After completing the Film and Media Studies at the Eötvös Loránd University, Glória Halász directed eight full-length documentaries, including many international co-productions, which were featured and awarded at acknowledged film festivals, gained main prizes including the Grand Jury Award of UNAFF (United Nations Association Film Festival) in the United States which she received at Stanford University. Her projects are internationally distributed and broadcasted worldwide in association with companies like Journeyman Entertainment (United Kingdom) and ORF-Enterprise (Austria). Amongst others she has developed and created various film projects on a wide variety of topics, including films about a jail theatre company, a clown doctor, the world famous Recirquel contemporary circus company, women in India and their surviving story after major acid attacks, classical ballet students or the 100-Member Budapest Gypsy Symphony Orchestra. In addition, she has made numerous commercials and music videos. She was invited as a jury member for EPOS International Art Film Festival in Israel and Budapest Independent Film Festival, participated in the directing masterclasses of London Film School and Sundance Co//ab. In 2021 she directed a TIE (Theatre in Education) performance based on the world of classical ballet at the National Dance Theatre. The relationship between fantasy and reality is a recurring issue in her work, and the fact that imagination can be a handhold in a seemingly hopeless situation. She is currently preparing for her first fictional feature film.
Circus Siblings (2023) A special class of Hungarian circus artists prepares to study abroad, eventually they find themselves at the Kyiv Academy of Circus Arts. A unique bond forms between the students and their Ukrainian teachers, bridging the gap between cultures, while the children come of age amidst challenging circumstances.
Festivals:
• CineFest International Film Festival - Miskolc, Hungary
Distribution company:
• ORF-Enterprise
Who Cares About Pal Frenak (2023) (United States) The film is a portrait of the choreographer Pal Frenak, from his traumatic childhood to current-day success, and how he cleverly cheated tragedy and the resulting inner demons through his commitment to art.
Alla Zingara (2019) The film tells the story of music’s groundbreaking and uplifting power which creates entity through the history of the world-famous, but uniquely 100-Member Budapest Gypsy Symphony Orchestra and its extraordinary musicians.
Festivals:
• Chagrin Documentary Film Festival - Ohio, United States
• AKE DIKHEA? Festival of Romani Film - Berlin, Germany
• Verzio International Human Rights Film Festival
• Peloponnisos International Doc Film Festival - Kalamata, Greece
• DOCfeed - Eindhoven, Netherlands
• SEE Film Festival - Paris, France
• Beldocs - Belgrade, Serbia
• Docfest - Chalkida, Greece
Distribution company:
• ORF-Enterprise
Three Dances (2018) While introducing three generations of ballet dancer boys studying classical ballet at the Hungarian Dance Academy, the film would like to establish a general picture of the career path a young student follows in order to become a ballet artist.
Festivals:
• 47th Dance on Camera Festival - New York, United States
• Asolo Art Film Festival - Asolo, Italy
• GZDOC Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival - Guangzhou, China
• Dance Camera West - Los Angeles, United States
• EPOS International Art Film Festival - Tel Aviv, Israel
Distribution company:
• ORF-Enterprise
Rupa's Boutique (2017) Rupa, living in the city of Agra in India, wanted to be a fashion designer since her childhood. In the film we are getting to know her and her fellow victims’ life stories and dreams, meanwhile they are preparing for a monumental fashion show, where the Rupa designed clothes are showcased by the survivors.
Awards:
• Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary – UNAFF (United Nations Association Film Festival) - Palo Alto, Stanford, United States
• Best Feature Film Award – WOMEN Media Arts and Film Festival - Sydney Fringe - Sydney, Australia
• Best Documentary Award – PORTO FEMME - International Film Festival - Porto, Portugal
• Grand Prix for the Best Movie of the Festival – Prvi Kadar International Film Festival, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Best Feature Documentary – Barcelona Planet Film Festival - Barcelona, Spain
Festivals:
• UNAFF (United Nations Association Film Festival) - Palo Alto, Stanford, United States
• WOMEN Media Arts and Film Festival - Sydney Fringe - Sydney, Australia
• PORTO FEMME - International Film Festival - Porto, Portugal
• Prvi Kadar International Film Festival - Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Barcelona Planet Film Festival - Barcelona, Spain
• We The Peoples Film Festival - London, United Kingdom
• Humainologie Film Fest - Calgary, Canada
• Peloponnisos International Documentary Festival - Kalamata, Greece
• docLAHOMA - Oklahoma City, United States
• China Women's Film Festival - Hong Kong, China
• Smita Patil Documentary Film Festival - Pune, India
International television broadcasting:
• TVN24 - Poland
• TX - Portugal
• EPIC CHANNEL - India
What a Circus! (2016) An intimate film about Recirquel, a contemporary circus company, balancing between reality and fiction. The film's crew followed the company for years, including during their latest show's rehearsals.
Awards:
• Best Documentary Special Mention – Vilmos Zsigmond Film Festival
• Best Cinematographer in Documentary Film – Golden Eye Cinematographer Festival
Festivals:
• ACAMPADOC International Documentary Film Festival - Panama
• Vilmos Zsigmond Film Festival
• Golden Eye Cinematographer Festival
• HUNIWOOD - Hungarian Film Festival - Berlin, Germany
• Filmtettfeszt - Hungarian Film Days - Romania
Dr. Lala (2014) Laszlo Balogh aka Clown Lala is a clown doctor who made a hundred thousand of sick people smile in the past one and the half decade.
Awards:
• Best Documentary – Opuzen Film Festival - Opuzen, Croatia
• Best Documentary – CineFest International Film Festival
• Best Documentary – National Independent Film Festival
Festivals:
• Opuzen Film Festival - Opuzen, Croatia
• CineFest International Film Festival
• Filmtettfeszt – Hungarian Film Days - Romania
• Hungarian Film Week
• Verzio International Human Rights Film Festival
• Hungarian Documentary Film Festival - Los Angeles, United States
• San Francisco Global Movie Fest - San Francisco, United States
• National Independent Film Festival
Iron Curtain (2011) The film on the members of a prison theatre aims at showing the world how one can hang onto the redeeming power of art and create theatre under circumstances as disadvantageous as can be, in isolation, where survival itself is a challenge.
Festivals:
• Verzio Human Rights Documentary Film Festival
• Mediawave Festival