„I think that it is advisable to respect the limits of precision available in a given domain of inquiry.” (Noël Carroll)
Cinema’s Alchemist: The Films of Péter Forgács
Péter Forgács, based in Budapest, is best known for his award-winning films built on home movies from the 1930s to the 1960s that document ordinary lives soon to intersect with offscreen historical events. Cinema’s Alchemist offers a sustained exploration of the imagination and skill with which Forgács reshapes such film footage, originally intended for private and personal viewing, into extraordinary films dedicated to remembering the past in ways that matter for our future.
Contributors: Whitney Davis, U of California, Berkeley; László F. Földényi, U of Theatre, Film and Television, Budapest; Marsha Kinder, U of Southern California; Tamás Korányi; Scott MacDonald, Hamilton College; Tyrus Miller, U of California, Santa Cruz; Roger Odin, U of Paris III Sorbonne–Nouvelle; Catherine Portuges, U of Massachusetts Amherst; Michael S. Roth, Wesleyan U; Kaja Silverman, U of Pennsylvania; Ernst van Alphen, Leiden U, the Netherlands; Malin Wahlberg, Stockholm U.
„There are film makers who have created a documentary opus of great significance, and have thereby deepened our understanding of the past. Péter Forgács, Hungarian film maker and media artist, is such a man. He composes films as if they were musical compositions—by using found material.”
— from the 2007 Erasmus Prize Laudatio
