Kornél Mundruczó

Writer/Director

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Film, TV & Theatre

Agent: Natasha Galloway
Assistant: Hassan Sherif Abdelfattah-Elmakhzangui

Film, TV & Theatre

Kornél Mundruczó, born in Hungary, studied at the Hungarian University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest and is a renowned European film, theatre and opera director whose productions are shown at the world's most important festivals and theatres. He maintains a long-time collaborative partnership with writer Kata Weber. Their first film together, WHITE GOD, won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes in 2014 and had its North American premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015.

From 2003 onwards, Kornél's films regularly debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. JOHANNA, his cinematic opera adaptation of the story of Joan of Arc, was shown in 2005 in the Un Certain Regard section, where UNDERDOG was also shown in 2014. He received the main prize of the Un Certain Regard section. His first English-language film, PIECES OF A WOMAN (2020) was selected for Venice International Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival, with Vanessa Kirby winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at Venice and being nominated for a BAFTA and Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Working additionally for the stage, in 2009 Kornél founded the independent theatre group Proton Theatre in Hungary together with theatre producer Dóra Büki. Her works are invited to festivals worldwide, including Avignon, Vienna, Seoul and Singapore. In 2017, her play IMITATION OF LIFE was nominated for the German Theatre Prize Der Faust. Mundruczó directed two productions of the Flemish Opera, DUKE BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE/WINTERREISE in 2014 and THE MAKROPULOS AFFAIR 2016. The latter was nominated in the category of new production for the International Opera Awards 2017.

In Development

ProductionCompanyNotes

PROXY

2024

As Director. Written by Kata Wéber

AT THE SEA

2024

Hammerstone Studios / 3:33 Creative Productions / AR Content

As Director and Co-Writer with Kata Wéber.
Starring: Amy Adams

EVERYBODY'S WOMAN (TV)

AR Content

Drama series following about the rise of a professional performer within the Hungarian pornography industry. Written by Kata Weber

IF NOT NOW, WHEN?

As Director

THE ELEPHANT MAN

Phoenix Pictures / Straight Up Films / Straight Up Impact

As Director

Film

ProductionCompanyNotes

EVOLUTION

2021

Proton Cinema / The Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archive / The Match Factory

Director. Written by Kata Wéber

PIECES OF A WOMAN

2020

Bron Studios / Little Lamb Productions / Creative Wealth Media

The story of a grieving woman who, when a home birth goes tragically awry, is thrust into an emotional inner journey by trying to come to terms with her loss while also dealing with the ramifications in her interpersonal relationships with her husband and estranged mother. Selected for Venice International Film Festival 2020 and Toronto Film Festival 2020. Winner of Best Film at Venice Film Festival. Vanessa Kirby was Oscar-nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and BAFTA nominated for Best Leading Actress.

JUPITER'S MOON

2017

Proton Cinema / The Match Factory

Premiered in competition at Cannes Film Festival 2017. Co-written with Kata Weber

WHITE GOD

2014

Proton Cinema/Pola Pandora Filmproduktions/Match Factory

Co-written with Kata Weber. Winner of Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2014 and part of the Official Selection at Sundance 2015. Screened as part of the 2015 New Directors/New Films festival in New York. WHITE GOD follows young Lili on a determined mission to retrieve her pet dog, Hagen, who her father casts out after a new law is passed favouring pedigree breeds. With legions of mongrel dogs finding themselves abandoned, an explosion of savage retribution against their human oppressors soon follows, and one girl's search for her dog becomes the last chance to find peace

TENDER SOON: THE FRANKENSTEIN PROJECT

2010

Proton Cinema/Essential Filmproduktion GmbH

Nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival 2010. A boy returns home from the institution where he grew up, but finds he is not welcome there. He fights to win the love of his family until matters escalate shockingly

DELTA

2008

Proton Cinema/Essential Filmproduktion GmbH

Winner of the FIPRESCI Award and Nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival 2008. Also nominated for the Prix d'Excellence at the European Film Awards

JOHANNA

2005

Proton Cinema

Winner for Best Director at the Hungarian Film Critics Awards; Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Fantasporto; and nominated for Best Feature at the Chicago International Film Festival

JÖTT EGY BUSZ...

2003

As Director.
Segment Szent Johanna.
Winner of Best Editing at Hungarian Film Week.
Five episodes connects on a magic bus in the centre of Budapest.

PLEASANT DAYS

2002

Laurinfilm/Magyar Filmunió

Writer/Director.
Nominated for Best Feature at Chicago International Film Festival 2002.
Nominated for European Discovery at European Film Awards 2002.
Nominated for Golden Leopard at Locarno International Film Festival 2002.
Winner of the "Gene Moskowitz" Critics Award at Hungarian Film Week 2002.
Winner of the László B. Nagy Award at Hungarian Film Critics Awards 2004.
Winner of the Golden Iris and the RTBF TV Prize for Best Picture at Brussels European Film Festival 2003.
Winner of Grand Prix at Sophia International Film Festival 2003.
Peter returned from prison in his native city, in the hope that it will begin happy days. With surprise he learns that his sister became a foster mother to the new born boy, but a real mother of the child - extravagant and slutty Maya wants to take it back. Peter falls in love with Maya. He's torn between his girlfriend and trying to manipulate sister. But he has to make a choice, and the happiness was so close, melt into thin air.

THIS I WISH AND NOTHING MORE

2000

Proton Cinema

As Director.
Nominated for Gold Hugo for the New Directors Competition at Chicago International Film Festival 2000.
Winner of the Student Jury Award at Hungarian Film Week 2000.
Winner of the László B. Nagy Award at Hungarian Film Critics Awards 2000.
A young man lives in rural Hungary with his girlfriend Mari. Also on the scene is her homosexual brother. Mari doesn't know that when the two men go to work in the city they raise cash by turning tricks and burglarizing houses. A love triangle begins...

Television

ProductionCompanyNotes

THE CROWDED ROOM

2023

Apple TV

Director.
Drama mini series starring Tom Holland and Amanda Seyfried.
In Manhattan in the summer of 1979, a young man is arrested for a shocking crime, and an unlikely investigator must solve the mystery behind it before the true criminal strikes again.

Short Films

ProductionCompanyNotes

LITTLE APOCRYPHA NO. 2

2004

Inforg Stúdió

Writer/Director.
Winner of the Experimental Short Film Prize at Hungarian Film Week 2004.
Winner of the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at Oberhausen International Short Film Festival 2003.
Winner of the Special Prize of the Jury at Ludwigsburg European Short Film Biennale 2003.
Winner of the Prize of the Hungarian Film Laboratory at Alter-Native International Short Film Festival 2003.
A little boy loses his way in reality. He is duplicated. His doubles appear everywhere. The more he meets, the more he is afraid of himself...

A 78-AS SZENT JOHANNÁJA

2003

Nextreme Film

Writer/Director.
Nominated for Best Short Film at Torino Film Festival.
Joan is a member of a group of volunteers. She participates in staged accidents. Her kindness is impossible. She is perhaps Joan of Arc. The first scene of an opera triptych.

DAY AFTER DAY

2001

Academy of Drama & Film Budapest/Duna Mühely/Pioneer Productions

Writer/Director.
Winner of the Short Film Competition at Film Festival Cottbus 2001.
Winner of the Silver Dragon at Krakow Film Festival 2001.
Winner of the Best Short Film at Hungarian Film Week 2001.
Winner of the Film Critics Award at Hungarian Film Critics Awards 2002.
Winner of the Best International Film at Corto Imola Festival 2001.
Winner of the Arte European Short Award and the Prize of Ecumenical Jury at Oberhausen International Short Film Festival 2001.
Growing up and the banality of everyday life can lead a young boy to aggression and suppressed rage. An ordinary day in a kid's life in a small town on an incredibly hot day; one gang; one game; one field; one girl. In the span of a single day, how can this boy arrive at such a changing point in his life from which there is no return?

HARIBÓ-HARIBÁ!

1999

Duna Mühely

Writer/Director

VÖRÖS HOLD

1999

As Director.