A concert film dedicated to Béla Bartók and directed by Imre Szabó Stein has won the Bronze Award at the prestigious New York Festivals TV & Film Awards.
The award was presented during a gala ceremony held Thursday night, according to a statement sent to MTI on Friday by the communications director of Concerto Budapest.
The film, produced in collaboration with conductor András Keller and the Concerto Budapest orchestra, premiered on Mezzo TV during the channel’s holiday programming late last year.
The production competed against hundreds of entries submitted by major television companies from more than 50 countries in the competition, which was founded in 1957. The Hungarian entry was nominated in the entertainment and performing arts category, where the top prize went to the Swiss public broadcaster for its production covering last year’s Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel. No second prize was awarded in the category this year.
The concert film was recorded during last autumn’s Bartók Festival, organized around András Keller’s artistic vision. It features innovative interpretations of Bartók’s one-act opera Bluebeard’s Castle and his Violin Concerto No. 2. The film also opens with excerpts from Bartók’s compositions Falun and Allegro Barbaro.
The statement also noted that the three-day Bartók Ünnep – Bartók for Europe festival, created by Concerto Budapest, did not receive support from Hungary’s National Cultural Fund despite being submitted as a major cultural project.
In addition to the bronze medal, another film directed by Imre Szabó Stein—featuring French pianist David Levy performing Dmitri Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues for Stingray Classica—received a Finalist Diploma.
The Bartók Festival also attracted significant international attention. All major concerts were broadcast live by The Violin Channel, while separate concert films were produced for medici.tv and Mezzo TV.
The Bartók film was co-directed by Katalin Gémes and András Komlós. The lead cinematographer was Gergely Czigány, while editing was handled by Márton Trenka and Attila Lecza. Music directors included Ibolya Tóth and Gusztáv Bárány, with Gergely Lakatos serving as co-producer. The production also involved the AVISO Studio of the Liszt Academy of Music.
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