A MEDIA Salles - Magyar Filmunió

10
The creativity and talent „behind-the-scenes” in any filmmaking
effort is directed by the producer.
These hard-working professionals, who must be part-financial
expert, part-creative genius and part-psychologist, are often over-looked
in the glamour and hype of a world-class event such as the Cannes Film Festival.
EFP took on the task of directing the spotlight towards producers for the first time in 2000,
when the organisation designed and presented a platform of activities focusing on these up-and-coming
„movers and shakers”. Under the name „Producers on the Move”, 75 of Europe’s most talented young producers
have been introduced to the industry at large during the Cannes Film Festival and Market over
the past years.
As a member of the EFP Hungary has participated in the Producers on the Move programme at the Cannes Film
Festival since 2002:
2002: Csaba Bereczki — producer of Hukkle (György Pálfi),
European Film Academy 2002, European Discovery — Fassbinder Award
2003: Viktória Petrányi — producer of Joan of Arc on the Night Bus (Kornél Mundruczó),
Cannes 2003, Directors’ Fortnight
2004: Gábor Forgács
„It is a great honour and an exceptional opportunity for me to represent the Hungarian producers at the 57th Cannes
Film Festival. I have worked on the crew of a number of feature, television and commercial films as a producer, director
and cinematographer and I am very happy that I can talk about my plans for the future in front of an audience consisting
the greatest talents of the profession. We are planning to shoot several films with HCC Media Group and Parabel
Studio in the coming 1–2 years. They are youthful and dynamic productions like S h a k e d o w n, The House of Stormw h i c h
has a special atmosphere and is based on a psycho-drama by András Réz, I am participating in the production as both
producer and director, or adventure films of historical inspiration like Budapest Rose and The Unbeatable. This fall
we will start shooting City of Decay with myself as the director of photography and I will be the producer of another
production based on the hit novel Curva Pericolosa by Béla Ernyei, the well known Hungarian actor. I would like to
take this special occasion to promote Hungarian cinema, which is aspiring onto even higher levels with the assistance
of the newly passed Film Law, among producers and distributors who have come here from all over the world.”
Selected Films:
1994: John Bosco’s Rwanda — documentary of the war as DP
1 9 9 4 : Once upon a time … — documentary of gipsy musicians in
USA as DP & Director
1 9 9 5 :Aboriginal Life in Australia — documentary as DP & Director
2000: Pizzaman / Pizzás — feature film as DP & Producer
2001: I spy — (Producer: Andy Vajna, Mario Kassar)
as camera operator
2002: Underworld — as camera operator
Background
Born in 1969, Gábor Forgács graduated from the Film & Television School at Mafilm (OPAK-
FI) in 1992 and participated in masterclass courses led by Dean Candy, Billy Williams, Vilmos
Zsigmond and Laszlo Kovacs between 1993 and 1997. He studied at the American Film
Institute (AFI) between 1996 and 1997 and graduated with a diploma as director of photography.
During his time at the AFI, Gábor worked in the digital effects workshops and then became
a camera operator and camera assistant for Vilmos Zsigmond on several commercials as
well as the feature Playing By Heart (1998).
In the 1990s, Gábor worked as a DoP or DoP/director on documentaries about such subjects
as Aboriginal life in Australia, volcanoes in the Kamchatka and the war in Rwanda, and
served as a director of photography and producer between 1998 and 2000 on productions
at Extreme Rabbit Film, including György Balogh’s feature film Pizzaman (2000).
In 2001, Extreme Rabbit Film divided into two companies, with Gabor becoming the CEO of
Rabbit Film. He is also a member of the board of directors at his other company Parabel
Studio which now collaborates on a permanent basis with HCC Happy Crew Company on
the production of feature films.
At the moment, HCC has a number of international co-productions in preparation, ranging
from the thriller The House Of The Storm through the action-adventure movie Shakedown
to the futuristic drama City Of Decay. In addition, Gabor is working on the development of
the World War 2 gangster movie Budapest Rose, the psychological drama Curva Pericolosa
and The Unbeatable, a historical drama set in late 19th century Hungary.