Szabó is one of the most notable Hungarian filmmakers and one who has been best known outside the Hungarian-speaking world since the late 1960s. István Szabó's films are based on the tradition of the European auteurism that represent many aspects of the political and psychological conflicts of Central Europe's recent history often inspired by his own personal biography. He made his debut as a student in 1959, creating a short film at the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest, and his first feature film was released in 1964.
He achieved his greatest international success with Mephisto (1981) for which he was awarded an Oscar in the best foreign language film category. Since then, most of Szabó's films have been international co-productions made in a variety of languages. His films are shot in European locations. However, he continues to make films in Hungarian, and even in his international co-productions he prefers to choose Hungary for filming locations, relying on Hungarian talents in the making. In 2006, Szabó stirred controversy when a weekly Hungarian magazine called Élet és Irodalom (Life and Literature in English) published an article about that he had been an informant to the communist regime's secret service.
Born to Mária Szabó (née Vita) and István Szabó who was a doctor, in Budapest. The father's side of his family had a long tradition of choosing a career in medicine. His family is of Jewish origin that converted to catholicism. Even so, the Arrow Cross Party still considered them Jews before the end of WW II. Regent Miklós Horthy declared that Hungary had quit the war, seeking an armistice with belligerent countries. As a result, the Arrow Cross Party rose to power with the support of the Nazi Germany, and his family had to split up and take refuge to escape persecution. Szabó made it through the war, hiding in an orphanage, but his father died of diphtheria shortly after the German defeat. Later on, his films draw heavily on these memories of his childhood.

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