Diary for My Children(Napló gyermekeimnek)

Drawing on her own wartime experiences, Mészáros expertly weaves the spectre of history and political statement into her autobiographical trilogy, the first of which is a haunting portrait of a young woman coming of age during the turbulent time of the Stalinist era. Invested in the orphan girl Juli, who returns with her exiled grandparents to Budapest, is her own struggle to emancipate from the controlling grip of her Communist foster mother. Newsreel footage combined with elegant black-and-white cinematography by Mészáros' son Nyika Jancsó conjures a rich nostalgia, with quietly observed moments reflecting the reigning terror in Hungary.

Cannes Film Festival: Grand Prize of the Jury