Wikipedia

László Nemes

László Nemes (born Nemes Jeles László; Hungarian: [ˈnɛmɛʃ ˈjɛlɛʃ ˈlaːsloː]; 18 February 1977) is a Hungarian filmmaker. His films usually explore Jewish social and political resistance in 20th century Hungary,[1] featuring long takes and meticulously dressed historical sets.

László Nemes
Nemes in 2025
Born
Nemes Jeles László

(1977-02-18) 18 February 1977 (age 49)
Budapest, Hungary
OccupationsFilm director, screenwriter
Years active1999-present

He is most known for his debut feature film Son of Saul (2015), which won the Grand Prix at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival,[2][3] the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and Hungary's second Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[4][5]

Early life

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Nemes was born in Budapest as the son of a Jewish mother[6] and the Hungarian film and theater director András Jeles. He moved to Paris at the age of 12. Nemes became interested in filmmaking at an early age and began filming amateur horror films in the basement of his Paris home.[7] After studying History, International Relations and Screenwriting, he started working as an assistant director in France and Hungary on short and feature films. For two years, he worked as Béla Tarr's assistant during the filming of The Man from London.[8][7]

Career

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Nemes in 2007 filming With a Little Patience

After directing his first 35mm short film, With a Little Patience, in September 2006, he moved to New York to study film directing at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.[9] Beginning in September 2011, he spent five months in Sciences Po Paris as part of a scholarship program arranged by the Cinéfondation, where he and Clara Royer developed the script for Son of Saul.[citation needed] In 2012, they continued intensive work on the screenplay for seven months at the Jerusalem International Film Lab rubbing shoulders with emerging directors such as Boo Junfeng and Morgan Simon.[10] Also in 2012, he developed his first project which would eventually be his second feature film (Sunset), through the TorinoFilmLab Script&Pitch programme in 2012 and the Framework programme in 2015.

His debut feature film, Son of Saul (2015), followed Saul Ausländer (played by Géza Röhrig), a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando. The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 68th Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or and the Caméra d'Or, winning the Grand Prix (the second-most prestigious prize of the festival), alongside the FIPRESCI Prize and the François Chalais Prize. At the 73rd Golden Globe Awards, the film won Best Foreign Language Film, becoming the first and only Hungarian film to win it.[11][12] At the 88th Academy Awards, it won Best Foreign Language Film, marking Hungary second win in the category.[5]

In 2016, Nemes was a member of the main competition jury of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.[13]

Following the success of Son of Saul, his 2012's Sunset project was eventually reworked and released in 2018, having its world premiere at the main competition of the 75th Venice International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion.[14] It was selected as the Hungarian submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was not nominated.[15]

After a seven years hiatus, Nemes returned with another Hungarian-set historical drama film, Orphan (2025), set in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1956 against the Communist regime in Budapest. The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion.[16] It was also selected as the Hungarian entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

Nemes French-language debut film, Moulin (2026), was written by Olivier Demangel. Starring Gilles Lellouche and Lars Eidinger, it follows Jean Moulin and the French Resistance networks during the World War II.[17] The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on 17 May, marking Nemes return to the festival after eleven years.

Upcoming films

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In May 2025, Nemes was confirmed as director and co-writer of an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel Outer Dark, starring Jacob Elordi and Lily-Rose Depp, filming is expected to began in 2026.[18]

Influences

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Nemes has named Michelangelo Antonioni, Andrei Tarkovsky, Ingmar Bergman, Terrence Malick, and Stanley Kubrick as some of his favorite directors.

Personal life

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Political beliefs

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On March 15, 2024, Nemes shared a public statement with The Guardian condemning Jonathan Glazer's acceptance speech for The Zone of Interest winning Best International Feature at the 96th Academy Awards. In his speech, Glazer stated he and producer James Wilson stood "... as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people, whether the victims of October 7 in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza." Nemes stated that Glazer "... should have stayed silent instead of revealing he has no understanding of history and the forces undoing civilization, before or after the Holocaust..." and accused him of resorting to "talking points disseminated by propaganda meant to eradicate, at the end, all Jewish presence from the Earth." Nemes also suggested that the choice in the film to focus on the perpetrators of the Holocaust rather than the victims related to Glazer's speech, writing "[M]aybe it all makes sense, ironically... there is absolutely no Jewish presence on screen in The Zone of Interest. Let us all be shocked by the Holocaust, safely in the past, and not see how the world might eventually, one day, finish Hitler’s job - in the name of progress and endless good."[19][20][21]

Nearly 18 months later, during the press conference of Orphan (2025) at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, when questioned about his stance on the Gaza war and his remarks about Glazer in early 2024, Nemes stated "The big question for me – in film, in art, but also in everyday life – are you a humanist or an anti-humanist?" and concluded "It’s intertwined. We have seen in the 20th century what it can produce in the heart of civilization… we know what it can produce in the future. So, the real question is, where is the humanism in what we do? As a filmmaker, that’s my responsibility".[1]

In a 2026 interview with The Guardian during the promotion of Orphan and Moulin (2026), Nemes spoke about what he described as a growing discomfort within Western cultural institutions regarding Jewish themes and Holocaust-related narratives. He argued that a film such as Son of Saul would face greater resistance if released in the mid-2020s and described what he saw as a rise in antisemitism in the West. He also criticized aspects of contemporary identity politics,[which?] arguing that cultural discourse had become increasingly polarized and group-based following the Gaza war.[22]

Nemes in 2015

Filmography

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Feature films

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Year English Title Original Title Director Writer Notes
2015 Son of Saul Saul fia Yes Yes
2018 Sunset Napszállta Yes Yes
2025 Orphan Árva Yes Yes
2026 Moulin Jean Moulin Yes No [17]
TBA Outer Dark Yes Yes Pre-production[23]

Short films

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Year Title Director Writer Producer
1999 Arrivals Yes Yes No
2007 With a Little Patience Yes Yes No
2008 The Counterpart Yes Yes No
2010 The Gentleman Takes His Leave Yes Yes Yes

Accolades

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Short film

  • 2007 - Hungarian Society of Cinematographers - Best Short Film
  • 2007 - Hungarian Film Week - Best Short Film
  • 2007 - Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films - Silver Mikeldi
  • 2008 - Angers Premiers Plans - Best European Short Film
  • 2008 - Angers Premiers Plans - ARTE Prize
  • 2008 - Angers Premiers Plans - Best Actress: Virág Marjai
  • 2008 - Athens International Film & Video Festival - Black Bear Award
  • 2008 - Mediawave International Film Festival - Best Cinematography
  • 2008 - Indie Lisboa International Film Festival - Onda Curta Award
  • 2010 - NexT International Film Festival Bucharest - "Cristian Nemescu" Best Directing Award

Feature film

References

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  1. 1 2 Dalton, Ben. "Laszlo Nemes says "losing cinema" is connected to "conflict in civilisation"". Screen Time. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  2. ↑ "2015 Official Selection". Cannes. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  3. ↑ Henry Barnes (24 May 2015). "Cannes 2015: Jacques Audiard's Dheepan wins the Palme d'Or". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  4. ↑ Nick Holdsworth (11 January 2016). "Golden Globes: Hungary Celebrates First-Ever Win for 'Son of Saul'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Son of Saul: Foreign Language Film - Nominees". Oscars. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Bloom, Nate (25 February 2016). "The tribe at the Oscars, 2016". Times of Israel.
  7. 1 2 Origo. "Ott egy magyar a világ legjobbjai között". Origo.hu/. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "'Son of Saul' Director László Nemes on Capturing a Portrait of Hell and the Spiritual Experience of Cannes". The Film Stage. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  9. ↑ "Festival de Cannes - From 13th to 24th May 2015". Festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "La Cinéfondation aide les cinéastes de demain". Le Monde à Cannes. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  11. ↑ Nancy Tartaglione (11 January 2016). "'Son Of Saul': From Cannes Grand Jury Prize To Golden Globe". Deadline. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
  12. ↑ Son of Saul wins Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language film, timesofisrael.com; accessed 22 January 2016.
  13. ↑ Rhonda Richford (25 April 2016). "Cannes Film Festival Unveils Full Jury". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
  14. ↑ "Venice to Kick Off Awards Season With New Films From Coen Brothers, Luca Guadagnino and Alfonso Cuaron". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  15. ↑ Barraclough, Leo (11 September 2018). "Oscar Winner László Nemes' 'Sunset' to Represent Hungary at Academy Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  16. ↑ "Biennale Cinema 2025 | Orphan". La Biennale di Venezia. 14 July 2025. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  17. 1 2 "László Nemes shooting Moulin". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 16 September 2025. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  18. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (16 May 2025). "Jacob Elordi & Lily-Rose Depp To Star In Cormac McCarthy Adaptation 'Outer Dark' — Red Hot Project Bubbling At The Cannes Market". Deadline. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  19. ↑ Shoard, Catherine (15 March 2024). "Jonathan Glazer's Oscars speech condemned by Son of Saul director: 'He should have stayed silent'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  20. ↑ Frost, Caroline (16 March 2024). "László Nemes, 'Son Of Saul' Director, On Oscar Winner Jonathan Glazer: "He Should Have Stayed Silent"". Deadline. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  21. ↑ Kaloi, Stephanie (16 March 2024). "'Son of Saul' Director Slams Jonathan Glazer's Oscars Speech: 'Should Have Stayed Silent' After 'Zone of Interest' Win". TheWrap. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  22. ↑ Freedland, Jonathan (18 May 2026). "'An orgy of antisemitism is overtaking the west': Son of Saul's László Nemes on Hollywood hypocrisy". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  23. ↑ "The Brit 50: Good Chaos". Screen Daily. 5 November 2025. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  24. ↑ Nick Newman (24 May 2015). "Jacques Audiard's 'Dheepan' Wins Palme d'Or; Full List of Winners at 2015 Cannes Film Festival Unveiled". The Film Stage. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  25. ↑ Rebecca Ford; Rhonda Richards (23 May 2015). "Cannes: 'Son of Saul', 'Masaan', Take Fipresci Prizes". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
  26. ↑ "TOUTES LES RÉCOMPENSES DU FESTIVAL DE CANNES 2015". Festival-de-cannes.parismatch.com. 23 May 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  27. ↑ Meena, Jang (27 February 2016). "Spirit Awards: 'Son of Saul' Wins Best International Film". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
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