školská 28

Tibor is working in Czech Republic on his ongoing intermedia research project about Franz Kafka: K. Engravings.
Franz Kafka did not just win the admiration of posterity with his writings. In his very person he had an even stronger impact on those individuals who were really close to him, and for whom being with him was the wonder of friendship.
The young poet who visited him at his workplace the Workers’ Accident Insurance Institute; the medical student who was with him in the sanatorium; the kitchen-girl at a Jewish orphan camp in a German seaside resort, with whom he later lived in Berlin, and who remained at his side till the very end; the little girl in a playground whom he consoled for the loss of her doll: these people didn’t see in him a writer genius, but a human genius, sometimes even a saint: they enjoyed his sparkling conversation full with humour, his ideas, and his incomparable attentiveness.

There is already a radio piece in Hungary recently accomplished, and an installation of film loops in Šamorin. The backbone for the radio project is provided by the short story “An Imperial Message” (or “A Message from the Emperor” or “The Emperor’s Message”, depending on the translation), which is a paragraph of seven sentences, separately published but originally written by Kafka as part of a short story “The Great Wall of China” in 1917 (it did not appear in full until 1931, seven years after Kafka’s death). At this point one might mull over the irony of an emperor’s deathbed message which is effectively not delivered and the deliberate flouting of Kafka’s own explicit deathbed message. In any event, this spine of the tale is fleshed out by at least four other “story lines”.
Szemzo is planning to visit and film on locations, which are connected with life and work of Kafka. Bohemia expedition will cover some villages and little towns, which influenced Kafka's life and work: Želízy, Roztoky, Liběchov, Jablonec nad Nisou, Hrádek nad Nisou, Liberec, Frýdland, Ojbín, Třešť, Turnov, Siřem, Planá, Gmund, etc.. and especially the train travel to those places..

Tibor Szemzö was born in Budapest in 1955. In 1979 he founded the minimalist ensemble Group 180. It was a profoundly influential ensemble, renowned for its performances of Hungarian minimalism; it also performed works by John Cage and Steve Reich. Embarking on a solo career in 1983, Szemzö began integrating spoken word and visual elements into projects otherwise dominated by flute and live electronics, and in 1987 he issued his first solo recording, Snapshot from the Island. The downfall of Hungary's communist rule allowed him to began collaborating with various artists throughout Europe and beyond, and in 1998 Szemzö also formed a new chamber ensemble, the Gordian Knot. Other notable works include Ain't Nothing But a Little Bit of Music for Moving Pictures (the score to a collection of black-and-white home movies compiled by friend Péter Forgács), The Conscience (a trilogy of narrative-based chamber compositions) and Tractatus (a half-hour piece inspired by texts of Ludwig Wittgenstein). In recent years Szemzo's interest has increasingly turned to film as well. His award winning feature A Guest of Life (intermixing documentary footage, animation, and Super 8mm film stock) was shot in Tibet.

Films:
Koponyaalapi Törés/ Skullbase Fracture (20', HU, 1985)
CUBA (32', HU, 1993)
A Túlpart/ The Other Shore (20', HU, 1998)
Ez van!/ What There Is (11', HU, 2005)
Az élet vendége - Csoma-legendárium/ A Guest of Life- Alexander Csoma de Körös (79´, HU, 2006)

Music for films:
ANOTHER PLANET 2007 (Ferenc Moldoványi)
SHONENKO - EMERALD HORIZON 2005 (Shuhei Fujita)
EL PERRO NEGRO 2002 (Péter Forgács)
CHILDREN - KOSOVO 2000 (Ferenc Moldoványi) HEROINE 2000 (Mona Mechler)
SUNSET ON LEFT 2000 (András Fésős)
ANGELOS FILM 1999 (Péter Forgács)
PARAGRAPH 175 1999 (Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman)
DANUBE EXODUSES 1998 (Péter Forgács)
KÁDÁR'S KISS 1997 (Péter Forgács)
MAALSTROOM 1997 (Péter Forgács)
CLASS LOT 1997 (Péter Forgács)
THE WAY 1996 (Ferenc Moldoványi)
FREE FALL 1996 (Péter Forgács and Tibor Szemző)
THE LAND OF NONE 1996 (Péter Forgács)
URAN 1995 (László L. Lugó)
POLIO / THE LAST WORLD 1995 (Ádám Csillag)
MEANWHILE SOMEWHERE/UNKNOWN WAR NO. 5. 1994 (Péter Forgács)
NOTES OF A LADY 1993 (Péter Forgács)
SIMPLY HAPPY 1993 (Péter Forgács and Alfred Wulffers)
CUBA 1993 (Tibor Szemző)
CIVIL DIARY 1992 (Péter Forgács)
WITTGENSTEIN TRACTATUS 1992 (Péter Forgács and Tibor Szemző)
D. FILM 1991 (Péter Forgács)
THE SONS OF THE SUN 1991 (Yussuph Antal) DIARY OF MR.N. 1990 (Péter Forgács)
EITHER-OR 1990 (Péter Forgács)
METEO/THE DREAMS OF ECKERMANN 1989 (András Monory M.)
ABOUT THE PICTUPES OF THE LIGHT 1989 (Miklós Peternák)
SIBERIAN SUMMER 1989 (András Dér)
DUSI & JENŐ 1989 (Péter Forgács)
FATHER AND THREE SONS 1988 (Péter Forgács)
SKULLBASE FRACTURE 1987 (Tibor Szemző)
K. VENUS 1985 (Miklós Peternák) TRAINTRIP 1983 (Miklós Erdély)
www.szemzo.hut
kafka.szemzo.hu
gordianknot