The incredible films of Hungarian painter/animator György Kovásznai

Curated by The Sadnesses

Total Runtime: 1:13:25

The Monologue (1962)
Memory of the summer of ‘74 (1974)
Hullámhosszok (1971)
A napló (1967)
Gitáros fiú a régi képtárban (1964)
Reportrait (1982)
Átváltozások (1964)
Nights in the Boulevard (1972)

1934
He was born on 15 May in Budapest. His father was György Kovásznai, a cler at Capital Railways, and his mother was Mária Hamvai, a dentist assistant.

1944
His foster father was drafted to military service in Austria with his family. At the end of 1944 the family came back to Budapest, but they had to start their life all over again, not having any property or home. From that time on, the three-child family lived in poverty, first in Józsefváros, and later in Angyalföld.

1949
At the age of 15, after spending 2 years in Madách High School, he decided to be an artist. In 1949 with his parents consent he enrolled to the OTI free school, where his teacher, Piroska Szántó made a lifelong impression on him.

1950
He was admitted to the Vocational Secondary School of Visual Arts to the faculty of painting. With the help of his teachers (eg. Andor Kántor) and his classmates (eg. Ilona Keserű, József Bartl, János Major), he was preparing for the Academy.

1952
He started his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts at the faculty of painting, accompanied by his high school classmates Keserű, Bartl and Major.

1953
In Barcsay room, together with his classmates, he performs his first play “The tragedy of a wisp”, which – as a transliteration of Madách’s writing – is critical and funny gibbeting of the academy. The premier is a big success, but with it tension springs up between Kovásznai and the teachers.

1954
Kovásznai leaves the academy and says in his rememberence: “I left simply because I thought teachers were untalented and the atmosphere was dull.”

1954-56
Kovásznai works in mines (that way he can avoid military services) in Komló, Dorog, Tata and Tokodaltáró. Later, he works in Shipyards in Budapest and in a bakelite factory. At that time he is often around György Lukács students. He corresponds with Aurél Bernáth.

1957
He returns to the Academy of Fine Arts to Aurél Bernáth’s class (László Lakner was in the same class, too). His work is considered unacceptable and outrageous and when principle Domaszovszky starts to assaulted him, Bernáth crawfishes and gets fired in 1957.

1958
He writes a lot at that time and finishes his 3-part autobiography novel titled “Times”. From 1958 to 1974 he works as the editor and columnist of Nagyvilág’s fine arts column, where his criticism and paintings are published, too. He comes to know writers and literatury critics. At that time start half-illegal artistic, performing nights at Dr. László Végh’s home (he was a doctor, musician, literary translaitor and writer) where an avantguard artist community of 50 to 200 people comes together several times a week until the end of the 60’s. Here Kovásznai reads out a lot of his writings.

1959
He becomes closer to Dezső Korniss and they make 5 movies together in the following decade. He writes plays, comedies and art reveiws, and also paints and draws.

1961
József Nepp, an animation director, seeks Kovásznai to join him as a playwright: that is when he writes his scenario for “The little brother and the enchanter”. Later he wrote scenarios for animation films, nature films, and feature films.(eg. Tibor Csermák, István Imre, Tamás Rényi)

1963
Pannónia Filmstudio acknowledges not only his playwriting, but also his artistic talent. He makes his first independent animation film with Dezső Korniss (with paper cutting and collage technics) which was called “Monologue”. Pannonia Filmstudio could project his film with great efforts: the first performance at Corvin cinema was a big public success. He makes another four films in co-operation with Korniss: “The Boy with the Guitar in the Old Gallery” a tentative animation (1964), which has been Pannonia Filmstudio’s first banned film until the transition. “From the morning to the evening. “Something Different”(1967), “Diary of a Painter” (1968), “Cricket is Getting Married” (1969).

1964
He makes his first painted animation film titled “Transformations”, a first of its kind, which wins the Mannheim Festival Gold Dukat Awards and also Miskolc Festival Award.

1970
His film based on Elemér Hankiss’s screenplay was set on linear painting and was called “Light and Shadow”. His film Hamlet won the best Hamlet remake award at the International Shakespeare Conference (Canada).

1971
He made his new genre-setting film “The Budding no. 3369″, which was based on his new film concept called anima veritae, and it was the first among his other tentative films.

1974
For “Ca Ira ” the Song of the French Revolution’ painted film he won Barcelona Film Festival’s best colorl film award.

1975
His play, titled “Csontváry” was transformed into a television film by the director Gábor Várkony.

1979
His only nightlong animation film titled “Bubble Bath- a tricky film with music to heartbeat’ was finished.

1980
Serious leukemia was diagnosed in Kovásznai, but he refused medical treatment. He started a new, big-size table painting, series which he continued until his death.

1982
His last and film was based on the concept of “anima veritae”, which was called “Reportrait” in co-operation with Elek Lisziák.

1983
He died on 18 June, while making his second nightlong French-Hungarian co-production animation film.

The Films of Gyorgy Kovasznai

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