CV
BALAZS SIMONYI
director, producer / photojournalist / public speaker
Member of the European Film Academy & Hungarian Film Academy.
Born in 1980, Budapest (Hungary).
Since his childhood he dreamed of being a football player or a chef.
Dreams are not reality.
He has been looking the bright side of the life as a freelance artist since 2002. Currently he is only and making films and writing. He is a graphomaniac.
In 1986 he started working as a child actor. He appeared on stage & in movies, and he has been dubbing thousands of films and commercial until nowadays. He is the Hungarian voice of Bart Simpson since 1998.
He
- was a founding member and leading actor of a successful improvisation theatre, Momentan. He quit after 13 years in 2012.
- graduated in Literature & Film in 2006, in Art Theory (Aesthetics) in 2018, and is recently completing his PhD.
- gives public speeches and motivational presentations.
- proofreads the Hungarian translations of many sport-thematic books like Scott Jurek’s Eat&Run or Matt Fitzgerald’s IronWar.
From 2003 he worked for many years as
- a bicycle runner for HajtásPajtás during the winter months
- an all-round photojournalist as a freelancer for newspapers and magazines, or as a contracted freelancer. He worked 10 years at Magyar Narancs. He did covers, articles, illustrations, report & portraits for HVG, Index, VS, UNIT, Mindennapi, Hócipő, Black & White, and all with F (Földgömb, Film.hu, FilmVilág, Filmkultúra, FlashArt, FotoVideo, Fotopost as well. Works on abroad: photo reports for the Furusiyya Nations’ Cup, Federation Cup.
He won 4 prizes at Hungarian Press Photo (2007, 2009, 2011), and was awarded 3 times with the József Pécsi Photography Grant (2008-2010).
Please mind that prizes are Viagras of vanity.
Grants and fellowships:
- PJLF Three Rivers Residency for scriptwriting, 2017
- CineLink Sarajevo, 2017
- European Short Pitch – Work in Progress (Poznan), 2017
- EDN Docs in Thessaloniki, 2017
- Last Stop Trieste, 2017
- DOK Incubator, 2016
- Rough Cut Boutique Sarajevo, 2016
- EDN Docs in Thessaloniki, 2015
- EuroConnection (Clermont-Ferrand), 2015
- NIPKOW Programm (Berlin), 2014-2015
- Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart), 2011
TRIVIA
He likes running. He finished dozens of marathons and ultra races like the 246-km-long Spartathlon (5-times in a row, 2013-2017).
He won silver at the 2014 Hungarian National Championship in 50km running.
He completed his sport studies in 2014 as a triathlon coach. He is a 4-time-ironman.
He, luckily, has no car, but 6 bicycles. He worked couple of weeks as a bicycle delivery boy during winters.
He has been playing the saxophone since 2000.
He feels sorry for the difficult consonants in his name. (Zs, Ny)
He created and hosts different podcast series (check Spotify, iTunes, Google, Mixcloud, Anchor, PodPad). On running (Büntetőkör, Laza Tízes, VersenyKözpont, IzzóSztár), on social psychology (Pletyka) and on literature (Alakok).
SELECTED PHOTO EXHIBITIONS
INDIVIDUAL:
2010: Shaman- Budapest, Docu Art /// Shopping mall generation – Budapest, Marczi Cultural Centre (Month of Photography 2010)
2008: Concrete youngsters – Budapest, Volksbank Gallery (Month of Photography 2008)
2006: RetroMetro – Budapest, Fotocella (Month of Photography 2006)
2005: Bridgekeepers – Budapest, Vörösmarty Cinema /// Eastern – Budapest, Fotocella
GROUP:
2018: Yingtan, China – The modern reflection of the Silk Road
2017: Kiscelli Múzeum – Streetphoto Budapest from the early days until today /// Képlet – Budapesti streetfotó a kezdetektől napjainkig
2016: Műcsarnok – Pictures and Pixels /// Capa Center – 25 years of the József Pécsi Photography Grant
2011: III. Photo Biennial, Dunaújváros /// Budaörs (Punctum)
2010: FFS – “Foretaste”, Prague (CZ) /// Exhibition of József Pécsi Photography Grant, Mai Manó Ház (House of Photography), Budapest /// 28th Hungarian Press Photo Exhibition, National Museum, Budapest
2009: Regardez-moi! – I’m back!, Immanence Galerie, Paris /// FFS – Map, Artbázis, Bp. /// Fotografus.hu “11”, Millenáris, Budapest /// II. Photo Biennial, Dunaújváros /// FFS – Image error, ArtBázis, Budapest
2008: 26th Hungarian Press Photo Exhibition, National Museum, Bp. | FFS – Still life, Budapest
2007: 2007 I. Photo Biennial, Dunaújváros /// Lumix Panasonic 2007, Museum of Ethnography, Bp. /// Introducing FFS, Kolta Gallery, Budapest & Tartu (Estonia)
CATALOGUES:
Pictures and Pixels 2016
József Pécsi Photography Grant 2010
Concrete youngsters – photoalbum 2010
Photos of the Year – 2009
Refresh! – group catalogue of the FFS 2008-2009
Regardez moi! – I’m back! 2009
Month of Photography 2008
Photos of the Year 2007
Dunaújváros Photobiennale 2007 & 2009
Lumix Panasonic Contest 2007
FFS Exhibiton 2007
Photos of the Year 2006