Presentation of the Leonardo da Vinci Award
to Marcell Jankovics

by Prof. Jean-Pierre Bertrand
Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters

November 25th 2009, Academic Hall, University of Liege
Liege, Belgium

Marcell Jankovics was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1941. In 1960, one year after leaving school, he joined Pannonia Film Studio, where he began as an apprentice but was soon appointed to assistant animator and then to animator.

Since 1963, Marcell Jankovics has worked as an independent film-maker. He has written, designed and directed several hundred animated short films. He was also the leading director of the series Gustavus, Hungarian Folktales and Legends from the Hungarian History.

In addition to directing, Marcell was the storyboard writer, graphic designer and part animator of his three full-length animated films: Johnny Corncob - the first full-length animated film produced in Hungary - Son of the White Mare, and Song of the Miraculous Hind, as well as of other independent short films.

Since 1989, he has been working on the animated adaptation of the drama The Tragedy of Man of the great Hungarian dramatist, Imre Madách. The production will be finished at the end of this year.

As well as making films, Jankovics has played a leading role in Hungary’s educational life. He has taught the art of animation and film-making for over twenty years at several universities in Hungary. Since 1988, he has regularly made television programmes and given talks on the radio on film-related subjects. In 1992, he co-founded DUNA TV, a Hungarian-speaking channel with English subtitles covering half of the world.

A leading figure in the cultural life of his country, Marcell was the President of the National Cultural Fund of Hungary from 1998–2000. He is also a member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, the President of the Hungarian Cultural Society and President of the St Stephen Foundation.

As if that wasn’t enough, Marcell has produced a wealth of written material. He is the author of fifteen books on cultural history and also co-authored the New Hungarian Encyclopaedia.

This award acknowledges Marcell’s tireless work over nearly five decades, during which he has made countless contributions to contemporary, visual art as an extraordinary animator and film-maker, highly respected by the international animation community, and furthermore as a noteworthy educator, author and cultural authority.