Hungarian Oscar Winner Behind the Scenes

With a Hungarian Oscar in the Background

The name of a Hungarian winner was once again heard at the Academy Awards ceremony. Zsuzsa Mihalek’s name is not among the well-known actors, directors or composers. She received an Oscar, shared with the set decorator of the film Poor Things directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.

Around the age of 17, she decided to become a film director. In 1986, she applied for an internship in interior design at a film production company based on an advertisement published in the Expressz newspaper, and was offered the job. She then worked as an intern at the company with various set designers and decorators, and then worked independently from 1992 onwards. She has participated in numerous Hungarian films, starting with Pirates, The Chindlers and Samba, followed by London Rendezvous, Made in Hungária, Werckmeister Harmonies and Argo. She has also designed sets for international productions in Hungary, including Atomic Blonde and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Zsuzsa Mihalek has been working for the Budapest-based film production company Pioneer Production Kft. since around 2013-2014. She has also worked on many commercials, but does not consider this her favorite genre and prefers to work on feature films.

Zsuzsa Mihalek is not the first to receive an Oscar for interior design. In 2022, Zsuzsa Sipos, set decorator, won the Oscar for Best Production Design for her work on Dune, shared with production designer Patrice Vermette.

Zsuzsa Sipos has also worked on Blade Runner 2045, The Invitation and the sequel to Dune.

The Hungarian film industry is currently divided into three well-defined segments:

High-budget state-funded course films, e.g. Semmelweis (2.3 billion HUF), seen by 300,000 people by March 2024.

Independent films without state support, e.g. Explanation for Everything (35-40 million HUF).
Films that receive state tax breaks, which seems to be the most successful category for the film industry.

The recognition of Hungarian film professionals is a sign of this, as is the second Oscar win.

The set designer and the decorator work in two key roles in films that are closely related but have different responsibilities.

The set designer is responsible for creating the visual concept of the film, collaborates with the director, cinematographer and production designers to create the mood, style and aesthetics of the film, creates the visual plans of the film, including sets, costumes, makeup, cinematography and visual effects, and supervises the implementation of the visual elements during filming.

The set decorator is responsible for the execution of the sets on the set, procures the necessary materials and props, builds and furnishes the sets on the shooting locations, ensures the maintenance and repair of the sets during the shooting, and cooperates with the set designer and the director to meet the shooting requirements.

In essence, the set designer dreams up the visual concept of the film, while the set decorator realizes it on set.

The fact that set design and decoration are awarded in separate categories confirms that these two professions contribute significantly to the success of films, even though their practitioners are not in the spotlight every day.