Lajos Koltai

cinematographer, director

Budapest, 2 April 1946

Full member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts (2023–)

Lajos Koltai’s cinematographic career, which began at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, and his directorial career, which started in the 2000s, are closely intertwined with the processes of Hungarian film history. For an artist whose work spans half a century, who has contributed to more than eighty films and collaborated with twenty-five Hungarian directors, this is hardly surprising.

Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic

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2016

governmental award

Artist of the Nation

The top prize in the hierarchical system of art awards, granted to Kossuth Prize-winning artists over 65 who have created significant value in their artistic field. By law, no more than seventy artists may hold it simultaneously.

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1985

governmental award

Kossuth Prize

The highest Hungarian state decoration for the cultivation and preservation of Hungarian culture.

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1982

governmental award

Meritorious Artist of the Hungarian People’s Republic

State award for artists who have created outstanding artistic values over a prolonged period in Hungarian national culture and artistic fields (theatre, music, dance, circus, film, visual, photography, applied arts), and who already hold an artistic award granted by the minister responsible for culture. The recipient is entitled to the title “Meritorious Artist of Hungary” (short: “Meritorious Artist”).

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1977

governmental award

Balázs Béla Award

The highest state professional award that can be granted by the Minister responsible for culture to filmmakers and television creators.

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