Born: 2 April 1946, Budapest, Hungary.

Education: Színház- és Filmmûvészeti Fõiskola/Academy of Drama and Film, Faculty of Film and Television, Budapest [one of his teachers was doph György Illés] [graduated in 1969].

Career: 'At 14, he shot his first 8mm movie during a family vacation. He later wrote, directed and photographed many small movies starring his classmates. His sister, who worked as an assistant director for the state television network, occasionally gave him rolls of outdated 16mm b&w film. One year, while Koltai was in his teens, he won first and second prizes at an amateur film festival. When Koltai graduated from high school, he wanted to study cinematography at Budapest's School of Drama and Film, but no openings were available. So he spent a year pulling focus on a live video camera at the national TV network. The following year, he was admitted as one of only a few new students at the Film Academy.' [From article by Bob Fisher on the ICG website.]

After graduation he worked at the Hungarian State Television and later at the Béla Balázs Studio shooting exp films, short features and doc's. In 1974, Koltai shot his first film [dir by István Szabó] for Hungarian tv. Ph commercials. Active member of the ASC since September 1992. Professor at the Academy of Drama and Film, Budapest.

Awards: Béla Balázs Prize [1977]; 'Merited Artist' [1982]; 'Oscar' AA nom [1983] for 'Mephisto'; Kossuth Prize [1985]; Hungarian Film Week Award [1987] for 'Hajnali háztetök'; European Film Award [1999], Camerimage 'Golden Frog' nom [1999] & 'David di Donatello' Award [1999] for 'La leggenda del pianista sull’oceano'; European Film Award [1999] for 'Sunshine'; 'Oscar' AA nom [2001] for 'Malèna'; ADF Cinematography Award [2002] for 'Taking Sides'; European Film Award nom [2004] for 'Being Julia'.

FILMS AT THE ACADEMY

1966        Vasasok [Tamás Farkas] ?

1966        A hetedik napon [Lajos Koltai] ?

1966        Elöjáték [Lajos Koltai] ?

1966        Hippodrom [Lajos Koltai] ?

1967        Csendes éj [Tamás Farkas] ?

1968        Három lányok [Dezsö Magyar] ?; short/26m

1968        Határok [Maja Boriszova] ?

1969        Express kaland [Tamás Farkas] ?

FILMS

1965        Kerítés [Lajos Koltai] ?; amateur film

1965        Improvizációk [Lajos Koltai] ?; amateur film

1969        Agitátorok/Propagandists/Agitators [Dezsö Magyar] b&w; docudrama/78m

1970        Nászutak/Honeymoons [György Szomjas] b&w; doc/38m

1970        Illetlen fotók [Géza Böszörményi] b&w; doc/13m; cph: István Zöldi

1970        Lányok [György Szomjas] ?; doc/?m

1971        Prés [Gyula Maár] b&w

1971        Archaikus torzó/Archaic Torso [Péter Dobai] b&w; doc/34m

1971        A harmadik/The Third One [Gábor Bódy] b&w; doc/50m

1971        A Lörinci fonóban [Márta Mészáros] ?; doc/?m

1971        Tisztelt cím!/Dear Address [Lívia Gyarmathy] b&w; doc/19m

1972        Füredi Annabál [György Szomjas] ?; doc/?m

1972        Magyar vakáció [György Szomjas] ?; doc/?m

1972        Sárospatak [Ferenc Kardos] ?; doc/?m

1972        Tengerszint feletti magasság/Height Above Sea Level [Ferenc Téglássy] b&w; doc/18m

1972        Valami mást - Kongresszusi levelek [Pál Erdöss] b&w; doc/30m

1972        Ifivezetök [Gábor Bódy] 16mm/b&w; doc/42m

1973        Álljon meg a menet!/Wait a Minute [Lívia Gyarmathy] c

1973        Gyakorlatok/Exercises [György Szomjas] b&w; doc/22m

1973        Szabad lélegzet/Riddance [Márta Mészáros] b&w

1973        Végül/At the End of the Road/After All [Gyula Maár] b&w

1973        Regruták/Rookies [Pál Erdöss] c; doc/38m

1974        Amokfutás [Lajos Fazekas] c

1974        Autó/The Car [Géza Böszörményi] c

1974        Jutalomutazás/Holiday in Britain/The Prize Trip [István Dárday] c

1975        Az egyedi eset természetrajza/The Natural History of an Industrial [Györgyi Szalai] b&w; doc/120m

1975        A járvány/The Epidemic [Pál Gábor] c

1975        Örökbefogadás/Adoption [Márta Mészáros] b&w; cph: M. Mészáros

1975        Veri az ördög a feleségét/The Devil Is Beating His Wife/Rain and Shine [Ferenc András] c; cph: Akos Kertesz

1975        Déryné, hol van?/Mrs. Dery, Where Are You? [Gyula Maár] c

1976        Szépek és bolondok/On the Side-Line [Péter Szász] c

1976        Teketória/Entanglement [Gyula Maár] c

1977        Tárgyilagosan/The Objective Way [Pál Erdöss] 16mm-35bu/b&w; doc/102m; cph: László Vitézy

1977        Olyan mint otthon/Just Like at Home [Márta Mészáros] c

1977        Amerikai cigaretta [János Dömölky] c

1977        Filmregény - Három növér/Three Sisters - A Film Novel [István Dárday] b&w; doc/270m; cph: Ferenc Pap

1978        Angi Vera/Vera’s Training [Pál Gábor] c

1978        A ménesgazda/The Stud Farm [András Kovács] c

1979        Ez a divat '78-79. ösz-tél [Pál Sándor] ?; doc/?m

1979        Ajándék ez a nap!/A Priceless Day [Péter Gothár] c

1979        Bizalom/Confidence [István Szabó] c

1979        Harcmodor/Strategy [István Dárday] c; cph: Ferenc Pap

1979        Der grüne Vogel/The Green Bird [István Szabó] c

1980        Haladék [Lajos Fazekas] c

1980        Mephisto [István Szabó] c; collab Paris: Jean Badal

1980        Színes tintákról álmodom [László Ranódy] c

1981        Megáll az idö/Time Stands Still [Péter Gothár] b&w-c

1982        Adj, király katonát!/The Princess [Pál Erdöss] b&w; cph: Ferenc Pap & Gábor Szabó 

1982        Guernica [Ferenc Kósa] c

1983        Mennyei seregek/Heavenly Hosts [Ferenc Kardos] c

1985        Hajnali háztetök/Roofs at Dawn [János Dömölky] c

1986        Gaby - A True Story [Luis Mandoki] c

1988        Homer & Eddie [Andrei Konchalovsky] c

1988        Hanussen [István Szabó] c

1988        Georg Elser - Einer aus Deutschland/Seven Minutes [Klaus Maria Brandauer] c; addph: Wolfgang Treu &

                    Helmut Pirnat

1990        Meeting Venus/Találkozás Venusszal [István Szabó] c

1990        White Palace [Luis Mandoki] c; 2uc: Michael Stone

1990        Mobsters/The Evil Empire [Michael Karbelnikoff] c

1991        Édes Emma, drága Böbe - vázlatok, aktok/Sweet Emma, Dear Böbe - Sketches, Nudes [István Szabó] c

1992        Born Yesterday [Luis Mandoki] c

1992        Wrestling Ernest Hemingway [Randa Haines] c

1993        When a Man Loves a Woman/To Have and to Hold/Significant Other [Luis Mandoki] c; 2uc: Frank Holgate; uwph:

                    Pete Romano

1993        Mario und der Zauberer [Klaus Maria Brandauer] c

1994        Just Cause [Arne Glimcher] p/c; 2uc: Alexander Witt; aph: Frank Holgate; wildlife ph: Alan Degan

1995        Home for the Holidays [Jodie Foster] c; uwph: Pete Romano

1995        Mother [Albert Brooks] c; San Francisco ph: Bill Butler

1996        Out to Sea [Martha Coolidge] c

1996        Steadying the Boat [István Szabó] c; doc/58m

1997        Der Vulkan [István Szabó] project; film was dir by Ottokar Runze and ph by Michael Epp

1997        La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano/The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean/The Legend of 1900 [Giuseppe

                    Tornatore] tvi/c; replaced doph Dante Spinotti

1998        Sunshine/A napfény íze [István Szabó] c

2000        Malèna [Giuseppe Tornatore] p/c

2000        Taking Sides [István Szabó] c

2001        Max [Menno Meyjes] c

2001        Ten Minutes Older: The Cello [seg 'Ten Minutes After' dir by István Szabó] b&w-c; 8 seg + links; other ph: Agnès

                    Godard, Fabio Cianchetti, Pascal Rabaud, Andreas Höfer, a.o.

2001        The Emperor's Club/The Palace Thief [Michael Hoffman] c

2002        Albert Nobbs [?] pre-prod May; status unknown

2003        Aquamarine [Laszlo Hege] announced; status unknown

2003        Being Julia [István Szabó] c

2005        Rokonok [István Szabó] c

TELEVISION

1972        Három nap a hétböl/Three Days of the Week [Levente Málnay] tvm/b&w

1974        Kínai kancsó [László Ranódy] tvm

1974        Fürdés [László Ranódy] tvm/50m

1976        A löcsei fehér asszony/The White Woman of Town Löcse [Gyula Maár] tvm

1982        Schwarz-Rot-Gold [ep #2 'Alles in Butter' dir by Dieter Wedel] 18-part series, 1982-96

1982        Katzenspiel/Cat Game/Macskajáték [István Szabó] tvm

1983        Bali [István Szabó] tvm

1983        Der Snob/The Snob [Wolfgang Staudte] tvm; cph: Jürgen Podzkiewicz

1983        Redl ezredes/Oberst Redl/Colonel Redl [István Szabó] tvm

1985        Lenin [Pál Sándor] tvm/45m

1989        Perfect Witness [Robert Mandel] tvm

1990        Descending Angel [Jeremy Kagan] tvm

1996        Offenbach titkai/Offenbachs Geheimnis/Offenbach's Secret: Soirée in Bouffes-Parisiens [István Szabó] tvm/

                    b&w-c

FILMS AS CAMERA ASSISTANT/OPERATOR

1969        Ismeri a szandi mandit?/Do You Know Sunday-Monday [Lívia Gyarmathy] co-c.asst; ph: Tamás Somló

1970        Én vagyok Jeromos [István Tímár] c.asst; ph: György Illés

1970        Hatholdas rózsakert [László Ranódy] c.asst; ph: György Illés

1971        Hangyaboly/Ant-Hill [Zoltán Fábri] c.op; ph: György Illés

FILMS AS DIRECTOR

2003        Sorstalanság/Fateless [feature] ph: Gyula Pados

2006        Evening [feature] ph: Gyula Pados

2008        Aline & Wolfe [feature] pre-production