In Remembrance: Pal Erdoss

     Pal Erdoss, the Hungarian film director whose first feature film The Princess won the Cannes Film Festival Golden Camera Award in 1983, has passed away on February 14, 2007 in Budapest, Hungary. He was 60.

     Born on February 9, 1947 in Budapest, Erdoss worked as a location scout and assistant director for Hungarian State Television before going into film. His first film, The Princess told the story of a teenage girl who travels from her country home to Budapest to work in a textile mill. It won the Cannes Film Festival’s Golden Camera Award, which is given to first-time directors.

     Erdoss preferred to concentrate on themes that explored Hungarian social problems and often championed the underdog. His other feature films include Countdown (1983), Tolerance (1986), A Light-Sensitive Story (1993) and Last Seen Wearing A Blue Skirt (1997). His final film, Lads Of Budakeszi chronicled the life of a young boy during the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising, screened the previous week at Budapest’s 38^th Hungarian Film Week.