Lóránd Banner-Szûcs

Director's Biography Loránd Banner Szucs was born in a small provincial town in Hungary. During the years of communism, barely tolerated but largely considered as a threat to the regime, amateur filmmakers slowly began to emerge from hiding and make increasingly daring independent films. The 1980s then saw provincial Hungary play a larger role in the world of independent filmmaking that had been so heavily concentrated in the country's capital up until that point. It was then that Szentes High school, renowned for its drama department, began to instruct its students in the art of filmmaking. This opened up a whole new world to local youngsters, previously directed into respectable middle class professions, and provided them with whole new form of artistic expression that soon grew into a forum for anti-establishment resistance. Following the family tradition, Banner continued his studies of biological sciences but found it impossible to ignore the exciting sounds coming from classrooms filled with his classmates engrossed in the fascinating world of film. The film they were watching this one afternoon was by Kurosava Dersu Uzala, and he decided to take a look. There was no turning back, and he quickly got himself transferred to this fascinating class. Attending a series of summer schools held by independent film professionals, he knew that this is what he wanted to do, he wanted to become a filmmaker in his own right. It was here that Loránd Banner Szucs made his first short feature and he clearly recalls the day that the world-famous violinist, Felix Lajko, played live accompaniment during a shoot in a scene reminiscent of the golden age of the talkies. He took the step from enthusiastic amateur and joined the world of professional filmmaking when he was asked to lend a hand to a crew shooting a feature film close to his home. And as that shoot wrapped, he made the leap, quit school and began working at MAFILM aged just 17. The next 15 years saw him work on a series of major movies directed by renowned Hungarian and international filmmakers including Péter Bacsó, István Szabó, Maro Ferreri and Philip de Broca, very quickly working his way up to the rank of first AD. With a tough professional training behind him, he took a year out in Australia, where he continued his studies and spent time writing screenplays sponsored by Hungarian producers. On returning to Hungary, refreshed by his time spent abroad, he founded Banner Casting, that has since go on to become the leading casting agency in Hungary. Loránd Banner Szucs is now one of the most sought-after casting directors in Hungary with a string of Hungarian and international feature films and commercials to his name, many the recipients of leading industry accolades. In parallel to managing his casting company, he continues to direct commercials and short films including The Secret Place and The Fifth Room that attracted keen interest from both professional critics and film fans alike. A recent excursion into a new medium saw him write and produce a one-man stage show entitled "Forty Me" based on the life of a famous Hungarian stage and screen actor, where, in typical genre-stretching style, the same actor not only portrayed himself but also forty other characters who populated both his personal and professional progress to the age of forty. Still extremely active as a screen casting director, he is currently overseeing the launch of his recent short film Sandwich and writing a screenplay for a new feature film.