Photography Pál Zolnay (Hungary, 1974)

(Fotográfia). “Photography is an unusual and unusually affecting merger of fascinating cinéma vérité footage and a thoughtful narrative structure” (Variety). Pál Zolnay, who is also known as a distinguished documentary filmmaker, weaves documentary and fiction together in this striking work about truth and photographic illusion. Zolnay casts two actors as traveling photographers wandering the back roads of Hungary, taking pictures of people “played” by nonactors. The photographers find that people adopt poses that do not reflect who they really are. Beautifully photographed, Photography reveals Zolnay’s true affection for his real-life subjects and surpasses one’s expectation that the film will be an intellectual Candid Camera. “Photography provokes serious thought about the nature of self-delusion, while never forgetting that people are still the most extraordinarily entertaining subject available to any filmmaker” (Variety).

—Susan Oxtoby

• Written by Zolnay, Orsolya Székely. Photographed by Elemér Ragályi. With István Iglôdi, Márk Zala, Ferenc Sebo. (80 mins, In Hungarian with English subtitles, B&W, 35mm, PFA Collection)