Hungary selects historical drama ‘Semmelweis’ for 2025 International Oscars

Hungary has chosen the historical drama “Semmelweis,” directed by Lajos Koltai, as its entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the upcoming Academy Awards. The movie depicts the story of Ignác Semmelweis, a doctor who fought against a mysterious epidemic in a maternity clinic in Vienna in 1847. Despite challenging traditional theories, he worked to combat puerperal fever, earning the title of the “Saviour of Mothers.”

The film premiered in the USA and won the Best Film award at the Los Angeles Hungarian Film Festival. Miklós H. Vecsei and Katica Nagy won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards, respectively. “Semmelweis” is the highest-grossing local movie in the last five years and has revitalized Hungary’s film industry.

The film was produced by Tamás Lajos and József Vida through Szupermodern Studio and received support from the National Film Institute-Hungary with 5.63 million EUR / 2.26 billion HUF.

The cinematographer for “Semmelweis” was András Nagy, the screenplay was written by Balázs Maruszki. Pater Sparrow served as the production designer, Györgyi Szakács as the costume designer, and Zoltán Kovács as the film editor. Netflix has acquired the film.

Director Lajos Koltai is a Hungarian cinematographer and film director. He was previously nominated for an Academy Award in 2000 for his cinematography on the film “Malèna.”