Dr. András Bálint Kovács, DSC

KovacsABAndrás Bálint Kovács is a professor and founding chair of the Department of Film Studies at ELTE University, Budapest. He teaches film history of modern cinema, film analysis and cognitive theory of the cinema. His current research include psychological studies of viewer’s reactions to causal connections in filmic narratives, psychology of perception of shot scales, and statistical analysis of film style. He has been visiting professor at the University of Stockholm, L’Université de la Nouvelle Sorbonne, École Normale Supérieure, University of California San Diego where he is a recurring visiting professor.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

  • 2003-2009 Founder and director of the National Audiovisual Archive
  • 2008 Invited lecturer, University of Copenhagen
  • 2007 Invited lecturer, University of Copenhagen
  • 2004 Visiting professor, Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris (spring semester)
  • 2002 Fulbright visiting scholar USC and University of Wisconsin, Madison
  • 2002- Editor of the film book series at Palatinus Publishing, Budapest
  • 1983-1995: Member of the editorial staff of Hungary’s leading film monthly Filmvilág
  • 1993-1995: Artistic advisor for the Agora script fund
  • 1995: Co-author of an interview film on Peter Greenaway
  • 1989: Co-author of an interview film on Robert Bresson
  • 1986-1988: Editor of a television series on video art
  • 1988: Artistic advisor to a film by Béla Tarr (Damnation) awarded in Montreal, Strasbourg and Budapest film festivals, nominated for European Film Award
  • 1984-1986: Artistic consultant to Balázs Béla Studio, the young filmmakers independent studio
  • 1980: Television interview with Jean-Luc Godard

Areas of Teaching/ Courses Taught

  • Archiving
  • Auteur studies
  • Film & philosophy
  • Film analysis
  • Film theory
  • Narratology

Selected Publications

  • Focalisation, Attachment, and Film viewers’ Responses to Film Characters: Experimental Design with Qualitative Data Collection. (co-author) in: CarrieLynn D. Reinhard and Christopher J. Olson (eds.) Making Sense of Cinema. Empirical Studies into Film Spectators and Spectatorphip. Bloomsbury Academic.
  • S. Benini, M. Svanera, N. Adami, R. Leonardi, and A. B. Kovács, “Shot scale distribution in art films,” Multimedia Tools and Applications DOI 10.1007/s11042-016-3339-9. 1-29.
  • Esztétika: Filozófia, ideológia, tudomány. 2000 június. 2015.
  • Shot Scale Distribution: An authorial fingerprint or a cognitive pattern? Projections, Winter, Vol. 8 no. 2. pp. 50-70. 2014.
  • Causal Thinking and Narration. Projections No. 1 pp. 51-68. 2011.
  • The Cinema of Béla Tarr. Columbia, 2013. (published also in Hungarian and Turkish)
  • Mozgóképelemzés. Palatinus, 2009.
  • Screening Modernism. Chicago University Press, 2008.
  • A modern film irányzatai. Palatinus, 2005.
  • A film szerint a világ. Palatinus, 2002.
  • Tarkovszkij (with Ákos Szilagyi). Helikon, 1992.
  • MetropolisParis. Képzőművészeti Kiadó, 1992.
  • Andrei Tarkovsky. In: The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Film, pp. 581-590. 2008.
  • Things That Come After Another. New Review of Film and Television Studies. NY, London. pp. 157-173. 2006.
  • Sartre, the Philosphy of Nothingness and the Modern Melodrama. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. pp. 135-145. 2005.
  • Gábor Bódy: precursor of the digital age. In: East European Cinemas. Routledge. NY, London, pp. 151-165. 2002.
  • The Film History of Thought. In: The brain is the screen: Deleuze and the philosophy of cinema. University of Minnesota Press, pp. 153-170. 1997.

Contact Details

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

E-mail: kovacs.andras.balint _at_ btk.elte.hu