In Hungary, it will be released in cinemas on November 30.
In New York, on the anniversary of the 1956 revolution and freedom struggle, the world premiere of the film Semmelweis about the life of Ignác Semmelweis was held on Monday evening local time .
At the screening held at the Museum of the Moving Image, director Lajos Koltai said that he did not want to make a scientific film, but to present the man, Ignác Semmelweis, who found his own path and reached his goal.
On the occasion of the world premiere in New York, Minister of Culture and Innovation János Csák emphasized to the public media that Ignác Semmelweis' journey is an example. Despite the malice and attacks, she carried out her vision and, as it is written in the history books, she was truly remembered as the savior of mothers. He noted that Ignác Semmelweis can be said to have saved the lives of millions of people in the same way as Katalin Karikó, who recently won the Nobel Prize.
Csaba Káel, the government commissioner responsible for the development of the motion picture industry and the president of the National Film Institute (NFI), said that the Semmelweis film is an excellent opportunity to present a Hungarian talent worldwide and tell his story. There is a great deal of international interest in the film, which is further enhanced by the fact that in recent weeks we have been able to celebrate two Hungarian Nobel Prizes in Hungary.
"If you think about it, Semmelweis's discovery was of such importance in his own time that it would have been worth a Nobel Prize if this recognition had already existed at that time"
he said.
Csaba Káel added that
"Adolf Zukor would also be very proud if he saw that there is a Hungarian film screening in New York",
referring to the fact that the Motion Picture Museum, which hosts the premiere, is located next to Kaufmann Studios, the former New York production base of Paramount Pictures founded by Adolf Zukor.
Csenge Palotai, director of the Liszt Institute in New York, stated that the film was shown on the national holiday, October 23, in the American city: the work commemorates the unbroken faith and life of struggle of Ignác Semmelweis, who was also a hero , like the guys from Pest in 1956.
The film presentation was attended by ambassadors of more than twenty countries, from Namibia to Germany to Australia. Special guests of the evening were Courtenay Rattray, Chief of Staff of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and Stewart Simonson, Deputy Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), who called the completion of the film an important opportunity to bring and show the figure of Ignác Semmelweis closer to a wider audience. , how fundamental his work was in holistic medicine.
The story of Ignác Semmelweis is of great importance not only in Hungary, but throughout the world.
"Personally, it is a great honor for me to be internationally open, thanks to which the film made about him, in the worthy interpretation of Lajos Koltai, can be shown overseas as well"
- emphasized producer Lajos Tamás, according to the previous announcement of the film's distributor.
The romantic historical drama produced with the support of NFI and produced by Szupermodern Filmstúdió explores the life and work of the Hungarian obstetrician Ignác Semmelweis. Defying traditional theories, the doctor strove to overcome one of the most devastating diseases of the 19th century, puerperal fever. Ignác Semmelweis also fought against the "iron hat leadership", who did everything to protect their authority from the consequences of the discoveries of the "obsessed Hungarian doctor". The romantic, twisty film evokes the atmosphere of 19th-century Vienna, the life-or-death tragedies of the hospital at the time, the irreconcilable contradictions between Austrian and Hungarian doctors, and the agonizing desire for love.
The film is directed by Lajos Koltai, produced by Tamás Lajos, and Ignác Semmelweis is played by H. Miklós Vecsei. Katica Nagy, László Gálffi, Tamás Kovács, Ferenc Lengyel, Nelli Szűcs, Ferenc Elek, Lajos Kovács, Anna Györgyi, Attila Csapó, István Znamenák, Károly Hajduk, Simon Kornél, Blanka Mészáros and Lilla Kizlinger also star in the film. The director of photography for Semmelweis was András Nagy, the screenplay was written by Balázs Maruszki. The dramaturg of the film is Krisztina Goda, the visual designer is Pater Sparrow, the costume designer is Györgyi Szakács, and the editor is Zoltán Kovács.
The world premiere of the film Semmelweis was organized by the National Film Institute and the Liszt Institute in New York.
The main supporter of the event was the National Foundation for Health and Medical Education, the maintainer of Semmelweis University.
The work will also be screened at the Hungarian Film Festival in Los Angeles on October 27. In Hungary, it will be released in theaters on November 30, distributed by InterCom.
MTI
Featured image: MTI/NFI
