Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr, master of slow cinema, dies at 70

Hungarian director Béla Tarr passed away on January 6, 2026, at the age of seventy. He was born on July 21, 1955, in Pécs, Hungary, and gained recognition for his distinctive slow cinema approach and collaborative projects. Among his most acclaimed films are Sátántangó (1994), Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), and The Turin Horse (2011). Throughout his career, he worked closely with writer László Krasznahorkai and editor Ágnes Hranitzky. Over a span of thirty years, Tarr directed eight films before announcing his retirement, claiming he had expressed all he intended to. He subsequently established a film school in Sarajevo. His works, marked by long takes and monochrome visuals, delved into themes of community, isolation, and resistance, reflecting Hungary's political evolution from Kádár to Orbán.