Peter Hegedus

Peter Hegedüs (born 21 August 1976) is a Hungarian-Australian writer, director and producer of both documentary and fiction films. He is the grandson of the former Prime Minister of Hungary, András Hegedüs. Hegedüs' work explores critical social justice issues. His most recent film, ''Sorella's Story,'' was selected to screen at the Venice International Film Festival.

Early life

Peter Hegedüs was born in Budapest, Hungary and moved with his mother and his sister to Brisbane, Australia in 1991. In 1995, Hegedüs was accepted into the film program at the Queensland College of Art. At twenty-one, he produced and directed his first major project, a TV documentary, which marked the beginning of a professional career in filmmaking.

Professional career

Hegedüs' first film, ''Grandfathers and Revolutions (1999)'', was a TV documentary about his own grandfather. András Hegedüs is the ex-Prime Minister of Hungary, and he played a controversial role in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The documentary was produced and directed by Hegedüs for SBS TV Australia. The film won multiple awards and screened at international festivals, including the ''United Nations Association Film Festival (2000).''

In 2002, Hegedüs formed ''Soul Vision Films Pty Ltd''. The company has produced a variety of films with the philosophy of providing insight into the human condition. ''A Fisherman’s Story (2003)'', is an early film produced through the company, and is a Hungarian-Australian co-production based around the ecological disaster in Hungary in 2000. The film was shortlisted for the 2004 Academy Awards, along with a number of other international a accolades.

In 2004, Hegedüs made his first short drama, ''Redemption (2004)'', which captures the nine most important minutes of a man's life in a single take. The critically acclaimed film was screened at the annual conference of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty accompanying the documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore.

In the mid-2000s, Hegedüs started to expand his work and focus on social impact documentaries. He worked with major Australian not-for-profit foundations, such as the Micah Projects Inc. and the Australian Suicide Prevention Foundation.

Hegedüs co-produced, directed and wrote ''My America (2011)'', a feature documentary exploring an outsiders perspective on the American dream. ''My America'' received a favourable review by Richard Kuipers ina publication of ''Variety''. During the same year, Hegedüs made an observational documentary for ABC TV, ''The Trouble With St Mary’s (2011).'' This film follows the life of a Catholic priest who is sacked by the Vatican for unorthodox practices. The film was selected to compete in the inaugural BIFFDOCS competition at the Brisbane International Film Festival in 2011.

In 2012, Hegedüs wrote and directed the award-winning short film ''Welcome to the Lucky Country (2012)'', a dark comedy about the plight of asylum seekers in Australia. The film won the Audience Choice award at the Brisbane Backyard Film Festival and was picked up for educational distribution in Australia. Hegedüs featured as part of The Courier Mail's "Queensland’s 50 Best and Brightest People".

Hegedüs was commissioned in 2014 to create a series of short documentaries entitled ''Big Stories, Small Towns'', a selection of short films highlighting the personal stories of individuals in the town of Beaudesert, Queensland.

In 2016, Hegedüs produced and directed ''Éva (2016)'', a short documentary about Holocaust survivor Éva Fahidi. This film screened at the 2016 St Kilda Short Film Festival

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