An Interview with Dori Kovásznai & Brigitta Iványi-Bitter PhD by Nicole Waldner
The spectacular rebirth of György Kovásznai’s films, three decades after his death, is a testament to the animation prodigy’s supreme talent, the woeful marginalisation he endured throughout his life, and the labour of love that was required to resurrect his reputation, his paintings and his films. Two of the people most instrumental in Kovásznai’s enduring and wondrous afterlife are the art historian and curator Brigitta Iványi-Bitter PhD, who wrote the encyclopaedic catalogue raisonné of his work (now in its third edition), and Dori Kovásznai the artist’s daughter. Through their ongoing collaborations they have secured Kovásznai’s rightful place in the pantheon of animation luminaries, but given his outsider status, and the fact that when he died in 1983 he was virtually unknown even in Hungary beyond a small circle of admirers, Kovásznai’s legacy was far from ever guaranteed.
QU:1 Dori, you were just two years old when your father died, so growing up you got to know him mostly through family lore and a few of his paintings that hung in your home. What kinds of stories did you hear about your father in your childhood? When did you first see his films? And what catalysed your desire to champion his work?
I was very little when my dad passed away and I don’t have any personal memories of him – so my only way of getting to know him was through recollections of friends and family and through his art. What really piqued my curiosity from a young age was the fact that people kept mentioning what a prolific artist my father had been and how he worked tirelessly until the very end – yet I only had access to a small number of his pictures and could only catch his films on state television occasionally. This was due to several things: for example, I was legally not in the position to act as his heir in any official capacity before my 18th birthday, which complicated things. Also, my dad had made his films as an employee of Hungary’s Pannonia Film Studio – meaning some of the film rights have always remained with the State.
All of the stories that I heard growing up would highlight my dad’s insatiable desire to create. He was relentless in his pursuit of the truth and couldn’t stop until he found the best form to convey the message he wanted to put across.
The celebrated Hungarian animation film maker Marcell Jankovics (who was a colleague of my father in the Pannónia Film Studio) always used to tell me how my dad had bolted from the hospital following his leukaemia diagnosis. He simply left and never returned, preferring to spend his remaining time painting day and night to sum up the experience of his life, including his painterly work. He didn’t tell anyone for a long time that he was working on a monumental series of paintings, which he made and kept in a separate part of his house that he had transformed into a studio. Only shortly before his death did he show these works to his friends in the form of a “guided tour”, when he discussed the meaning of his paintings.
Understanding my father more and more through stories like this catalysed in me a desire to explore his work in depth and I soon realized that being his only child (and heir), I was the only person who could make his fascinating legacy known to the world.
Reportrait - Kovásznai 2016
QU:2 During his lifetime Kovásznai was perpetually at the mercy of the censors and the haphazard way in which the notorious three Ts were applied to his work by the Communist cultural czars. The three Ts being: tiltott, tűrt and támogatott meaning banned, tolerated and supported. In spite of his marginalisation, Kovásznai’s work whilst not ever officially supported, was nevertheless backed by powerful art world figures who recognised his precocious talent early on, and worked to protect his films from the censors, ensuring he was given as much artistic autonomy as possible within the confines of the Communist dictatorship. Brigitta, can you tell us a little about who were some of these figures, how they helped Kovásznai and what if any influence did they have on the famously independent artist?
György Kovásznai's life was shaped by the constant tension between state censorship and challenging creative ideas, which came to be realized with the support he received from key individuals like Dezső Korniss and György Matolcsy. Despite the oppressive political environment to control artistic expression, these influential figures recognized Kovásznai's unique talent and provided him with the space, money and encouragement to continue his work.
Dezső Korniss, a prominent avant-garde artist and an important figure in Hungarian art history, became a mentor to Kovásznai. Although Korniss had himself been marginalized by the Communist regime, he was an intellectual beacon for the younger generation of artists. His experience in both Hungarian and Western avant-garde movements gave him the knowledge and authority to guide Kovásznai through the political and artistic landscape of the time. Korniss and Kovásznai collaborated on multiple experimental films, blending avantgarde visual language with innovative animation techniques. This intellectual partnership allowed Kovásznai to push boundaries while receiving the validation he needed from a respected artist.
György H. Matolcsy, the founding CEO of Pannonia Film Studio, played a more institutional role in supporting Kovásznai. While Pannonia Studio operated under the Communist-controlled system, Matolcsy understood the importance of giving artists like Kovásznai the chance to come up with something new for the adult audience. His position of power within the studio meant he could shield Kovásznai from some of the harsher censorship policies, allowing him to work on projects that might otherwise have been halted by the regime. Kovásznai began working at the Pannonia Studio in 1961 as a story editor and soon transitioned into a film director. Matolcsy’s support gave Kovásznai a safe space to experiment with his art.
Korniss and Matolcsy helped protect Kovásznai from complete suppression, offering him both intellectual and professional refuge. Their influence allowed him to explore his experimental ambitions in animation, pushing the limits of what was possible within the film industry of the Soviet satellite dictatorship.
QU:3 The Danube River and in particular bridges were an important, recurrent motif for Kovásznai throughout his work. There are the seven bridges that connect the historically separated towns of Buda and Pest that were all destroyed during World War Two, and as a young boy Kovásznai would have witnessed the colossal task of their reconstruction. There’s also this historical idea of Hungary being a geographic and cultural bridge between east and west Europe, which in many ways still holds true today. So the river, and bridges in particular manifested early on in Kovásznai’s work and were often a paean to his love of his hometown Budapest, as in his glorious Danube Riverbank series of paintings, that spanned the years 1965 to1974; or in his many films about the capital such as “The City Through My Eyes” (1971), or “Nights on the Boulevard” (1972), or “Memories of the Summer of ‘74” (1974). Other times bridges are deployed more metaphorically, as in his 1971 film “Wavelengths”, where they symbolise a yearning for freedom and to know more of the world than the snippets received from spinning the dial on a radio. But crucially, during Kovásznai’s life and afterlife key figures surrounded him that were also living bridges between generations. There was the brilliant Dezső Korniss who was a living bridge between the pre-war avant-garde and the post-war underground, and with whom Kovásznai collaborated on half a dozen groundbreaking animated films between 1963 and 1969. There was also the role of the Komlos family, both during Kovásznai’s lifetime and since; and then there is of course both you and Dori who represent a bridge between the world of 20th century Hungarian animation and the 21st century international animation scene. Brigitta, tell us about how living bridges have contributed to Kovásznai’s stunning posthumous debut/ afterlife? You are so right! Kovásznai loved Budapest, loved his native language and was yearning to learn from the older generations. Did you know that his favourite place to hang out was the Old Master’s Gallery in the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest? He even made a film about it with Korniss in the 1964 short titled “Young Man Playing the Guitar in the Old Masters Gallery”. The notion of "living bridges" in György Kovásznai’s life and afterlife indeed plays a significant role in how his work has been revived. Just as the physical bridges of Budapest symbolize the connection between past and present, East and West, the people who surrounded Kovásznai during his lifetime, and those who have worked to preserve his legacy, act as cultural bridges that have ensured his enduring influence.
One of the earliest and crucial "living bridges" in Kovásznai's career was Dezső Korniss, who connected the pre-war avant-garde with the post-war underground. Korniss acted as a mentor and collaborator, helping Kovásznai navigate the challenges of being an interdisciplinary artist in a period that largely discouraged creative boundary-crossing. Their collaborations in animation films between 1963 and 1969 were pioneering and demonstrated how new media could absorb the traditions of fine art. Korniss, a figure from a different generation, bridged Kovásznai’s work into the Hungarian modernist tradition.
The Komlós family, particularly during Kovásznai's life, played a crucial role in supporting him on a more personal and professional level. This connection acted as a bridge that connected Kovásznai to the content creators for TV and theatre.
In the past 2 decades, both me and Dori Kovásznai (who continues to advocate for his work) are contemporary "bridges" between the world of 20th-century Hungarian animation and the global 21st-century animation scene. Our dedication to uncovering, curating, and contextualizing Kovásznai’s oeuvre has helped position his contributions within a broader, international framework of animation and fine art. Our efforts have placed his work in dialogue with contemporary practices, so that his innovative spirit continues to inspire new generations.
This dynamic of being surrounded by "living bridges" — those who connected him with different artistic movements, media, and generations — is key to understanding Kovásznai's complex legacy. His afterlife, curated by me and many others, has transformed him from an outsider in his time into an important figure in the canon of Hungarian and European art.
Bubble Bath - Trailer
QU:4 Kovásznai was a consummate artist and auteur, a prodigious, prolific, perfectionist, and as Brigitta put it an “unclassifiable, solitary artist” whose work straddled film, painting, animation, documentary film, drawing, illustration and of course writing too: essays, plays, film scripts and even a novel. It’s as if Kovásznai was himself a living bridge between all of these genres that he so seamlessly integrated into his oeuvre, as if he were already a post-modernist before the term became ubiquitous, and at a time when genre boundaries were rigidly enforced by the authorities in Hungary. Since the 2010s Kovásznai’s work has been shown extensively internationally. Brigitta, what kinds of challenges has Kovásznai’s eclecticism posed in museum settings? Is this different to his reception in the animation world?
György Kovásznai’s eclecticism poses unique challenges in both museum settings and the animation world, largely because of his interdisciplinary approach, which was ahead of its time. As an experimental artist who worked across diverse mediums—film, painting, animation, drawing, writing, and more — Kovásznai defied categorization. This "unclassifiable" nature has made it difficult to present his work within traditional, genre-bound frameworks.
In curating Kovásznai's posthumous exhibitions, one of the primary challenges has been to convey the totality of his oeuvre without diluting its complexity. Museums are typically structured to showcase either visual art or cinematic works, and Kovásznai’s output, which seamlessly integrates both, resists this division. His paintings, for instance, are not separate from his animated films but deeply interconnected, with themes, stylistic elements, and visual techniques overlapping between them. To present his work effectively, curators must make exhibitions that showcase the interplay between these different forms. This requires innovative curatorial strategies, such as the use of multimedia installations that allow viewers to engage with both his paintings and his animations in a cohesive experience.
In the animation world, Kovásznai is better recognized as a pioneering figure, yet even here, his eclecticism can pose challenges. While he’s celebrated as a groundbreaking animation film director, the animation industry often focuses narrowly on genre-based achievements, but Kovásznai’s work transcends these boundaries. His films, influenced by the history of art, do not always fit into the traditional categories of animation.
The reception of his work since the 2010s, shows growing recognition of Kovásznai’s interdisciplinary genius. His eclecticism, once a challenge, is now seen as a defining trait of his visionary lifework.
György Kovásznai: Tales from the World of Art (1965) QU:5 Dori, you’ve said that you grew up through the collection, and because of it. Although your father died when you were very little, it’s as if he’s always been present for you through his work. Can you tell us a little bit more about that, and also about your father’s reburial in 2023 and what that meant to you? I realized very quickly that representing and championing my father’s estate would be an enormous task and I would need allies along the way. Initially we didn’t even have a catalogue of his works (we are talking about more than 2200 paintings and drawings in addition to his films), so we spent years putting this together and creating a narrative around my dad’s legacy. The research was led by art historian Brigitta Iványi-Bitter who did an incredible job. She helped weave a comprehensive story from the various threads of the Kovásznai oeuvre, which made my father’s “posthumous debut” possible in the Hungarian and international art scene. Although my dad had always been there for me through his work, I was only able to develop a deeper, complex understanding of it through the professional lens that Brigitta’s contribution provided. My other long-standing ally and supporter of the Kovásznai project was György Matolcsy (senior) who was my father’s friend and the director of the Pannónia Film Studio where my dad made his films. Matolcsy helped me establish a group of sponsors, art professionals, academics and curators who have supported the promotional work throughout the years. I feel very fortunate to have been able to share this journey with so many brilliant people over the years – and made so many friends along the way. It’s great to see how our collective efforts have come to fruition. Today György Kovásznai is considered a national treasure in Hungary, while he’s also celebrated as a pioneering animation artist worldwide.
As the national and international recognition of my dad’s work has grown, I increasingly felt the need to “move him to a final resting place” that is worthy of his memory. The backstory here is the following: the same way my father had hidden his illness from the world, he also “kept his death very private”. When he died, he was buried in secret in an obscure corner of Budapest’s Farkasréti Cemetery — even without his friends and most of his family in attendance. Last year when I arranged my father’s reburial, I wanted to rectify this: by moving him to a beautiful part of the same cemetery where the nation’s greatest artists lay. The reburial was also an opportunity for his friends, family, and admirers to say their goodbyes - and celebrate his incredible legacy. It warms my heart that my father is now where he truly belongs, among his friends and peers. His final resting place is very close to the graves of Piroska Szántó (painter and my father’s beloved art teacher) and Ágnes Nemes-Nagy (poet and close friend of my dad’s.) QU: 6 Brigitta, you are currently teaching courses using Kovásznai’s oeuvre as an example of how to fuse many different elements, among them folk art, art history, art theory and contemporary filmmaking using AI tools. Please tell us a little about this new take on Kovásznai’s lifework.
In my current courses, I use Kovásznai’s work to show how different elements like analogue animation, folk art, art history, and art theory can come together with new tools, such as AI. We focus on making AI remakes of his work using text-to-image and text-to-video technology, which I’ve developed through my own experience in coding and building AI apps. These projects help students learn how to clearly describe what they see using art history terms. At the same time, we look at Kovásznai’s work through the lens of cultural studies, seeing how his art connects with bigger cultural and artistic trends. The workshops are a fun way for students to experiment with his styles, blending old and new techniques just like he did.
György Kovásznai: Memories of the Summer of '74 (1974) QU:7 Dori, can you tell us what’s happening in honour of your father’s 90th anniversary? I believe it’s also an important year for Hungarian animation as 2024 marks its 110th anniversary.
The celebrations for my father’s 90th anniversary started at the end of last year. The Budapest Metropolitan University hosted a spectacular exhibition of Kovásznai’s animation films and paintings between November 2023 and February 2024. The exhibition attracted widespread media interest and was organized in collaboration with the Hungarian National Film Archive, the Pallas Athéné Domus Meriti Foundation and MNB Arts and Culture (which manages the Hungarian National Bank’s art collection.) The exhibition was accompanied by film screenings, guided tours and a Kovásznai Masterclass in Hungarian and English — which were all very well received. Kovásznai’s long lost, but recently found 1966 short film, The Thought also premiered during the Masterclass. As a continuation of the exhibition, Brigitta (who was the curator of the show) is now teaching a course about Kovásznai’s oeuvre at the Metropolitan university.
Another birthday present was the US release of my dad’s feature film, Habfürdő (Bubble Bath) in collaboration with Deaf Crocodile Films. This follows the recent EU release of the film by Extralucid Films in France.
2024 also happens to be the 110th anniversary of Hungarian Animation Film and we’ve been working with the Hungarian National Film Archive on a series of initiatives to celebrate this milestone. The newly released www.magyaranimacio.hu webpage is designed to show the world Hungary’s wonderful animation film heritage and there have been many celebratory film screenings, festivals, and events throughout the year. The Budapest Classics Film Marathon in September 2024 also had a Hungarian Animation focus — featuring animation classics, including my father’s films and some very exciting special treats as well. For example, at the opening ceremony we were showcasing the “Bubble Bath Collection” — our collaboration with Hungarian designer brand Artista Fashion, featuring designs from Kovásznai’s films.
I’m so proud of all our achievements so far, but I feel there is always more to do when it comes to promoting the legacy of Kovásznai. One of my long-held dreams is to publish my father’s vast collection of writing, which we can hopefully do over the coming years. It would be also great to release the music of Bubble Bath digitally, as well as on vinyl.
In 2011, Brigitta curated a groundbreaking exhibition at the Fine Arts Museum in Budapest which showcased Kovásznai’s work alongside the great William Kentridge. I’d like to end this piece with a Kentridge quote about Kovásznai, followed by two Kovásznai quotes, both of which encapsulate his profound love of animation, and the centrality of art to life. The spectacular afterlife of the Hungarian animation prodigy György Kovásznai is proof positive that universality in art is created not from geopolitical centres, or from global aesthetic tendencies, but rather their opposite: specificity in time and space, coupled with a fiercely independent spirit and blazing originality:
“Seeing Kovásznai what felt very familiar was the impetus and the essentialness and the emergency of making. That it felt like an emergency. That work has to be made non-stop. …whether it is in charcoal, or thick oil paint, whether it is a view of Johannesburg or Budapest, that seems secondary to the pressure for making, and the excess of making. Seeing his work my immediate thought was I want to be back in the studio making something. There was kind of a collegial fury of creation which is the main thing that I got from him.”
William Kentridge
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“Perception in terms of movement is a life philosophy.”
“… the ultimate sense of every culture is that it provides shelter and protection.”
György Kovásznai
Dori Kovásznai graduated from the Corvinus University of Budapest in 2006, earning an MSc in Economics. In 2010 she completed her MSc in Information Systems Management at the London School of Economics and has worked in the financial services and technology sector ever since. Based out of London, she is responsible for the international promotion of György Kovásznai’s estate: www.kovasznai.org
www.facebook.com/Kovasznai.Official Brigitta Iványi-Bitter PhD has over two decades of interdisciplinary experience, Brigitta is a creative producer and curator specializing in documentary and animation films, as well as large-scale museum and gallery exhibitions. Her portfolio includes producing over 500 minutes of animated and documentary films and curating more than 20 major exhibitions. As an academic with more than 5 years of teaching experience, she has earned a reputation for excellence in critical approaches to art and film history. Currently a sessional instructor for university courses, Brigitta integrates avant-garde and contemporary art with the latest AI tools in her teaching, focusing on areas such as experimental filmmaking and new media art. A co-founder of Animatr AI Video Platform, she is at the forefront of innovation in AI-based text-to-video technology. Her creative production work includes the internationally recognized animated series “Candide” and the 8-episode documentary series “Animated Ads Behind the Iron Curtain.” In addition to producing animated and documentary content, Brigitta has written a critically acclaimed monograph on Hungarian experimental animator György Kovásznai, and she has curated major exhibitions such as the first retrospective show of György Kovásznai, a show on critical perspective on Hungarian arthouse films in the 2000s titled "Freedom of Experimentation" and “ I am not me…” - a solo show for William Kentridge. Holding a PhD in Film, Media, and Cultural Studies, alongside dual MAs in Art History and Law, Brigitta has lectured at leading institutions like MOME in Budapest, the Royal College of Art in London and the University of Technology Sydney. Fluent in both English and Hungarian, she continues to contribute significantly to the intersection of art, media, and technology.
Nicole Waldner is a writer with a special interest in 20th century Hungarian culture. Publications include The FT Life & Arts, Lilith, Majuscule Lit and Agenda Poetry:
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