SYNOPSIS

In a desolated landscape, Karrer lived for years cut off from the rest of the world, by passing his time to staring dumpsters disappearing under an endless rain. His only social links are a pub, the Titanic, where he ran aground every night, and his boss, Willarsky. Attracted by a singer woman who sings in this bar, he tries to seduce her.

Original title: Kárhozat English title: Damnation Country: Hungary Language: Hungarian Length: 116 minutes Production year: 1988

CAST

Gábor BALOGH, János BALOGH, Péter BREZNYIK BERG

CREW

Director: Béla Tarr Screenwriters: László Krasznahorkai, Béla Tarr DOP: Gábor Medvigy Editor: Agnes Hranitzky Producer: József Marx Co-producer: Hungarian Film Archive Music: Mihály Vig World sales: Luxbox

BÉLA TARR

Director and screenwriter

(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.

FILMOGRAPHY

2011, The Turin Horse

2007, The Man From London

2000, Werckmeister Harmonies

1994, Sátántangó

1988, Damnation

1985, Almanach of Fall

1982, The Prefab People

1981, The Outsider

1977, Family Nest