JáNOS XANTUS

János Xantus, director of motion pictures and theater

He was born in Budapest (Hungary) in 1953.

After graduating from high school he studied photography. He worked in the Hungarian Film Laboratory, then at MAFILM Hungarian Film Studios, as a camera assistant apprentice. From 1975 he was Károly Makk's student in the Hungarian Academy of Drama, Film and TV.

After finishing academy he became a member of the Béla Balázs Studio management, then part of the Dialóg Film Studio, and later part of Objektív Film Studio art board. He is a member of the Feature Film Director's Guild and one of the founders of the Young Hungarian Filmmaker's Society.He has played roles in films directed by Gyula Gazdag, Miklós Jancsó and István Szabó. He co-directed the film "Another Way" with Károly Makk.

He directed six feature lenght films, fifteen short films, many television programs and commercials.

He was awarded the "Balázs Béla Prize" in 1988. In the last few years he has put seven plays on stage. He has been teaching film directing at the Hungarian Academy of Drama, Film and TV since 1992. He was the director of the Fifth International Masterclass for DOP students, with Vilmos Zsigmond as Master Cinematographer. He worked for the selection committee of the First East European Scriptwriters Workshop Supported by the Sundance Institute in 1997 and 1998.

FEATURE LENGTH FILMS:

TILOS IS PROHIBITED
2001 - Mxprod./56 min, documentary BETA-SP, colour
Festivals: Mediawave

REMEMBER ME
1998 - MXbt / 56 min, experimental BETA-SP, colour

FILMVILÁG - XLII/4
Xantus’s idea of shooting a film on the stage results in a curious marriage between film and theater: the two media integrate in a challenging manner wich calls for new interpretations, offers possibilities for deeper comprehension and - due to the visual gags - inpires the audience to laughter.
Tamás Halász

CRUEL ESTATE
1990 - Objektív Film Studio / 90 min, feature 35 mm, (1:1.66), colour
Prize: Hungarian Filmcritic's Prize for the best actress; Anikó Für - Budapest, 1991 Festivals: Bergamo Film Meeting, IFP - New York, Festival of Fantastic Cinema - Bruxelles
TV-sales: Australia, Brazil, Israel, Italy

VARIETY, June 27, 1991
"Pic builds gradually and develops a Polanski-like atmosphere, with the wife going bananas and the old woman taking on a satanic edge. Chunks of Verdi on the soundtrack underline the operatic tone, and the bloody finale has an attractively surreal quality. Thesping is on the button, especially Polish vet Rysiowna in the double role of the twin sisters. Technically pic is fine, with crisp lensing by Tibor Klopfler and tight direction by young Janos Xantus."

VARIETY INTERNATIONAL FILM GUIDE 1992 - HUNGARY
"Strangely enough, amongst all the array of works dealing with the recent changes, the long-term future of Hungarian cinema may lie instead in works like Cruel Estate (Szoba kiáltással), a fine fourth feature by young János Xantus. Far tighter than previous works like »Eskimo Woman Is Cold« (1984), this grand-guignol mystery-thriller, about a couple who move in with an old woman and later plan her murder, is completely free of political baggage but still Hungarian in flavour. Confidently put together and with a fine trio of performances, it is the kind of movie that may well start turning up more often when the country settles down to a less haunted life in the 199o's." Derek Elly

la Repubblica, March 28, 1992
"The director shot this film with plenty of irony. It presents scenes describing the difficulties of the coexistence of strangers. It is intensified to surrealism, that life is born by understanding, not by clashes. Many "bravos" for the actors: Zofia Rysiowna, Anikó Für, Andzrej Ferenc."
Renzo Fegatelli

CINEFORUM
"The Hungarian director tactfully uses paradox and mystically keeps the distance and mixes up the cards with the deft hand of a skillful player."
Angelo Signorelli

THE ROCK CONVERT
1988 - Társulás Studió / 104 min, documentary/feature 35 mm, colour
TV-sales: MTV
Video-distribution by MOKÉP

DÆDALUS - 199o
"The movie's power lies in it's sensous capturing of the vertigo of violence and it's unstoppable escalation through tilted frames and jerking camera movements. The mobility of the video camera establishes a new proximity to the dizziness and acceleration of modern life."
Yvette Biró

VARIETY Strat., 22-28
"Transfer from video to film makes for some striking images at times, though all-too-often pic looks murky. It's an unusual item and fests specializing in music pics could be interested."

NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG, March 17, 1989
"Xantus dedicates his film to the subculture of Budapest and to all those talents who work parallel to the main stream - so there is no one leading them. Even this playfully wayward piece of art has a political sting."

IDIOTS MAY APPLY
1985 - Dialóg Studio / 86 min, feature 35 mm, (1:1.66), colour

A L'ECOUTE - March 2o, 1986
"Buster Keaton - in the Hungarian way... Xantus made no bones about mixing themes. The playing field explodes as well. Play becomes dangerous. Madness wins over all."
Azzedine Mabrouki

POSITIF - November 1986
"In the film »Idiots May Apply«, János Xantus praises the nonconformism of an attorney who brutally breaks away from the basic social standards of behavior. It seams Xantus has searched the original cinematography style much more than others of his filmmaking generation."
Michel Taubman

ESKIMO WOMAN IS COLD
1983 - Dialóg Studio / 115 min, feature 35 mm, (1:1.85), colour
Prizes: For the Best First Feature- Budapest, 1984 / Diploma of the International Jury and the International Filmcritics' Prize - Figuera da Foz, 1984 / Grand Prix of the Jury and Grand Prix of the Audience - Belfort, 1984 / For the Best Actor; Andor Lukáts - Laval, 1985
More festivals: Quinzaine... - Cannes, Bergamo Film Meeting, The World Film Festival - Montreal
Movie-sale: France
TV-sales: ZDF, Duna Television, TV2
Video-distribution by MOKÉP.

LE MONDE - November 18, 1986
"János Xantus' first feature film short-circuits all psychology to expose the caracter's locked-in vicious reactions."
Louis Marcorelles

LIBÉRATION - November 18, 1986
"...Eskimo Woman Is Cold is a rare deep meaning film from which one can bring to surface all kinds of political parables. One thing is for sure: the director, János Xantus belongs to an original, extravagant species (if we can say that) in the Eastern Cinematography field. His film vibrates from it's daring manner."
Olivier Seguret

CAHIERS DU CINEMA - November 1986
"...Eskimo Woman Is Cold is the magnificent first film of János Xantus..., it revives a classical genre, the melodrama."
Frédéric Sabouraud

SCREEN INTERNATIONAL - February 25, 1984
"Xantus' film is a little long, but has some wonderful moments, and shows an interesting new talent."
Anne Head

One of the ten best films of 1986 -selected by Antoine Baecque

SHORT FILMS:

GOT ME
The First Accidental Movie
2001 - Mxprod./22-25 min., experimental CD-ROM, colour
Festival: Hungarian Film Week
TV-sales: TV2

THE 'LUKÁCS'
2000 - Welcome-TV2 / 26 min., documentary BETA-SP, colour

TRANSPLANTATION
1999 - Magic Media-Art Vision-MTV / 30 min. feature BETA-SP, colour

I KNOW, PARIS...
1999 - Magic Media-Art Vision-MTV / 28 min. feature BETA-SP, colour
Festival: Hungarian Film Week

WHY SHOOT IN HUNGARY?
1999 - Vidicop / 9 min, BETA-SP, colour

THE MOREL BOY
1999 - MTV-SFF-Felhôc / 32 min, feature 35 mm, (1:1.66), colour
Festivals: Hungarian Film Week
TV-sales: Duna Television

NÉPSZABADSÁG
“What we saw was a capriccio unmistakably from 1999(…). The success of the Morel Boy in the cinemas is ample proof of the fact that short fiction movies can be ‘sold to the customers,’ they are marketable - to use the current trade terms. ”
József Veress

ÉLET ÉS IRODALOM, Vol:43, Issue 40.
Hypermarket, supermarket and mega-incinerator, you name it, they sell it. Xantus made the right choice as the tangible colourfulness of the freedom we achieved after 1989 reached its peak above the clouds, in the coloratura of the washing powders on the store shelves… Everything is surrealistic, crazy and colourful just like our life when we tie our individual happiness to trolleys rolling on tiny wheels along the floors of supermarkets. It is a good feeling to watch this film - maybe it would be even better to watch it for longer than just forty minutes.
Bakáts Tibor Settenkedô

ON THE ROAD 1998 - EBU-MTV / 15 min, documentary BETA-SP, colour
TV-sales: DR, RTR, RTVBH, SABC2, SK-STV, SVT, TVE, TRT, UKIB-S4C, YLE-FST

KRASSÓ GYÖRGY
- A POSTHUME PORTRAIT -
1997 - Unio Civilis / 30 min, documentary BETA-SP, colour
TV-sales: Duna Television

AQUARELLES
1991 - Artimage / 15 min, 16 mm, colour

FIL BLEU
1990 - Artimage / 22 min, 16 mm, B&W and colour

THE MIRACULOUS SINGER
1982 - MTV FMS / 39 min, feature 16 mm, colour
Festivals: Veszprém TV-Meeting

IN FEMALE HANDS
1981 - Balázs Béla Studio / 24 min, feature 35 mm, (1:1.66), colour
Prize: Special Prize of the Festival Committee - Oberhausen, 1981

DIORISSIMO
1979 - Balázs Béla Studio / 29 min, experimental 16 mm, B&W and colour
Festival: Lille

AND SO... AND SO ON
1978 - Hungarian Academy of Drama, Film and TV / 21 min, feature 16 mm, B&W
Prize: Grand Prix of the Jury - Tours, 1980
Festival: New-Delhi

WERTHER AND HIS LIFE
1976 - Hungarian Academy of Drama, Film and TV - / 29 min, experimental 16 mm, B&W
Prize: Special Mention - Tours, 1977

PREPARATION
1975 - Hungarian Academy of Drama, Film and TV / ?? min, experimental 16 mm, B&W

THEATER:

THE REAL THING
Written by Tom Stoppard
2001 - Ódry Padlás

PLAN SÉQUENCE DANSE
Written by Jean-Daniel Magnin and János Xantus
1997 - Trafó, Petôfi Hall Budapest

GOOD EVENING SUMMER, GOOD EVENING LOVE!
Written by Endre Fejes, music composed by Gábor Presser
1995 - Pécsi Nemzeti Színház

ANNA KARENINA
A MUSICAL - OPERA
Composed by Tibor Kocsák, lyrics by Tibor Miklós
1994 - Rock Theater, Budapest

NÉPSZABADSÁG - January 22, 1994
"The Rock Theater benefitted from the work of János Xantus. Already, the latest production of the theater presented at their haunt in Bethlen square, shows the co-ordinated strenghts of the company. The director disciplined the team well for a precise participation in Anna Karenina. He directs the plot in the theater with the same buoyancy as he does in films. He goes between the duality of signs and inspiring illusion. Curtains move up and down, narrowing the space, opening up the view, swinging forward in the story, then turning back the pages. The principles of creating scenes reminds us of the dramatization Volkov presented for Madame Tarasova, which was played by Gizi Bajor in Magyar Színház (Hungarian Theater)."
Péter Molnár Gál

THE SLICE
- OR THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON -
Written by Jean-Daniel Magnin, translated by János Xantus
1993 - Repertory Theater of the National Theater in Pécs

SZÍNHÁZ - XXVII. year 3rd. ed. (THEATER, Hungarian magazine)
"János Xantus' Hungarian text precisely and perceptibly conveys the play's original idiomatic pecularities. Xantus, as a director, directs the play with empathy. He put »The Slice« on stage by uncovering all layers of the drama. »The Slice« was the first of aplanned series of unusual, irregular plays in the Repertory Theater, and - it seems - it found and gripped its targeted audience: the young people and the intellectuals of the town."
István Nánay

ASSASSINS
A MUSICAL
Written and composed by Stephen Sondheim, based on the original play of John Weidman, translated by Tibor Miklós and János Xantus
1994 - Rock Theater, Budapest

THE WALL
Written by Roger Waters, translated by Tamás Nyirkos staged by János Xantus
1992 - Ódry Playhousee