April 12, 2016
Each summer, Hungary offers several art related programs, such as music festivals, exhibitions and folklore events, to show the uniqueness of the Hungarian tradition to foreigners and natives. Here is a sampling of the country’s most exciting festivals.
April 1, 2016
Imre Kertész, prestigious and celebrated Hungarian Nazi concentration camp survivor, novelist, and Nobel Prize winner (2002) died March 31 in his Budapest home at the age of 86.
According to book publishing firm Magveto Kiado, Kertész died after a long illness.
March 25, 2016
March 25 marks the 135th anniversary of Béla Bartók’s birth, one of the most prominent Hungarian and European composers, pianists, folk music collectors and musicologists of the 20th century.
Several concerts and other cultural events were scheduled to take place in Hungary on the occasion to commemorate Béla Bartók’s outstanding lifetime accomplishments. One of the most significant memorial concerts was to be held in the iconic concert hall of Budapest, called Müpa Budapest.
March 22, 2016
The Kossuth Foundation welcomes Bence (Ben) Janek to the team as our new Intern. Since mid-February, Ben has been writing and posting online content on the Foundation’s website; he also attends meetings, takes notes in conference calls, and serve the Hungarian-American community in the Washington DC area.
March 18, 2016
A group of Hungarian historians and a film crew from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) visited and filmed the Kossuth House in Washington DC on March 8, to make a documentary on Lajos Kossuth’s trip to the United States in early 1852.
The leading historian of the film crew was Laszlo Csorba, the Director-General at the Hungarian National Museum since 2010, and guest lecturer at the Indiana University between 1992 and 1993.
According to plans, the documentary will be broadcast in the second half of the year. Besides Washington DC, the film crew visited Boston and New York.
March 9, 2016
“Son of Saul”, a Holocaust drama from first-time feature director László Nemes, became the first Hungarian film to win Academy Award in 35 years in Best Foreign Language Film category.
During his speech at the annual Oscar ceremony Sunday night in Los Angeles, Nemes thanked the Academy for the award and the Hungarian National Film Fund for funding the film.
“Thanks to Hungary for funding this film. I want to share this with Geza Rohrig, my main actor, and the incredible cast and crew that believed in this project when no one else did.”
March 16, 2016
On March 15, László Nemes, director of the Oscar winning “Son of Saul”, Géza Röhrig, the lead actor, and Mátyás Erdély, cameraman, were among the artists who received the Kossuth Prize on the occasion of the anniversary of the revolution of 1848.
In addition to the “Son of Saul” film crew, János Áder, President of Hungary, awarded the Kossuth Prize to fifteen other Hungarian artists, including Miklós Benedek (actor), Adam Farkas (sculptor), Balázs "Fecó" Ferenc (composer), and Anna Kiss (poet).
The Kossuth Foundation Board of Directors met at the Bethlen Home in Ligonier, PA on February 13, 2016. Registered members may log in to view a summary article about the meeting.