Márta Mészáros facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Márta Mészáros
Born	(1931-09-19) 19 September 1931 (age 93) Budapest, Hungary
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter
Years active	1954–present
Spouse(s)	Laszlo Karda (1957-1959) (divorced) Miklós Jancsó (1960-1973) (divorced) (3 children) Jan Nowicki (?-2008) (divorced)

Márta Mészáros, born on September 19, 1931, is a famous Hungarian film director and writer. Her father, László Mészáros, was a sculptor. Márta started her career making documentary films. She made 25 short documentaries over ten years.

Her first full movie, The Girl (1968), was very special. It was the first Hungarian movie ever directed by a woman! It also won an award at the Valladolid Film Festival. Márta's films often mix her own life experiences with real-life documentary clips. She explores themes like people hiding their pasts. Her movies often show strong women characters. These characters might be young girls looking for their parents. Or they could be women wanting to adopt children, like in her film Adoption.

Márta Mészáros has made more than fifteen feature films. She is perhaps most famous for Diary for My Children (1984). This movie won a big award, the Grand Prix, at the Cannes Film Festival. It was the first part of a series of three films about her own life. The other two films are Diary for My Lovers (1987) and Diary for My Mother and Father (1990).

Throughout her career, Márta Mészáros has won many important awards. These include the Golden Bear and Silver Bear at the Berlinale film festival. She also won the Golden Medal at the Chicago International Film Festival. In 1991, she was a judge at the 17th Moscow International Film Festival.

Early Life and Education

Márta Mészáros was born in Budapest, Hungary. When she was young, her parents moved to the Soviet Union. They were artists who believed in communism. In 1938, her father, László Mészáros, was arrested and died. Her mother also passed away. Márta became an orphan and was raised by a foster mother in the Soviet Union. She went to school there.

In 1946, Márta returned to Hungary. Later, she went back to Moscow to study at VGIK, a famous film school. She finished her studies and returned to Hungary in 1956.

Film Career Highlights

Márta Mészáros started working at the Budapest Newsreel Studio in 1954. She made four short films there. From 1957 to 1959, she worked at a documentary studio in Romania. In 1958, she came back to Budapest. She made science films and documentaries until 1968.

In the mid-1960s, Márta joined Mafilm Group 4. She directed her first feature film in 1968. At that time, she was the first woman in Hungary to direct a full-length movie. In the 1980s, Márta made her "Diary films." These movies were partly about her own life. They were very important for Hungarian cinema. She showed how the government and people's past experiences affected them. Márta bravely challenged censorship in Hungary. She became a very important voice in her country's filmmaking. Since her first movie in 1968, she has made over fifty films. She has won many awards and continues to make movies today.

Márta Mészáros's Film Style

Márta Mészáros's films often show her own life experiences. She lost both her parents when she was young. She also grew up in Hungary after the Stalinist era. Her life had many challenges, and her films often reflect this.

Because Márta started by making documentaries, many of her feature films include real documentary footage. Most of her movies have open endings. They don't always follow a simple story. Also, there isn't much talking in her films.

Her movies explore the differences between what people hope for and what really happens. They also look at the relationships between parents and children. Márta's films show real-life issues often ignored in Eastern European movies. These include differences between city and country life. They also show problems between government offices and their workers. Her films explore the gap between generations. They also show how traditional families change. And they highlight the challenges faced by children raised by the state.

Márta Mészáros is one of the few female filmmakers who makes movies that are both popular and praised by critics. Her films are successful with audiences around the world. Her first eight feature films, made from 1968 to 1979, focus on the challenges faced by Hungarian women. These challenges include social pressure, money problems, and emotional difficulties. Márta herself said, "I tell simple, everyday stories, and the main characters are women—I show things from a woman's point of view."

Personal Life

Márta Mészáros was first married to László Karda, who was also a filmmaker. They married in 1957 but divorced in 1959. In 1960, she married Miklós Jancsó. He was a Hungarian film director and screenwriter. They met while working at Mafilm Group 4. They raised his two sons and her son from previous relationships together.

Even though they divorced in 1973, their two sons, Nyika Jancsó and Miklós Jancsó Jr., have both worked on many of Márta's films. They often worked as the director of photography. Márta later married the Polish actor Jan Nowicki. They divorced in 2008. Nowicki acted in many of her films, including the main role in The Unburied Dead. His son from an earlier relationship, Łukasz Nowicki, also acted in Márta's film, Kisvilma. Márta also has a daughter, Kasia Jancsó, from her second marriage.

Filmography

Márta Mészáros has directed 65 titles.

Feature Films

Short Films

• ...és újtra mosolyognak/...And Smile Again (1954)
• Albertfalvai történetek (1955)
• Mindennapi történet (1955)
• Túl a Cálvin téren (1955)
• Országutak vándora (1956)
• Sa zîmbeasca toti copii (1957 documentary)
• Popas în tabara de vara (1958 documentary)
• Az élet megy tovább/Life Goes On (1959)
• Tomorrow's Shift (1959 documentary)
• Az eladás müvészete (1960)
• Szerkezettervezés/Structural Design (1960)
• Az öszibarack termesztése (1960)
• Egy TSZ elnökröl (1960)
• Rajtunk is múlik (1960)
• A szár és gyökér fejlödése/The Stem and Root Development (1961)
• Danulongyártás (1961)
• Szívdobogás/Heartbeat (1961)
• Vásárhelyi színek (1961)
• A labda varázsa (1962)
• Gyerekek - könyvek (1962)
• Kamaszváros (1962)
• Nagyüzemi tojástermelés (1962)
• Tornyai János (1962)
• 1963. július 27, szombat (1963)
• Munka vagy hiratás (1963)
• Szeretet/Love (1963)
• Bóbita (1964)
• Festök városa - Szentendre (1964)
• Kiáltó/Crying (1964)
• 15 perc - 15 évröl (1965)
• Borsos Miklós (1966 documentary)
• Harangok városa - Veszprém/City of Bells (1966)
• Mészáros László emlékére (1968)
• A lörinci fonóban (1971)
• Ave Maria (1986 documentary)
• The Miraculous Manderin (2001)
• Magyarország 2011 (segment, 2012)

Television Shows

• Teatr telewizji (TV Series) (2 Episodes)
• Vieras (1984) (5 part TV series for Finnish television channel Mainostelevisio)
• Edith i Marlene (1998)
• Urodziny mistrza (2000)

Awards and Recognition

Márta Mészáros has received many awards for her films:

Berlin International Film Festival

• 2007 - Won - Berlinale Camera
• 1994 - Nominated - Golden Berlin Bear for A magzat
• 1987 - Won - OCIC Award for Diary for my Lovers
• 1987 - Won - Silver Berlin Bear for Diary for my Lovers
• 1987 - Nominated - Golden Berlin Bear for Diary for my Lovers
• 1977 - Won - OCIC Award Recommendation for Kilenc hónap
• 1975 - Won - C.I.D.A.L.C. Award Recommendation for Adoption
• 1975 - Won - Golden Berlin Bear for Adoption
• 1975 - Won - Interfilm Award/Otto Dibelius Film Award for Adoption
• 1975 - Won - OCIC Award Recommendation for Adoption

Cannes Film Festival

• 1984 - Won - Grand Prize of the Jury for Diary for my Children
• 1984 - Nominated - Palme d'Or for Diary for my Children
• 1980 - Nominated - Palme d'Or for Örökség
• 1977 - Won - FIPRESCI Prize for Kilenc hónap

Chicago International Film Festival

• 2010 - Won - Gold Plaque - The Last Report on Anna
• 2017 - Won - Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative Foreign-Language Feature Aurora Borealis

Other Awards

• Karlovy Vary International Film Festival: 2005 - Nominated - Crystal Globe for A temetetlen halott
• Moscow International Film Festival: 2010 - Nominated - Golden St. George for The Last Report on Anna
• Polish Film Awards: 2001 - Nominated - Best Director for Aurora Borealis
• San Sebastian International Film Festival: 1978 - Won - Silver Seashell for Olyan mint otthon
• Stony Brook Film Festival: 2018 - Won - Special Recognition for Aurora Borealis
• Venice Film Festival:
  • 1995 - Won - Elvira Notari Prize/Special Mention for The Seventh Room
  • 1995 - Won - OCIC Award for The Seventh Room

Images for kids

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  A robot for kids

See also

In Spanish: Márta Mészáros para niños