Zoltán Kamondi

He was born in 1960 in Budapest. After finishing his studies at the Faculty of Art, he went on to get a degree in film directing at the Academy of Drama and Film, where he graduated in 1988. He has won many awards with his short films at festivals. His greatest success was his examination film KIKI AND THE MALES which won the Best Director Award at the West-Berlin Short Film Festival. Between 1986 and 1988 he was a member of the directors' board of Balázs Béla Film Studio. In 1987 he was a founding member of the Young Artists' Studio (FMS) revived by Jolán Árvai. He made the studio's first film THE SUBCONSCIOUS STATION, which was also his diploma film. In 1989 he worked as a war-correspondent for Japanese and French television and Radio Free Europe during the Romanian revolution. At the same time he worked together with Károly Makk as script writer and co-director. In 1990 he made his first film PATHS OF DEATH AND ANGELS which was screened in Cannes, Sélection Officielle "Un Certain Regard", and was invited to a number of important festivals (Moscow, Chicago, Tokyo, Ghent, Paris, Orleans). It won the Best Film Music Award in San Remo. In 1992 he started to work in theatre. In the following year he was a founding member of the Pécs Experimental Workshop. The performance, CRIMES OF THE HEART he directed there won four prizes (the Main Prize for the best performance among them) at the Hungarian Theatre Festival. In 1997 he began shooting THE HUNGARIAN SPECKLED VARIETY, a documentary series, parts of which have been completed. Critics considered the series one of the most important documentaries of the years after the political changes. One episode won the Main Prize in the Documentary Category in the MEDIAWAWE International Short Film Festival in 1995. In 1994 he started to work in the Miskolc Theatre where he directed SALOME which also won the Best Leading Actress Award at the Hungarian Theatre Festival and was considered by critics one of the best performances of the year. In 1996 he founded his own experimental theatre company called 'Rolling Cult Motel' in Miskolc. The performance series TOUCHING EACH OTHER he started has been playing for four years and was very well received both by the profession and the audience. One performance of the series won the Main Prizes of the Alternative Theatre Festival in 1999. In 1996 his video film GOLDEN DECK-CHAIR was released and it won the Best Director Award in short film category at the 27th Hungarian Film Week, in the following year it also received the Critics' Award for "its innovative dimensions and forms". In 1998 he studied theatre life in London with the support of the British Council. At the invitation of the Dutch Theatre Institute he participated in the Theatre Festival in Amsterdam. In the same year, with his own theatre company Rolling Cult Model, has directed CANDIDE in the Thália Theatre which received the Critics' Award for "the best musical performance of the season." In 1999 his feature film THE ALCHEMIST AND THE VIRGIN was released. The film won the Best Independent Feature Award at the Manchester International Film Festival in the US. In Berlin at Prix Europe it was placed fourth. It won the Critics' Award for the Best Cinematography and for the Best Leading Actress. It was invited to film festivals in Alexandria, Boston, Calcutta, Madrid, Dhaka, Vancouver and Porto. In 2001 he made a 25-hour documentary about the life and work of the Hungarian poet György Petri, IN MEMORIAM PETRI GYÖRGY. The very personal interview was led just before the poet's death. In 2002 he made his third feature film TEMPTATIONS. At the 33rd Hungarian Film Week it won the Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Leading Male Actor Awards. It was a Golden Bear Nominee at the Berlin International Film Festival. It has won many national and international awards at important festivals. This same year he started teaching at the Hungarian Film Academy. In 2003 he was awarded the Balázs Béla Prize. In 2007 he completed his fourth feature film DOLINA based on the novel 'The Archbishop's Visit' by Ádám Bodor on which he has been working ever since 2000. It was presented at the 38th Hungarian Film Week where it was awarded the Best Artistic Contribution Award The film has been officially selected in Competition at the 42nd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and won several international awards, three in USA among them including the Best Director Award at the 2008 Tiburon International Film Festival. In 2009 he produced the film "1" directed by Pater Sparrow which was released at the 40th Hungarian Film Week where it was awarded the Best Cinematography, Best Artistic Contribution, Best Editor and by the Student's Jury the Best First Film. In 16.Granada IFF it won the Audience Prize, in Fantasporto, Director's Week the Best Director and Best Actor awards. In 2009-2012 he went back to work in theatre and among many others he put on stage with huge success Almodóvar-Adamson All about my mother play in Víg Theatre, Budapest. In 2016 he completed his fifth feature film Just drop dead! based on the short story 'Just an ordinary visit' by László Márton on which he has been working ever since 2012.