Péter Bacsó

Bacso's career is indicative of the changing climate in Hungary for filmmakers critical of their country's recent past. His 1968 film "The Witness," a farcical account of the 1949 Stalinist purge as seen through the eyes of a naive Communist, was withheld by the authorities for nine years. More recently, however, he has not only treated this subject more seriously--in "Oh, Bloody Life" (1983)--but has also been made managing director of the state-owned Dialog Studio.