István Szabó Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award at Cannes

R-L: István Szabó and longtime collaborator Klaus Maria Brandauer

The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) honored Oscar-winning Hungarian filmmaker István Szabó with a lifetime achievement award on Friday evening at the 78th Cannes International Film Festival. The director received the award before the screening of the restored version of his film Sunshine.

The digitally restored version of the Hungarian film classic, shot 25 years ago, was presented in the official Cannes Classics program. The festival audience gave a standing ovation to the 87-year-old Hungarian director, who was honored on stage by festival director Thierry Frémaux, who emphasized that Sunshine is “very relevant, despite being a true film classic.”

Istvan Szabo’s ‘Sunshine’ Lights Up Cannes, Restored Version ‘Brings Out the Most Minute Details’ https://t.co/RinB1GPl2o

— Variety (@Variety) May 13, 2025

In his acceptance speech, István Szabó recalled that his 16-minute graduation film, The Concert, was presented in Cannes in 1962 and won the award for best short film.

After that, I was invited back several times with my films, and now I am very grateful to the festival,

for allowing me to be here again and to greet Cannes and the cinema once more,” said István Szabó, whose films have been featured five times in the festival’s competition program, winning the Jury Prize in 1985 (Colonel Redl) and serving as a jury member in 1986.

The premiere of the restored version of Sunshine was attended by producer Robert Lantos and staff from the NFI Film Archive and Film Lab.

Before the screening, the director told MTI that he has heard from many people that “this film is more relevant today than ever” but he believes this is due to history.

“I was born in 1938, and since then there have been the Horthy, Rákosi and Szálasi regimes, there was 1956, I have seen all kinds of things in my life, so I have a lot of experience. It is not my fault that the experiences are similar. And it is not my virtue either. I told a story as best I could, and the fact that it is relevant today is not my doing. You will have to ask history about that” said the director.

“Mephisto is relevant, Colonel Redl, which is about someone who believes in an ideology and is betrayed by that ideology, is also relevant. Sweet Emma, Dear Böbe, the story of these two down-and-out teachers, is absolutely relevant. Sunshine is relevant. The Final Report is also relevant. I cannot help it, but I increasingly feel that this is Central Europe,” he added.

István Szabó’s Hungarian-Austrian-Canadian-German co-production is a comprehensive vision of the 20th century, told through the story of a Hungarian Jewish family.

Sunshine was shot by cinematographer Lajos Koltai and stars international stars such as Ralph Fiennes, Jennifer Ehle, Rosemary Harris, and Rachel Weisz. It was produced by András Hámori and Robert Lantos. Following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 1999, the film won three European Film Awards for Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Cinematographer, and was shown in cinemas around the world.

The 4K restoration of the film, which was first seen by audiences in Cannes, was made possible in recent months due to the collaboration of experts from the National Film Institute and cinematographer Lajos Koltai.

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