market vs state censorship

For the "fodder for past and future arguments" file . . .

Thought this tidbit -- from a 2000 interview with Hungarian auteur Béla Tarr -- might be relevant with regard to the question of whether or not art and higher education should be supported solely via the market. The interview was published in Bright Lights Film Journal.


Did you attend a film school?

I went to film school after my first movie. Because you know at that time everybody needed a diploma. It was communist time, if you wanted to be a filmmaker you had to study in the official film school. But first I made a movie (laughs).

Did you suffer from censorship?

I think censorship is always there. Then it was the censorship of the state and now it's the censorship of the market. Some differences but…

Otar Iosseliani, the Georgian director, was telling me the same, that the censorship of the big audience is worse that the censorship of the state, because you only get money for movies made for the big audience.

Yes, he is right. Because during the communist area you knew you had to make some tricks here and there, like a snake, and if you were very fast and you had some good ideas, you could do it. I really did what I wanted. We had a lot of difficulties, but finally we could make the movies.