Peter Forgacs

Infobox Artist
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name = Péter Forgács


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birthdate = 1950
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nationality = Hungarian
field = art, film
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works = Private Hungary Series, El Perro Negro, Miss Universe 1929, Wittgenstein Tractatus, The Maelstrom, The Danube Exodus
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Péter Forgács (1950) is a media artist and independent filmmaker based in Budapest, Hungary. He is best known for his "Private Hungary" series of award winning films based on home movies from the 1930s and 1960s, which document ordinary lives that were soon to be ruptured by an extraordinary historical trauma that occurs off screen.

Biography

From 1976 on Péter Forgács is part of the Hungarian "avant-garde" art scene, as a photographer, filmmaker, and media artist. In the 1970s and '80s he collaborated with the contemporary music ensemble Group 180, and worked in the Balázs Béla Film Studio. In 1983, Forgács established the Private Photo & Film Archives Foundation (PPFA) in Budapest, a unique collection of amateur film footage and has made this material the raw data for his unique re-orchestrations of history. In 2002 The Getty Research Institute held an exhibit of his installation "The Danube Exodus: Rippling Currents of the River". [ [http://www.getty.edu/news/press/exhibit/danube.html Pioneering interactive media installation opens at Getty Research Institute.] July 18, 2002. Retrieved August 27, 2008.] His international debut came with the "Bartos Family" (1988), which was awarded the "Grand Prix" at the World Wide Video Festival in The Hague (1990). Since then Forgács has received several international festival awards in Budapest, Lisbon, Marseilles, San Francisco, New York and Berlin. Forgács won the 2007 Erasmus Prize, which is "awarded to a person or institution which has made an exceptionally important contribution to culture in Europe." [Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. [http://www.erasmusprijs.org/eng/index.htm Presentation Erasmus Prize to Péter Forgács - 29 November 2007.] Retrieved August 27, 2008.]

Filmography

* 2008 - "I am Von Höfler" - Private Hungary 15 (video 160min)
* 2007 - "Own Death" - fiction film - novel by Peter Nadas (video - 118min)
* 2006 - "Miss Universe 1929" - Lisl Goldarbeiter - a Queen in Wien (video - 70min)
* 2005 - "El Perro Negro" - Stories from the Spanish Civil War (video - 84min and 52min)
* 2004 - "Do You Really Love Me?" (video - 33 min)
* 2004 - "Mutual Analysis" (video - 12min)
* 2003 - "Der Kaiser auf dem Spaziergang" - light & image project (DVD - 15'30min)
* 2002 - "The Bishop’s Garden" - Private Hungary 14 (video - 56'30min)
* 2001 - "A Bibó Reader" - Private Hungary 13 (35mm film and video - 69min)
* 1999 - "Angelos’ Film" (video - 60min)
* 1998 - "The Danube Exodus" (video - 60min)
* 1997 - "The Maelstrom" - A Family Chronic" (video - 60’05min)
* 1997 - "Kádár’s Kiss" - Private Hungary 12 (video - 52min)
* 1997 - "Class Lot" - Private Hungary 11 (video - 52min)
* 1996 - "Free Fall" - Private Hungary 10 (video - 75min)
* 1996 - "The Land of Nothing" - Private Hungary 9 (video - 62min)
* 1994 - "Meanwhile Somewhere 1940-43..." (video - 52min)
* 1994 - "The Notes of a Lady" - Private Hungary 8 (video - 48min)
* 1994 - "Hungarian Totem" (video - 26min)
* 1993 - "Conversations on Psychoanalysis" - documentary series 5/5
* 1993 - "Simply Happy" - with Albert Wulffers (35mm film and video - 52min)
* 1993 - "Culture Shavings" (video - 43min)
* 1992 - "Bourgeoisie Dictionary" - Private Hungary 7 (video - 49min)
* 1992 - "Wittgenstein Tractatus" - INTERLUDE series (video - 35min)
* 1991 - "Arizona diary" - with poet György Petri (video - 53min)
* 1991 - "Photographed by László Dudás" - Private Hungary 6 (video - 45min)
* 1991 - "D-FILM" - Private Hungary 5 (video - 45min)
* 1991 - "Márai Herbal" - INTERLUDE series (video - 30min)
* 1990 - "The Diary of Mr. N." - Private Hungary 4 (video - 51min)
* 1989 - "Either - Or" - Private Hungary 3 (video - 43min)
* 1989 - "Dusi & Jenő" - Private Hungary 2 (video - 45min)
* 1988 - "The Bartos Family" - Private Hungary 1 (video - 60min)
* 1987 - "Episodes from the Life of Professor M.F." (video - 110min)
* 1986 - "The Portrait of Leopold Szondi" (video - 60min)
* 1985 - "Spinoza Rückwertz" (35mm film - 5min)
* 1978 - "I See That I Look" (video - 25min)

Installations and Performances

* Black Hole • Performance, with Tamás Tóth bass guitar • 1984
* Case of My Room, The • video installation • 1994
* Chlorophyll • performance with L. Lugo Lugosi • 1986
* Danube Exodus, The • installation • 2002
* Der Kaiser auf dem Spaziergang • video installation • 1996
* Dixi & Pixi • video performance with Dixi, Group 180, L. Lugo Lugosi • 1982
* Dream Inventory • installation • 1995
* Free Fall • Oratorio • 1997
* Educational Cinema • installation • 2005
* Hung Aryan, The • Video Installation • 1997
* Hungarian Totem • installation • 1995
* Hungarian Video Kitchen Art • video installation • 1991
* INAUGURATION • video performance • 1978
* Monomotapa & The Game (the "Kempelen" installation videos created with György Jovánovics • 2007) Kunsthalle-Budapest, ZKM-Karlsruhe
* New York - BUDAPEST • paintings-photos with L.Lugó Lugosi • 1984
* Paintings & photographs • One man show - Fotohof Salzburg • 1987
* Pig paintings • paintings • 1985
* Pre Morgue • video installation • 1993
* Private Exits • performance with Szemzõ • 1985
* Rembrandt Morphs • installation • 2006
* Saloon, and Then! • installation • 1997
* SIGHT • photo installation • 2004
* Snapshot from the Island • performance with Tibor Szemző • 1984
* Stanley & Livingston • performance • 1979
* Thee á' El Greco • video Installation • 1991
* Two Nests and Other Things • video installation • 1991
* Visit, The • installation • 2004
* Work Desk • video performance and installation with Tibor Szemzõ • 1985

Awards

* 2008 Own Death • Best Experimental Film Prize, 39th Hungarian Film Festival, Budapest
* 2008 I am von Höfler • Creative Documentary Film Prize, 39th Hungarian Film Festival, Budapest
* 2007 Erasmus Prize • Praemium Erasmianum Foundation, Amsterdam
* 2006 El perro negro • Documentary Film Grand Prize, 37th Hungarian Film Festival, Budapest
* 2005 El perro negro • The Maysles Brothers Documentary Film Grand Prize, Denver International Film Festival, USA
* 2005 El perro negro • Feature Length Documentary, Grand Prize, Tribeca International Film Festival, New York
* 2001 A Bibó Reader • Official selection Quinzaine des Réalisateurs, Cannes Film Festival, France
* 2001 A Bibó Reader • Best Director Prize of Short & Experimental Film, 33rd Hungarian Film Festival, Budapest
* 2000 Angelos' Film • Documentário Longa Grand Prize, XI Encotros Internacionalis De Cinema Documental, Portugal
* 1999 The Maelstrom • Grand Prize, Out of That Darkness International Film Competition, London
* 1999 Angelos' Film • Documentary Golden Gate Award, the Golden Spire, San Francisco International Film Festival, USA
* 1999 The Maelstrom • The Best Documentary Film Award, Jerusalem International Film Festival, Israel
* 1999 The Danube Exodus • Silver Dragon prix and FIPRESCI prize, Krakow Int. Doc. & Short Film Festival, Poland
* 1999 The Danube Exodus • Documentary Film Grand Prize, 30th Hungarian Film Festival, Budapest
* 1998 The Balázs Béla Film Award, Hungarian Republic, Budapest
* 1999 Free Fall • The Best Documentary-Fiction and the Best Film Music Prize, Hungarian Film Critics Prize, Budapest
* 1997 Free Fall • PRIX EUROPA Grand Prize, Non-Fiction Program of the year, Berlin
* 1997 Free Fall • Grand Prize & CNC “Image de la culture” special award, Marseilles International Document Film Festival, France
* 1997 Free Fall • Short & Experimental Film, Grand Prize, Budapest 28th Hungarian Film Festival, Budapest
* 1995 Meanwhile Somewhere • "Lattücht" Prize Dokument, ART 95 Festival, Neubrandenburg, Germany
* 1994 Wittgenstein Tractatus • Grand Prize, Montecattini, Terme, Italy
* 1993 Culture Shavings • St. Germaine de Geneva Prize, 5th Semaine Internationale de Video, Switzerland
* 1993 Wittgenstein Tractatus • Video Grand Prize, VIPER Film & Video Festival, Lucerne, Switzerland
* 1993 Wittgenstein Tractatus • Sound Base Arts Video Festival, Grand Prize, Wroclaw, Poland
* 1992 The Private Hungary series • Best Hungarian Documentary Film Prize, Hungarian Film Critics, Budapest
* 1991 Dusi and Jenő • Grand Prix, European Document Film Biennial, Marseilles, France
* 1990 The Bartos Family • Grand Prize, World Wide Video Festival, The Hague, Holland

Works in Public Collections

* Australian Center for the Moving Image (ACMI) CINEMEDIA, Melbourne
* C3 Media Art Center, Budapest
* Centre National du Cinématographe, Paris
* Centre Pompidou & Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris
* Getty Museum, Special Collection, Los Angeles
* Harvard College Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts USA
* Haus der Dokumentarfilm collection, Stuttgart
* Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest
* KIASMA Contemporary Art Museum, Helsinki
* Ludwig Museum, LUMU, Budapest
* Moffitt Library UC Berkeley, California USA
* MOMA, Film and Video collection, New York
* Montreal Cinematheque, Permanent Collection
* Museum of Fine Arts, 20th century Collection, Budapest
* Nederland Filmmuseum, Amsterdam
* New York University, Bobst Library NYU N.Y. USA
* Open Society Archive, CEU, Budapest
* Pacific Film Archives, Berkeley CA USA
* Samlung Oppenheim, Bonn
* Stanford University Library, Green Library, USA
* UIAH Helsinki University Art Department collection
* University of Southern California Film School - Annenberg Center for Communications, Los Angeles
* Yad Vashem, The Visual Center, Jerusalem
* Zentrum für Medien Kunst, ZKM collection, Karlsruhe

External links

* [http://www.peterforgacs.com Official website of Peter Forgacs]

References