Born in 1955, Pécs, Hungary.

He began his career at sixteen as an amateur filmmaker. Later he worked at Balázs Béla Stúdió, the most important workshop of Hungarian experimental film, where he made his feature directorial debut. Tarr was the student of the Academy of Theatre and Film (Színház- és Filmművészeti Egyetem) in Budapest between 1977 and 1981. In 1981 he was one of the founders of Társulás Filmstúdió, since its closure in 1985 he has worked as an independent filmmaker. In 1989 and 1990 he lived in Berlin as a guest of the DAAD Berliner Künstlerprogram, between 1990 and 2011 he was an associate professor at the DFFB in Berlin, Germany. He became the member of the European Film Academy in 1997.

In 2003 he founded TT Filmműhely, an independent film workshop which was led by him until 2011. TT Filmműhely produced his latest films and Tarr acted as producer on other remarkable filmmakers’ movies.

The international film school Film.factory in Sarajevo was founded by Tarr in 2012; he was the head of programme and professor till 2016.

Tarr is a visiting professor at several film academies. In 2017 at Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam he developed an exhibition, Till the End of the World, that is a cross between a film, a theatre set and an installation.

He is the president of the Hungarian Filmmakers’ Association, member of the Széchenyi Academy of Letters and Arts, has been given the most prestigious Hungarian prize for artists, the Kossuth Prize and the Hungarian prize for filmmakers, Balázs Béla Prize.

He was named a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres and was honoured with several remarkable national, international awards, honorary doctorates and life achievement awards.