Son of Saul producers accuse German weekly of libel – UPDATE

Budapest, January 29 (MTI) – Producers of Hungarian Holocaust drama Son of Saul have accused German weekly Jüdische Allgemeine of having published an interview with director László Nemes Jeles containing fabricated answers.

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THE DIRECTOR OF SON OF SAUL SAYS MORE AND MORE STRANGE THINGS

The interview published on Jüdische Allgemeine’s website on Thursday has since been removed.

Producers of Son of Saul, nominated for an Academy Award, told MTI on Friday that the paper had promised them that it would soon publish a “corrected version” of the interview.

The interview was not recorded and the producers did not see a version of it until it was published on the website.

“Every single word attributed to me is slander,” Nemes Jeles told MTI.

The paper quoted the director as saying that he was surprised by the accolades his film received, but he is also “bored” by them and sees film festivals and award galas as “superficial” events.

“I made a film about the horrors of the Holocaust but there is nothing to celebrate about this,” the director was quoted as saying by Judische Allgemeine. The paper also quoted him as saying that the majority of Holocaust films, including Schindler’s List or La Vita e Bella, are “simply stupid” as they follow a Hollywood model, creating suspense and eliciting an emotional response from viewers, who are made to feel better after watching the film.

The paper said the film’s reception in Hungary was largely negative, which “did not surprise the director at all”. Nemes Jeles was quoted as saying that there are still a lot of Hungarians who hate Jews, and if they could they would reopen concentration camps “sooner rather than later”.

Asked about the West’s concerns over the rise of the extreme right in Hungary and how anti-Semitic the Orban government is, the director was quoted as saying that Hungary has been “playing with fire” for a long time, as certain politicians incite anti-Semitism while the Orbán government has resolutely stood up for the Jewish communities.

“You should know that Hungary is not a normal country. Its politicians and citizens even less so,” Jüdische Allgemeine quoted Nemes Jeles as saying.

UPDATE

The Jüdische Allgemeine published already the “corrected version” of the interview with László Nemes Jeles. The new interview contains no criticism Hungary, please read this new article in German HERE.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters