The European Film Academy shared that Tarr died Monday after “a long and serious illness.”

Béla Tarr, Hungarian director behind arthouse films like Sátántangó, dies at 70

The European Film Academy shared that Tarr died Monday after "a long and serious illness."

By Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre

Mekishana Pierre is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2025. Her work has previously appeared on *Entertainment Tonight* and Popsugar.

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January 6, 2026 12:22 p.m. ET

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Bela Tarr in 2024. Credit:

David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty

Béla Tarr, the celebrated Hungarian filmmaker known for his darkly distinctive films like *Sátántangó* and *Damnation*, has died. He was 70.

The European Film Academy, of which Tarr had been a member since 1997, announced his death in a news release published on Tuesday. Although a cause of death wasn't revealed, the academy noted that the filmmaker died on Monday after "a long and serious illness."

Born in Pécs, Hungary, when the country was under Communist rule, Tarr began his career as an amateur filmmaker when he was 16. His films caught the attention of Béla Balázs Studios, which helped fund his feature debut, 1979's *Family Nest*. Tarr won the Grand Prix at the Mannheim Film Festival for the film, after which he enrolled in the Academy of Theatre and Film in Budapest, graduating in 1982. He then cofounded Társulás Filmstúdió, where he worked until it was closed for political reasons in 1985.

Bela Tarr during a press conference at the Filmoteca de Catalunya in 2024.

David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty

Tarr wrote and directed nine feature films throughout his decades-spanning career, including *Family Nest *and ending with *The Turin Horse*, which premiered in 2011.

The filmmaker was known as a pioneer of the slow cinema movement, a style characterized by black-and-white visuals, minimal dialogue, and long and uninterrupted takes. The movement is considered a response to the ever-present and growing sense of alienation among people, as well as a rejection of the traditional depictions of everyday life in Eastern Europe.

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His 1994 film *Sátántangó*, a 450-minute adaptation of the novel by László Krasznahorkai, is widely considered his most acclaimed work after debuting in Berlin. The feature follows the struggle of a small Hungarian village after the fall of communism, and is regarded as one of the most important pillars of the slow cinema movement. In 2019, a 4K restoration screened at the 69th Berlin Film Festival, with Tarr's approval.

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In 2012, Tarr founded the international film school film.factory in Sarajevo and dedicated his life to teaching young filmmakers. He served as a professor and the head of the school's program until 2016, bringing in visiting teachers, including Tilda Swinton, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Carlos Reygadas, Pedro Costa, Gus van Sant, Juliette Binoche, and Jacques Rancière.

Bela Tarr at the 36th European Film Awards in 2023.

Matthias Nareyek/Getty

Tarr also became as a visiting professor at several film academies, including Filmakademie BW Ludwigsburg, Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains Lille, and FreeSzfe Budapest.

Over the years, the filmmaker has earned numerous accolades for his work in various mediums, including the most prestigious Hungarian prize for artists, the Kossuth Prize, and the Hungarian prize for filmmakers, Balázs Béla Prize. He was named a *Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres* and was honored with several remarkable national, international awards, honorary doctorates and life achievement awards. In 2023, he received the European Film Academy's Honorary Award.

Tarr is survived by his wife and frequent collaborator, Ágnes Hranitzky.

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