Queensland College of Art Alumnus of the Year, 2011
Our Alumni are one of the Queensland College of Art's greatest assets. They are making significant contributions to the visual arts both nationally and internationally and we encourage you to stay connected via Griffith University Alumni.
Peter Hegedus is just one example of the inspiring Alumni from the Griffith Film School (GFS).
Peter’s love for filmmaking began in High School where he chose Film and TV as one of his subjects. After High School, Peter was accepted in GFS to study filmmaking.
Consequently, as he completed his degree and postgraduate studies in Film and Television at GFS, he began making Grandfathers and Revolutions, a story about his grandfather who called in the Soviet troops to quash the Hungarian Revolution in 1956.
The film took two years to make, two years of personal dilemmas and soul searching for him to make an honest, unbiased documentary about his grandfather who was once the Prime Minister of Hungary. The film went on the win multiple awards around the world.
At 24 he began his first feature length documentary as an international co-production. Inheritance, a Fisherman’s Story is based around the ecological disaster which occurred in Hungary in 2000, partially caused by an Australian mining company undertaking work in Romania.
The film follows the life of a fisherman Balazs Meszaros who struggles to survive after the disaster. Balazs travels to Australia to confront the mining company responsible. Inheritance, a Fisherman’s Story was short listed for the 2004 Academy Awards and won an additional five awards around the world.
In 2002 Peter formed Soul Vision Films Pty Ltd. The company's philosophy is to produce and direct films which provide insight into the human condition, to offer the world a truth and an open, uncandid account of events which should be important to help restore some balance, and maybe help to make this world a better place.
Peter has just completed his most recent and challenging film to date – MY AMERICA. 6 years in the making it looks at Peter’s personal struggle and transition from unpacking his childhood fantasy about America and beginning to see the world’s only superpower in a more realistic light. In the process he travels the world asking people what their dreams are. While only completed in March 2011, the film has already had positive feedback from several film festivals worldwide. The film will premiere in Australian cinemas later in 2011.