{{Short description|Slovak film director (born 1973)}} {{Infobox person | name = Peter Kerekes | image = Peter Kerekes at 81st Venice International Film Festival.jpg | caption = Kerekes at 81st Venice Film Festival (2024) | birth_date = {{birth-date and age|3 April 1973}} | birth_place = Košice, Czechoslovakia | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = | occupation = Film director }}
'''Peter Kerekes''' (born 3 April 1973) is a Slovak film director, documentarist and screenwriter.
== Life and career == Born in Košice, the son of a television director, in 1998 Kerekes majored in documentary direction from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and in 2002 completed his doctorate.<ref name="aktuality">{{cite news |title=Peter Kerekes natočil film v ženskej väznici v Odese: Ako vníma vojnový konflikt na Ukrajine?|url=https://www.aktuality.sk/clanok/o2WiMKD/peter-kerekes-natocil-film-v-zenskej-vaznici-v-odese-ako-vnima-vojnovy-konflikt-na-ukrajine-podcast/ |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=Aktuality.sk |date=16 March 2022 |language=sk}}</ref><ref name="bio">{{cite news |last1=Trišč |first1=Matúš |title=Peter Kerekes - matador slovenského dokumentu a vynálezca jeho nových foriem |url=https://mojakultura.sk/peter-kerekes-matador-slovenskeho-dokumentu-a-vynalezca-jeho-novych-foriem/ |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=Moja kultúra |date=18 September 2024 |language=sk}}</ref>
After several student films and the television documentary ''Ladomírské Morytates and Legends'', in 2003 he directed the documentary film ''66 Seasons'', a portrait of Slovak history between 1936 and 2002 through the lens of the Košice Municipal Swimming Pool.<ref name="bio" /><ref name="TIDF">{{cite news |last1=Pei-hua |first1=Chung |title=More than two sides to each memory: Peter Kerekes and Viera Čákanyová |url=https://www.tidf.org.tw/en/reportsandarticle/134764 |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=TIDF |date=27 April 2024 |language=en}}</ref> The film won the best European documentary award at the 2003 Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, and the Best Director Award at the 2004 Docaviv.<ref name="awards">{{cite news |title=Péter Kerekes |url=https://www.docnomads.eu/people/494-peter-kerekes |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=DocNomads.eu}}</ref>
Following a five years production with shootings in 11 different European countries, his 2009 documentary film about military cooks ''Cooking History'' won several awards including the international feature prize at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, and got a nomination for the best documentary award at the 22nd European Film Awards.<ref name="awards" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Simon |first1=Alissa |title=Cooking History |url=https://variety.com/2009/film/markets-festivals/cooking-history-1200475680/ |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=Variety |date=12 August 2009}}</ref> His following film ''Velvet Terrorists'' (2013), a documentary about three Czechoslovak anti-communist activists he co-directed by Palo Pekar and Ivan Ostrochovsk, also won a string of awards including the Tagesspiegel Audience Prize at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival, and the Fedeora Award at the 48th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.<ref name="awards" />
In 2021, his film ''107 Mothers'' premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay, and was the Slovak entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.<ref name="var">{{cite news |last=Balaga |first=Marta |title=Venice Winner Péter Kerekes Returns to Lido With Astrology-Themed 'Wishing on a Star,' Debuts First Clip: 'Everyone's Looking for Love'|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/global/venice-peter-kerekes-wishing-on-a-star-clip-1236114870/ |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=Variety |date=22 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Anna |title=Int'l Critics Line: Slovakia's Oscar Submission '107 Mothers'|url=https://deadline.com/2021/11/107-mothers-film-review-slovakia-oscar-entry-international-critics-line-1234880665/ |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=Deadline |date=30 November 2021}}</ref> In 2024, Kerekes returned to the Venice Film Festival with the astrology-themed docudrama ''Wishing on a Star''.<ref name="var" /><ref name="rbr" /> The same year, he was awarded a Pribina Cross of Second Class.<ref name=rbr>{{cite news |last=Garaj |first=Patrik |title=Režisér Peter Kerekes: Ľudia majú veľkú potrebu rozprávať o sebe a odhaľovať sa, pretože sú pod obrovským tlakom |url=https://dennikn.sk/4267610/reziser-peter-kerekes-ludia-maju-velku-potrebu-rozpravat-o-sebe-a-odhalovat-sa-pretoze-su-pod-obrovskym-tlakom/ |access-date=10 May 2025 |work=Denník N |date=24 October 2024 |language=sk}}</ref>
==Selected filmography== * ''Cooking History'' (2009) * ''Velvet Terrorists'' (2013) * ''107 Mothers'' (2021) * ''Wishing on a Star'' (2024)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerekes, Peter}} Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:Slovak film directors Category:Slovak male screenwriters Category:Film directors from Košice Category:Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava alumni