Around 350,000 people watched the film drama in Hungarian cinemas, and its triumphal journey continued later on the largest online streaming platform.

Hungary nominates the movie Semmelweis for the Oscar in the international film category based on the decision of the professional body that decides on the Hungarian nomination, the National Film Institute (NFI) announced on Tuesday.
According to the NFI, the professional body deciding on the official Hungarian Oscar nominations selected Lajos Koltai's film from among 18 Hungarian full-length films.

The government commissioner for the motion picture industry Csaba Káel, editor Gabriella Koncz, playwright-director György Lukácsy, director of photography Emil Novák, the president of the Hungarian Film Academy, film production specialist Ákos Pesti, Oscar-winning decorator Zsuzsanna Sipos (Dűne) and dramaturg Csilla Szabó participated in the committee.

According to the regulations of the American Film Academy, for next March's 97th Academy Awards, in the international film category, each country can nominate one motion picture from among those that will be shown in that country between November 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024.

From these, the members of the American Film Academy will select the five nominated feature films that will eventually be able to compete for the Oscar for Best International Film.

The list of nominees will be announced on January 17, 2025, and the Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2 in Los Angeles.

Last fall, after the world premiere in New York and the screenings in Los Angeles, the film about the world-famous Hungarian doctor Ignác Semmelweis, directed by Lajos Koltai, starring Miklós H. Vecsei and Katica Nagy, led by producer Tamás Lajos, conquered the audiences of Toronto.

At the EU Film Festival in Toronto, the Hungarian work won the award for the best film of the festival based on the votes of the audience. About 350,000 people watched the film drama in Hungarian cinemas, and its triumphal journey continued later on the largest online streaming platform, the announcement quotes.

In addition to the main characters, 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 play important roles in the work.

Semmelweis was produced by the Süpermodern Filmstúdió with the support of the National Film Institute,

produced by Tamás Lajos and Vida Joe, cinematographer András Nagy, screenplay written by Balázs Maruszki.

The dramaturg of the film was Kriszta Goda, the visual designer was Pater Sparrow, the costume designer was Györgyi Szakács, and the editor was Zoltán Kovács. The film institute sold the distribution rights of Semmelweis to all the countries of the region, as well as to Spain, Latin America and North America.

MTI

Featured image: H. Miklós Vecsei as Semmelweis (Source: Facebook/Semmelweis)