Karlovy Vary-winning “Notebook” director’s “Bridge of Sighs” adds cast

PanARMENIAN.Net - Zsolt Nagy, Dorka Gryllus and Hegedus D. Geza are attached to star in “Bridge of Sighs”, the latest film from Janos Szasz, whose last pic “The Notebook” won best film at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, was short-listed for the foreign-language film Oscar and was released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics, Variety reports.

Nagy’s credits include Nimrod Antal’s “Kontroll” and Peter Bergendy’s “The Exam”; Gryllus has appeared in Fatih Akin’s “Soul Kitchen” and Sam Garbarski’s “Irina Palm”; and Geza was in Gyorgy Palfi’s films “Taxidermia” and “Free Fall.”

“Bridge of Sighs” is based on the true-life scandal that took place in 1925 Budapest. Butcher Ferenc Kudelka — the owner of the largest abattoir in Budapest — falls passionately in love with Mici Scwartz, a former prostitute who is the wife of a former police officer Gusztav Lederer. With the knowledge and assistance of her husband, Kudelka is able to spend hours of pleasure with Scwartz in return for a fee. At the same time, Lederer and his wife are stealing money from the butcher. As their greed grows, there is only one outcome — Kudelka has to disappear.

The screenplay is written by Szasz and Mark Bodzsar. The cinematographer is Tibor Mathe and the art director is Gabor Valcz. It is produced by Istvan Bodzsar for Unio Film. The movie received $1.7 million in production support granted by the Hungarian National Film Fund. International sales will be handled by HNFF World Sales.

Szasz’s films include “Woyzeck” (1993), which won the European Film Award for European film by a newcomer, and “The Witman Boys,” which played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes (1997). He won the director award at the Moscow Film Festival for “Opium – Diary of a Madwoman” (2007).