International Film Festival For Children And Youth Zlin

Oscar-winning director Istvan Szabo will be attending this year's Zlin Film Festival, the first major film event after Cannes. The Festival, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a number of special events, takes place in the UNESCO heritage city of Zlin in eastern Czech Republic from May 30 to June 6. Website: www.zlinfest.cz/en

Szabo was born in Budapest in 1938 to an upper middle class Jewish family. His family were hidden by family friends during the Holocaust, a traumatic experience he remembered throughout his filmmaking career. In the 1960s and '70s, he directed films which explore his own generation's experiences and recent Hungarian history (Father (Hungarian: Apa 1966); Lovefilm (Szerelmesfilm 1970) and 25 Fireman's street (Tűzoltó utca 25 1973).

He is best known for the Nazi-era film Mephisto, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and the Best Screenplay prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1981. The film was the first of a celebrated trilogy that also brought him awards and world acclaim.  Colonel Redl was the winner of a special Jury Prize at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival. Hanussen was also a celebrated international arthouse sensation in 1988.

Acclaim in his native Hungary eventually led him to Hollywood, where he began to make English-language films with Meeting Venus (1991), and followed it with Sunshine (1999), Taking Sides (2001) and Being Julia (2004), which garnered an Oscar nomination for actress Annette Bening.

His most acclaimed films came from his work with famed Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer, and his ongoing collaboration and friendship with cinematographer Lajos Koltai. His latest film Rokonok (Relatives) premiered in 2006 at the  37th Hungarian Movie Review. He has two films scheduled to open in the next year.

Sandy Mandelberger, Festival Dailies Editor