Marcell Jankovics
Biography
Marcel Jankovics was born in 1941 in Budapest. One year after finishing studies at the secondary school, in 1960 he joined the biggest Hungarian animation studio, the Pannónia Filmstúdió, in 1996-2007 he headed this studio in position of the executive director. Jankovics co-founded Duna TV, became the President of the National Cultural Fund of Hungary and the President of the Hungarian Cultural Society, and was also involved in many other organizations.
Illustration Features
Marcell Jankovics is often marked as a key person of the Hungarian animated film history. He directed not only TV series but also a number of short-footage films, where he succeeded to show his rare sense of experiment with form and artistic expression. Hungarian history, local folk motives and fairy-tales became a strong inspirational source for Jankovics. He achieved the most remarkable world response by Sizyfos (Sisyphus, 1974), a paraphrase of the antique myth of martyrlike fate of a man which was crowned with the Academy Award nomination for Oscar. In 1973, the first Hungarian animated long-footage film, John the Brave (János vitéz) appeared from his directorial studio. The complexity of his creative personality can also be manifested by his strip cartoons where he adapted some literal works by world authors (Oscar Wilde, Stanisław Lem).