16/09/2005

Adapted from a novel by Imre Kertesz, Nobel Prize for Literature in 2002, Fateless [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Sorstalansag), the first feature by Lajos Koltai, has been talked of as Hungarian candidate in the race for Oscar 2006 nominations as best foreign film. Presented in official competition at the last Berlin (read article), the film recounts the story of a child plunged into the horror of the Nazi concentration camp, an experience the author went through at the age of 14 at Auschwitz-Birkenau, then Buchenwald. An enormous success at the Hungarian box office this year, Fateless is the most expensive film in Hungarian cinema with a budget of more than 11 million euros thanks to a European finance package. Co-produced by Hungarian Magic Media (with a strong involvement from the Hungarian Motion Picture Foundation), the Germans at EuroArts Entertainment Filmproduktions and British Renegade Films, the film also benefited from German funds MFG, MDM et MDR. It will be released on North American screens, on the 4th November in Italy (Medusa Film) and the beginning of April 2006 in Belgium.

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The selection committee charged with choosing the Hungarian candidate is composed this year of Gyula Gazdag (Association of Hungarian Film Artists), Tamás Hutlassa (Hungarian Independent Producers Association), András Surányi (Hungarian Directors’ Guild), István Juhász (Hungarian Producers Association) and János Kende (HSC – Hungarian Society of Cinematographers). The Oscar 2006 nominations for the best foreign film will be revealed on the 31st January, the prize ceremony is set for 5th March.

(Translated from French)