Bela Tarr started working in film as an amateur at the age of 16. He directed his first feature film, FAMILY NEST (1977) at the age of 22. This film, along with THE OUTSIDER (1981) and THE PREFAB PEOPLE (1982), constitutes the first phase of Bela Tarr’s opus, characterized by social issues and documentary style. In the mid 1980s, he started collaboration with the writer László Krasznahoraki, whose works were the basis of Tarr’s film DAMNATION (1988), SATAN’S TANGO (1994) and WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES (2000). DAMNATION marked the beginning of a visual style for which he is known today: a distinctive black-and-white photographic approach, and long, slow shots, which culminated in the seven-and-a-half hour long adaptation of Krasznahoraki’s novel, his masterpiece, SATAN’S TANGO. The film THE TURIN HORSE (2011), which he announced several years ago as the last film he would make, was presented at the Berlin Film Festival, and was awarded the Grand Jury Prize - the Silver Bear, as well as the FIPRESCI Prize. Because of his relentlessness, Tarr was never part of mainstream filmmaking. The film world considers him one of the most original and most coveted contemporary authors in the world. Drawing inspiration from the works of Italian neo-realism and the French New Wave, and questioning today’s alienation and morality in a provocative way, his films have a strong influence on the younger generation of filmmakers. At the 2013 Sarajevo Film Festival Bela Tarr was presented we the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award. He is the founder of the film.factory at the Sarajevo School for Science and Technology (SSST).
