Barna Szász
Barna Szász
Documentary Film and Video
BA in Motion Picture, University of Theatre and Film Arts, Budapest, 2011
MFA in Documentary Film and Video, Stanford University, 2019
About
Barna Szász is a Budapest-born filmmaker, who moved to the U.S. in 2017 on a Fulbright and graduated in Stanford University’s M.F.A. Documentary Film program in 2019.
His documentary work was acquired by The Guardian, Staff Picked at Vimeo, screened at DOC NYC, DOK Leipzig, CPH:DOX, Big Sky, Atlanta IFF, Frameline, Outfest and other festivals. His video journalism work has been viewed by more than 1M viewers and has been shared by more than 100k. The short documentary Share (co-directed with Ellie Wen) was nominated for the Young Eyes Award at DOK Leipzig and won the InspirASIAN Award at CAAMFest, San Francisco. Currently, as a CPH:LAB fellow, he’s developing Kvöldvaka, a multi-sensory AR documentary that aims to redefine our relationship with nature, in the era of climate change.
Barna believes that important stories told well can make a great impact. This is why beyond story and dramaturgy he's also an enthusiastic explorer of forms old and new: besides documentary films, his Instagram is loaded with 35mm analogue photos, and his recent works include full scale, location-based live VR experiences as well as 360 documentaries. By thinking openly about form, his goal is to find emotion-driven, impactful, personal stories and present them in a form that best suits them.
Before moving to the U.S., Barna earned a BA in Motion Picture at his country's main film school, the University of Film and Theatre Arts, Budapest. Then he worked as video journalist and later as Head of Video at Index.hu, Hungary’s equivalent of The New York Times. As a lecturer he’s taught Video Journalism at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest, and in 2019 he taught 360 Video & VR at Stanford University, California.
Let's Talk?
HD video
June, 2019
Video Duration: 18:54 min.
Concerned by the growing political divide and the violent debates on his college campus, a student tries the impossible: to create dialogue between conservative and liberal students.
New Pilgrimage
HD video
May, 2018
Video Duration: 4:19 min.
There is a new place in the world where crowds march and collect relics. Will they reach enlightenment?
Share
HD video
Co-directed by Ellie Wen
March, 2018
Video Duration: 12:36 min.
An 18-year-old Instagram influencer attempts to reconcile his identity online with his identity in real life.
Awards, Festivals, and Screenings
InspirASIAN Student Film Award, CAAMFest, 2019
Nominee, Young Eyes Film Award, DOK Leipzig, 2018
Sehsüchte International Student Film Festival, 2019
Atlanta Film Festival, 2019
Salem Film Fest, 2019
Seattle Asian American Film Festival, 2019
Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, 2019
Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, 2018
DOC NYC, 2018
San Diego Asian Film Festival, 2018
United Nations Association Film Festival, 2018
Boston Asian American Film Festival, 2018
TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival, 2018
Eau Queer Film Festival, 2018
Outfest, 2018
Frameline Film Festival, 2018
The New Homeless
16mm Black & White film
December, 2017
Video Duration: 6:01 min.
A new phenomenon brings different classes of society on the same platform in Silicon Valley, and it is not Facebook.
