The Hungarian film director, Kristóf Deák won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2017 with his short film Sing. (Mindenki in Hungarian). In the November edition of the Alumni Hungary Webinar Series he held an exciting webinar about storytelling and the art of filmmaking. We asked him about his experience as a film director and about his recent work.
Why did you choose to become a film director? Why working in the film industry is exciting to you?
I think the main thing that drove me towards filmmaking is a constant desire to figure out how things are put together. The magic of cinema is also an interesting puzzle to crack, with several elements of different art forms, people, and kinds of engineering coming together to form something greater than the sum of its parts.
Do you prefer mainstream or art films? Why?
I’ve been wary of this kind of distinction. The way I see it now, the main difference is between the Hollywood industry blockbusters (often very little substance but great visuals, kind of forgettable most of the time) and the rest of independent and world cinema (which is often much more original and daring, even if less polished visually), regardless of whether it has been made with the critics or the audience in mind. A great example is South Korean drama Parasite which was an audience favourite and a genre movie yet still it’s an auteur director’s work, a Cannes winner, very much an “art house” movie in terms of artistic quality.
How did the idea of Sing start? Is it based on your personal experience?
Sing is based on a story I heard from a friend, which happened to her during her school years. Her account was kept haunting me until I came up with a way to turn it into a short film. Still, it is also a very personal film with personal experiences as well, but those are mostly in the look and feel, and the nostalgic memories they are derived from.
Hungary has become a significant country for the international film industry recently. Many international films have been shot here. As a Hungarian film director, how do you see these developments?
I am very proud of our film industry and personally, I am really happy as a director to work with crew members who are just as professional as any major Hollywood film’s crew, as many times, they are the same people working on those productions.
What were your thoughts when your name was announced as the winner of the Best Live Action Short Film at the 89th Academy Awards?
The first thought was disbelief. I really did not expect to be the winner that night. The second thought was just to make our way to the stage in one piece, and to try to say some sentences into the microphone that actually make sense… Only a bit later did I start to think to myself how this will change my future and my career.
And has it changed your career? Has the Oscar-award opened new opportunities in the film industry for you?
The Oscar win is obviously a big deal in our business, and it has given me a chance to meet and work with some of the greatest producers and production houses in Los Angeles, although those projects are still yet to bear fruit. In Hungary, the award has allowed me to quickly progress to bigger budgets and longer formats.
On what project/film do you currently work?
I’m now finishing my second feature length film. I shot the TV movie CAPTIVES in 2019, and now I am about to release my first theatrical feature THE GRANDSON, a two-hour long crime thriller.
