# List of Hungarian Academy Award winners and nominees

This is a list of Academy Award winners and nominees born in Hungary or as Hungarians according to Hungarian nationality law-people who hold Hungarian citizenship acquired by descent from a Hungarian parent or by naturalisation.

## Best Director

Director :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes |
| 1935 | Michael Curtiz | Captain Blood | Nominated | |
| 1938 | Michael Curtiz | Angels with Dirty Faces | Nominated | |
| 1938 | Michael Curtiz | Four Daughters | Nominated | |
| 1942 | Michael Curtiz | Yankee Doodle Dandy | Nominated | |
| 1943 | Michael Curtiz | Casablanca | Won | |
| 1964 | George Cukor | My Fair Lady | Won | US-born |

## Best Actor in a Leading Role

Best Actor :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1932-33 | Leslie Howard | Berkeley Square | Nominated | László Steiner, UK-born |
| 1938 | Leslie Howard | Pygmalion | Nominated | Co-directed by Leslie Howard Produced by Gabriel Pascal |
| 1943 | Paul Lukas | Watch on the Rhine | Won | Was against possible communist influences in Hollywood. |
| 1945 | Cornel Wilde | A Song to Remember | Nominated | Dir:Charles Vidor, music:Miklós Rózsa |
| 1958 | Tony Curtis* | The Defiant One | Nominated | Hungarian speaker. Mother Helen Klein b. in Valkó |
| 1986 | Paul Newman* | The Color of Money | Won | 3/4-Hungarian |
| 2002 | Adrien Brody* | The Pianist | Won | Hungarian mother |
| 2024 | Adrien Brody* | The Brutalist | Won | Hungarian mother |
"*"=US-born

## Best Actress in a Leading Role

Best Leading Actress :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1971 | Ali MacGraw | Love Story | Nominated | Hungarian mother, US-born |
"*"= US-born

## Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Best Supporting Actress :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1969 | Goldie Hawn* | Cactus Flower | Won | Hungarian mother, US-born |
| 2005 | Rachel Weisz | The Constant Gardener | Won | Hungarian father, UK-born |
| 2022 | Jamie Lee Curtis* | Everything Everywhere All at Once | Won | Hungarian father Tony Curtis, US-born |
"*"= US-born

## Best Short Subject

Best Short Subject :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1934 | Jules White | Men in Black | Nominated | Born as Gyula Weisz in Budapest |
| 1935 | Jules White | Oh, My Nerves | Nominated | Born as Gyula Weisz in Budapest |
| 1939 | Michael Curtiz | Sons of Liberty | Won | |
| 1945 | Jules White | The Jury Goes Round 'N' Round | Nominated | |
| 1946 | Jules White | Hiss and Yell | Nominated | |

## Best Documentary (Long Subject)

Best Documentary Feature Film :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1977 | Robert Dornhelm | The Children of Theatre Street | Nominated | Born in Temesvár.Hungarian-Jewish father. Mother a German speaker. |
| 1993 | Chris Hegedus | The War Room | Nominated |
| 2000 | Kevin MacDonald | One Day In September | Won | Hungarian citizen/grand-father Imre Pressburger |
| 2018* | Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi | Free Solo | Won | Hungarian father |
| 2019 | Steven Bognar* | American Factory | Won | Hungarian father (Escaped 1956) |
* = US-born

## Best Documentary (Short Subject)

Best Short Subject :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1965 | Mafilm | Overture | Nominated | |
| 1966 | Mafilm | Saint Matthew Passion | Nominated | |
| 1969 | Joan Horvath | Jenny Is a Good Thing | Nominated | |
| 1971 | Robert Amram | Sentinels of Silence | Won | Shared with Manuel Arango |
| 1975 | Steven Kovacs | Artur and Lillie | Nominated | Shared with Jon Else and Kristine Samuelson |
| 1979 | Phillip Borsos | Nails | Nominated | |
| 2009 | Steven Bognar | The Last Truck | Nominated | Hungarian father (Escaped 1956) |

## Best Picture

Best Picture :
| Year | Producer | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1927-28 | William Fox (producer) | Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans | Won | Directed by F. W. Murnau |
| 1932-33 | Alexander Korda | The Private Life of Henry VIII | Nominated | |
| 1938 | Gabriel Pascal | Pygmalion | Nominated | Born in Arad, Arad County |
| 1968 | Paul Newman | Rachel, Rachel | Nominated | |
| 1993 | Branko Lustig | Schindler's List | Won | Parents Hungarian Jews from Újvidék |
| 1999 | Frank Darabont | The Green Mile | Nominated | |
| 2000 | Branko Lustig | Gladiator | Won | Parents Hungarian Jews from Újvidék |
| 2009 | Ivan Reitman | Up in the Air | Nominated | Hungarian Jew from Komárom |
| 2012 | Margaret Menegoz (born Baranyai) | Amour | Nominated | Most EFA-awarded Hungarian: 3 wins/4 nominations (out of ca 16 wins) |

## Best Adapted Screenplay

Best Adapted Screenplay :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1930-31 | Francis Edward Faragoh | Little Caesar | Nominated | |
| 1937 | Geza Herczeg [de] | The Life of Emile Zola | Won | |
| 1942 | Emeric Pressburger | 49th Parallel | Nominated | |
| 1948 | Frank Partos | The Snake Pit | Nominated | |
| 1971 | Ernest Tidyman | The French Connection | Won | Hungarian mother |
| 1994 | Frank Darabont | The Shawshank Redemption | Nominated | (Parents escaped 1956.) |
| 1999 | Frank Darabont | The Green Mile | Nominated | |

## Best Original Screenplay

Best Original Screenplay :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1927-28 | Lajos Bíró | The Last Command | Nominated | Born in Nagyvárad |
| 1940 | János Székely | Arise, My Love | Won | |
| 1942 | Emeric Pressburger | One of Our Aircraft Is Missing | Nominated | Born in Miskolcz |
| 1949 | Robert Pirosh* | Battleground | Won | US-born |
| 1951 | Robert Pirosh* | Go for Broke! | Nominated | US-born |
| 2015 | Dan Gilroy* | Nightcrawler | Nominated | US-born, mother HUN |
* = US-born

## Best Original Story

Best Story :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1937 | Geza Herczeg [de] | The Life of Emile Zola | Nominated | Born in Nagykanizsa |
| 1939 | Melchior Lengyel | Ninotchka | Nominated | |
| 1942 | Emeric Pressburger | 49th Parallel | Won | Most awarded Hungarian in screenplay categories: 1 AA out of 4 nominations. |
| 1945 | László Görög | The Affairs of Susan | Nominated | Shared with Thomas Monroe |
| 1948 | Emeric Pressburger | The Red Shoes | Nominated | Born in Miskolcz. |
| 1950 | André de Toth | The Gunfighter | Nominated | Shared with William Bowers |

## Best Dance Direction

Academy Award for Best Dance Direction :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1935 | Dave Gould | Folies Bergère de Paris | Won | Born as Dezsö Guttman in Cigánd |
| 1935 | Dave Gould | Broadway Melody of 1936 | Won | |
| 1936 | Dave Gould | Born to Dance | Nominated | |
| 1937 | Dave Gould | A Day at the Races | Nominated | |

## Best Art Direction

Best Art Direction :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1932–33 | William S. Darling | Cavalcade | Won | Born in Sandorháza, Banat, Transylvania; Kingdom of Hungary as Vilmos Sándorházy |
| 1936 | William S. Darling | Lloyd's of London | Nominated | |
| 1937 | William S. Darling | Wee Willie Winkie | Nominated | |
| 1939 | William S. Darling | The Rains Came | Nominated | |
| 1940 | Vincent Korda | The Thief of Bagdad | Won | Color |
| 1940 | Paul Groesse | Pride and Prejudice | Won | Black & White |
| 1941 | Vincent Korda | That Hamilton Woman | Nominated | |
| 1942 | Vincent Korda | Jungle Book | Nominated | |
| 1943 | Paul Groesse | Madame Curie | Nominated | |
| 1943 | William S. Darling | The Song of Bernadette | Won | shared with James Basevi |
| 1945 | William S. Darling | The Keys of the Kingdom | Nominated | |
| 1946 | William S. Darling | Anna and the King of Siam | Won | Black & White, shared with Lyle R. Wheeler |
| 1946 | Paul Groesse | The Yearling | Won | Color |
| 1949 | Paul Groesse | Little Women | Won | |
| 1950 | Paul Groesse | Annie Get Your Gun | Nominated | |
| 1951 | Paul Groesse | Too Young to Kiss | Nominated | |
| 1952 | Paul Groesse | The Merry Widow | Nominated | |
| 1953 | Paul Groesse | Lili | Nominated | |
| 1952 | Marcel Vertès | Moulin Rouge | Won | |
| 1959 | Joseph Kish | Journey to the Center of the Earth | Nominated | |
| 1960 | Alexandre Trauner | The Apartment | Won | |
| 1962 | Paul Groesse | The Music Man | Nominated | |
| 1962 | Vincent Korda | The Longest Day | Nominated | |
| 1963 | Paul Groesse | Twilight of Honor | Nominated | |
| 1966 | Paul Groesse | Mister Buddwing | Nominated | |
| 1965 | Joseph Kish | The Slender Thread | Nominated | |
| 1965 | Joseph Kish | Ship of Fools | Won | |
| 1976 | Alexandre Trauner | The Man Who Would Be King | Nominated |
| 2021 | Zsuzsanna Sipos | Dune | Won | won BAFTA |
| 2023 | Zsuzsa Mihalek | Poor Things | Won | won BAFTA |

## Best Costume Design

Costume Design :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes |
| 1952 | Marcel Vertès | Moulin Rouge | Won | |

## Best Makeup

Makeup :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes |
| 1985 | Zoltan Elek | Mask | Won | |

## Best International Feature film

Best International Feature Film :
| Year | Film | Director | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1956 | The Captain from Köpenick (for Western Germany) | Gyula Trebitsch (producer) | Nominated (for West Germany) | Co-producer for Germany |
| 1966 | The Shop on Main Street (for Czechoslovakia) | Jan Kadar (Born in Budapest as János Kádár) | Won (for Czechoslovakia) | Shared with Elmar Klos |
| 1964 | Sallah Shabati (for Israel) | Ephraim Kishon (Born in Budapest as Ferenc Hoffman) | Nominated (for Israel) | First ever Israeli film in category Best Foreign Film |
| 1971 | The Policeman (for Israel) | Ephraim Kishon | Nominated (for Israel) | |
| 1968 | The Boys of Paul Street | Zoltán Fábri | Nominated | |
| 1974 | Cats' Play | Károly Makk | Nominated | |
| 1978 | Hungarians | Zoltán Fábri | Nominated | |
| 1978 | Madame Rosa (for France) | Jean Bolvary co-producer | Won (For France) | For France |
| 1980 | Confidence | István Szabó | Nominated | |
| 1981 | Mephisto | István Szabó | Won | |
| 1983 | Job's Revolt | Imre Gyöngyössy and Barna Kabay | Nominated | |
| 1985 | Colonel Redl | István Szabó | Nominated | |
| 1988 | Hanussen | István Szabó | Nominated | |
| 2004 | Ondskan (for Sweden) | Mikael Håfström | Nominated (for Sweden) | Hungarian mother from Pozsony |
| 2014 | The Notebook | Janos Szász | Shortlisted | |
| 2015 | Son of Saul | László Nemes | Won | |
| 2017 | On Body and Soul | Ildikó Enyedi | Nominated | |
| 2019 | Those Who Remained | Barnabás Tóth | Shortlisted | |

## Best Cinematography

Best Cinematography :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes |
| 1941 | Rudolph Maté | Foreign Correspondent | Nominated | |
| 1942 | Rudolph Maté | That Hamilton Woman | Nominated | Dir: Alexander Korda Music: Miklós Rózsa |
| 1943 | Rudolph Maté | The Pride of the Yankees | Nominated | |
| 1944 | Rudolph Maté | Sahara | Nominated | Directed by Korda. Music by Rózsa. |
| 1945 | Rudolph Maté | Cover Girl | Nominated | Shared with Allen M. Davey Director: Charles Vidor |
| 1951 | John Alton | An American in Paris | Won | Born as János/Johann Altmann in Sopron Color. Shared with Alfred Gilks |
| 1960 | Ernest Laszlo | Inherit the Wind | Nominated | Music by 1/2- Hungarian Gold. |
| 1961 | Ernest Laszlo | Judgment at Nuremberg | Nominated | Music by Ernest Gold. |
| 1963 | Ernest Laszlo | It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World | Nominated | |
| 1965 | Ernest Laszlo | Ship of Fools | Won | Black-and-White |
| 1966 | Ernest Laszlo | Fantastic Voyage | Nominated | |
| 1968 | Ernest Laszlo | Star! | Nominated | |
| 1970 | Ernest Laszlo | Airport | Nominated | |
| 1976 | Ernest Laszlo | Logan's Run | Nominated | |
| 1977 | Vilmos Zsigmond | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Won | |
| 1978 | Vilmos Zsigmond | The Deer Hunter | Nominated | |
| 1984 | Vilmos Zsigmond | The River | Nominated | |
| 2001 | Lajos Koltai | Malèna | Nominated | |
| 2006 | Vilmos Zsigmond | The Black Dahlia | Nominated | |

## Best Animated Short film

Best Animated Short Film :
| Year | Name | Film | Status |
| 1941 | George Pal | Rhythm in the Ranks | Nominated |
| 1942 | George Pal | Tulips Shall Grow | Nominated |
| 1943 | George Pal | The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins | Nominated |
| 1944 | George Pal | And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street | Nominated |
| 1945 | George Pal | Jasper and the Beanstalk | Nominated |
| 1946 | George Pal | John Henry and the Inky-Poo | Nominated |
| 1947 | George Pal | Tubby the Tuba | Nominated |
| 1963 | Jules Engel | Icarus Montgolfier Wright | Nominated |
| 1964 | John Halas | Automania 2000 | Nominated |
| 1975 | Peter Foldes | Hunger | Nominated |
| 1976 | Marcell Jankovics | Sisyphus | Nominated |
| 1980 | Ferenc Rofusz | The Fly | Won |
| 2007 | Géza M. Tóth | Maestro | Nominated |
| 2014 | Réka Bucsi | Symphony no.42 | Shortlisted |
| 2023 | Flóra Anna Buda | 27 | Shortlisted |

## Best Live Action Short film

Best Live Action Short Film :
| Year | Director | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1963 | Istvan Szabo | Concert | Nominated | |
| 1971 | Robert Amram | Sentinels of Silence | Won | Shared with Manuel Arango |
| 2016 | Kristóf Deák | Sing | Won | |

## Best Original Score

Best Original Music Score :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1935 | Max Steiner | The Informer | Won | Father Gábor was born in Temesvár, Kingdom of Hungary. |
| 1936 | Max Steiner | The Garden of Allah | Nominated | |
| 1938 | Max Steiner | Jezebel | Nominated | |
| 1939 | Max Steiner | Dark Victory | Nominated | |
| 1939 | Max Steiner | Gone With the Wind | Nominated | |
| 1940 | Miklós Rózsa | The Thief of Baghdad | Nominated | Producer: Alexander Korda |
| 1941 | Miklós Rózsa | Lydia | Nominated | |
| 1941 | Miklós Rózsa | Sundown | Nominated | |
| 1942 | Miklós Rózsa | Jungle Book | Nominated | |
| 1943 | Max Steiner | Now, Voyager | Won | |
| 1944 | Miklós Rózsa | Double Indemnity | Nominated | |
| 1944 | Miklós Rózsa | The Woman of the Town | Nominated | |
| 1944 | Karl Hajos | Summer Storm | Nominated | |
| 1945 | Karl Hajos | The Man Who Walked Alone | Nominated | |
| 1945 | Leo Erdody | The Minstrel Man | Nominated | |
| 1945 | Max Steiner | Since You Went Away | Won | |
| 1945 | Miklós Rózsa | Spellbound | Won | |
| 1945 | Miklós Rózsa | The Lost Weekend | Nominated | |
| 1945 | Miklós Rózsa | A Song to Remember | Nominated | |
| 1946 | Miklós Rózsa | The Killers | Nominated | |
| 1947 | Miklós Rózsa | Double Life | Won | |
| 1951 | Miklós Rózsa | Quo Vadis | Nominated | |
| 1952 | Miklós Rózsa | Ivanhoe | Nominated | |
| 1953 | Miklós Rózsa | Julius Caesar | Nominated | |
| 1959 | Miklós Rózsa | Ben-Hur | Won | |
| 1961 | Miklós Rózsa | El Cid | Nominated | |
| 1961 | Ernest Gold Schurmann orchestrated (both 1⁄2 Hungarians) | Exodus | Won | Ernest Gold's paternal grandmother: Jaiteles/Szmetan from Szeged and his maternal grandmother:(Sprung/Slazka) from Temesvár (Spitzer/Gross) from Budapest |
| 1963 | Oscar to Jarre but Gerard Schurmann orchestrated | Lawrence of Arabia | {won} (association to only) | Hungarian mother studied with Béla Bartók |

## Best Film Editing

Best Film Editing :
| Year | Director | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 2024 | Dávid Jancsó | The Brutalist | Nominated | First Hungarian nominated for Best Film Editing |

## Technical and scientific

Technical/Scientific Awards :
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Milestone / Notes |
| 1941 | Joe Lapis | | Nominated | Best special effects |
| 1944 | George Pal | | Won | For the development of novel methods and techniques in the production of short subjects known as Puppetoons |
| 1949 | Steve Csillag | | Won | |
| 1950 | George Pal Productions | Destination Moon | Won | Academy Award for Best Visual Effects |
| 1951 | George Pal (produced by) | When Worlds Collide | Won | Special Achievements Award |
| 1953 | George Pal (produced by) | The War of the Worlds | Won | Academy Award for Best Visual Effects |
| 1985 | Chuck Gaspar* | Ghostbusters | Nominated | shared Technical Award (cinematography:László Kovács direction: Ivan Reitman) |
| 1988 | Dr.Antal Lisziewicz | | Won | Dr. Antal Lisziewicz and Glenn M. Berggren of ISCO-OPTIC GmbH for the design and development of the Ultra-Star series of motion picture lenses. |
| 1992 | Robert Orban?* | | Won | Scientific and Technical Award (Scientific and Engineering Award). To Claus Wiedemann and Robert Orban for the design and Dolby Laboratories for the development of the Dolby Labs “Container”/Orban is a Hungarian surname, but not exclusively |
| 1996 | Attila Szalay | | Won | shared Scientific & Technical Award |
| 1998 | Bill Kovacs* | | Won | The Advanced Visualizer Scientific & Technical Award |
| 2004 | Gyula Mester | | Won | GYULA MESTER (electronic systems design) and KEITH EDWARDS (mechanical engineering) for their significant contributions to and continuing development of the Technocrane telescoping camera crane. |
| 2010 | Márk Jászberényi, Perlaki and Gyula Priskin | | Won | For their contributions to the development of the Lustre color correction system, which enables real-time digital manipulation of motion picture imagery during the digital intermediate process. |
| 2014 | Tibor Madjar, Imre Major and Csaba Kőhegyi | | Won | To Andrew Camenisch, David Cardwell and Tibor Madjar for the concept and design, and to Csaba Kohegyi (from Nyíregyháza) and Imre Major (from Hajdúböszörmény) for the implementation of the Mudbox software. |
| 2014 | Chuck Gaspar* | | Won | (shared) As Technical Achievement Award |
| 2021 | Attila T. Áfra | | Won | shared |
| 2023 | Christopher Jon Horvath* | | Won | Hungarian family name |
| 2024 | Attila T. Áfra | | Won | shared |
| 40s? | Béla Gáspár | 1st full color one-strip film | {won} ? | Patents sold to Technicolor, 3M and reputedly included in AA wins |
* = US-born

## Honorary Award

Academy Honorary Award :
| Year | Name | Status | Notes |
| 1949 | Adolph Zukor | Won | Hungarian-Jewish, buried in the flag of Kingdom of Hungary |
| 1979 | King Vidor | Won | US-born |
| 1986 | Paul Newman | Won | 3/4-Hungarian, mother born in Peticse, Kingdom of Hungary |

### Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

This list focuses on recipients of Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award :
| Year | Name | Country | Awarded | Status | Milestone/Notes |
| 1939 | Joe Pasternak | | 43rd Academy Awards | Nominated | Born in Szilágysomlyó, Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary |

## Jean Hersholt Award

Jean Hersholt Award :
| Year | Name | Status | Notes |
| 1993 | Paul Newman | Won | 3/4-Hungarian, mother born in Peticse, Kingdom of Hungary |