Dr. Tibor Hirsch

Associate professor

Tibor Hirsch graduated in Hungarian and English Literature at the ELTE, Faculty of Arts, in 1979 and received his PhD in Philosophy and Aesthetics 2002 at the same university. His main field of research is the early Eastern European cinema-related immigration in America, especially Hungarians’ role in the founding of Hollywood; a topic on which he has written a book and made a documentary. His other research interests include television genre-typology, program-classification, and the Hungarian cinema in the 1950s and 60s. He is working on a comprehensive social-historical overview: analysing the ways how post-war Hungarian cinema represents the dynamics of the shifting generations in the last 50 years.
His other new fields of interest are the psychological aspects of juvenile movie: he is examining how contemporary children’s film narratives can be interpreted through some personality-models provided by some contemporary psychological trends: first of all within the theoretical realm of the transactional analysis. Being a member of the Film-rating Board of the National Media Authority since 2006 he has a constant opportunity to meet value-impacts and dramaturgical problems of children’s movies.
Tibor Hirsch regularly publishes television and cinema reviews in Hungarian film studies periodicals, including Metropolis and Filmvilág. He is member of FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics), regular member of International Festival Juries (Tromso, Rotterdam, Varna), and former president of the short film and experimental film section in the jury of the Hungarian Film Week.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

  • Writing, co-writing and directing documentaries on cinema history:
  • The Age of American Silent films – Hugarian Film Institute, 1989.
  • American War Cinema – Hungarian Film Institute, 1991.
  • Hollywood Comedies – Hungarian Film Institute, 1991.
  • Hungarian Film History Series: „Time Stand Still” – Duna Television, 1996.
  • East European Emigrants: Founding Fathers of Hollywood – Fórumfilm, 1996. (Broadcasted on the Hungarian Public Channel MTV, 1997.)
  • Multimedia works:
  • „Jancsó” CD-ROM – (writer-editor) Inforg Stúdió, 2000.
  • Internet Portal of Hungarian Cinema History – (writer-editor) Hungarian Motion Picture Foundation, 2004.

Areas of Teaching/ Courses Taught

  • History of the American Cinema
  • Hungarian Film: 1945-1989
  • Childrens’ Cinema
  • History of Television
  • Generations apearing in the Hungarian Cinema, 1960-1990
  • Children’s movie and Transactional Analysis
  • American Myth
  • The world of Isvan Szabo
  • The world of Peter Greeanaway
  • The world of Miklos Jancso

Areas of Supervision

  • Hungarian cinema in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s (especially Miklós Jancsó, István Szabó, Péter Bacsó, and social-historical issues, popular genres)
  • American children’s films
  • Hungarian and East-European emigrants in Hollywood
  • Peter Greenaway
  • American cinema of the 1950s

Selected Publications

Books:

  • Filmcézárok (Hollywood Studio Moguls). Budapest, Szabadtér, 1988.
  • A James Bond mítosz (The James Bond Myth). Budapest, Szabadtér, 1989.
  • Keresztapa-sztori (Francis Ford Coppola). Budapest, Szabadtér-Duna Film, 1990.
  • Bosun! (The World of Peter Greenaway). Budapest, Magyar Filmintézet, 1992.

Articles:

  • Nem vénnek való filmek: Szürkületi zóna (Old people in Hungarian cinema). In: Filmvilág, 2013. (56. évf.), 5. sz., 10-13. p.
  • Sorskönyvvel, sorskönyvetlenül: Mesefilmterápia III. (Children’s film and Transactional Analyisis). In: Filmvilág, 2012. (55. évf.), 4. sz., 40-43. p.
  • Bond színeváltozásai: A 007-es modell (Personality types of James Bond). In: Filmvilág, 2012. (55. évf.), 11. sz., 4-7. p.
  • Sorskönyv-mesék: Meseterápia II. (Children’s film and Transactional Analyisis). In: Filmvilág, 2012. (55. évf.), 3. sz., 42-45. p.
  • Kalandok a Sors Könyvében: Mesefilmterápia I. (Children’s film and Transactional Analyisis). In: Filmvilág, , 2012. (55. évf.), 2. sz., 4-8. p.
  • Emberrajz – Jankovics Marcell: Az ember tragédiája (A Review of a Cartoon-adaptation of a Classical Hungarian Piece of Literature). In: Filmvilág, 2011. (54. évf.), 12. sz., 10-12. p.
  • Színésztükör: Kállai Ferenc (A Popular Hungarian Actor and the Cinema of the 60s). In: Filmvilág, 2010. (53. évf.), 10. sz., 28-31. p.
  • Körkörös történelem – Jancsó Miklós: Oda az igazság! (2009) (Review of a film by Miklós Jancsó and his General Approach to History). In: Filmvilág, 2010. (53. évf.), 3. sz., 52-53. p.
  • Szecskázz! – Youtube-mozi (Featues of Motion Picture on Youtube). In: Filmvilág, 2010. (53. évf.), 1. sz., 46. p.

Contact Details

Institute for Art Theory and Media Studies

Department of Film Studies
Eötvös Loránd University
Mail: Múzeum krt. 6-8., 1088 Budapest, Hungary

E-mail: hirsch.tibor _at_ btk.elte.hu