michael McDonough) |
|
2003 |
Aquamarine [Laszlo Hege] announced; status unknown |
|
2003 |
Being Julia [István Szabó] c |
|
2005 |
Rokonok [István Szabó] c |
| TELEVISION | |
|---|---|
|
1972 |
Három nap a hétböl/Three Days of the Week [Levente Málnay] tvm/b&w |
|
1974 |
Kínai kancsó [László Ranódy] tvm |
|
1974 |
Fürdés [László Ranódy] tvm/50m |
|
1974 |
Az utolsó tánctanár/Der letzte Tanzlehrer [Géza Böszörményi] tvm/63m |
|
1976 |
A löcsei fehér asszony/The White Woman of Town Löcse [Gyula Maár] tvm |
|
1982 |
Schwarz-Rot-Gold [ep #2 'Alles in Butter' dir by Dieter Wedel] 18-part series, 1982-96 |
|
1982 |
Katzenspiel/Cat Game/Macskajáték [István Szabó] tvm |
|
1983 |
Bali [István Szabó] tvm |
|
1983 |
Der Snob/The Snob [Wolfgang Staudte] tvm; cph: Jürgen Podzkiewicz |
|
1983 |
Redl ezredes/Oberst Redl/Colonel Redl [István Szabó] tvm |
|
1985 |
Lenin [Pál Sándor] tvm/45m |
|
1989 |
Perfect Witness [Robert Mandel] tvm |
|
1990 |
Descending Angel [Jeremy Kagan] tvm |
|
1996 |
Offenbach titkai/Offenbachs Geheimnis/Offenbach's Secret: Soirée in Bouffes-Parisiens [István Szabó] tvm/b&w-c |
| MISCELLANEOUS | |
|---|---|
|
1969 |
Ismeri a szandi mandit?/Do You Know Sunday-Monday [Lívia Gyarmathy] co-c.asst; ph: Tamás Somló |
|
1970 |
Én vagyok Jeromos [István Tímár] c.asst; ph: György Illés |
|
1970 |
Hatholdas rózsakert [László Ranódy] c.asst; ph: György Illés |
|
1971 |
Hangyaboly/Ant-Hill [Zoltán Fábri] c.op; ph: György Illés |
|
1985 |
Kiki és a hímek [Zoltán Kamondi] b&w; short/29m; co-teacher; ph: Gábor Medvigy; prod SFF |
| FILMS AS DIRECTOR |
|---|
"Sorstalanság"
|
2003 |
Sorstalanság/Fateless [feature] ph: Gyula Pados |
|
2006 |
Evening [feature] ph: Gyula Pados |
|
2008 |
Aline & Wolfe [feature] ph: Gyula Pados; pre-production; status unknown |
|
2009 |
Spider Dance [feature; replaced Saul Dibb] announced; status unknown |
|
2011 |
The Treehouse/The Master of Farnow [feature; replaced Richard Kwietniowski] ph: Gyula Pados; in development since 2007; scheduled to start shooting in 2012; status unknown |
|
2016 |
The Bone Records of Leningrad [feature] announced |
|
2017 |
The Remarkable Tale of Phineas P. Gage [feature] pre-production |
