Hungarian filmmaker Kornél Mundruczó needs to be touched by the stories he directs. His latest film, Pieces of a Woman, is based on his and his wife’s Kata Wéber personal story. Wéber wrote the screenplay about a couple who lost a baby during childbirth. Mundruczó tells HFPA journalist Aniko Navai that the creative journey was like therapy for them. The story was first seen on stage.

“I got a generous offer from a Polish theatre to do whatever I want. Then I found a couple of scenes in Kata’s notebook somehow like dialogues or when they’re talking and I discover oh, wow, she started to write out from her stuff, and then I felt it really broke our silence and it’s good to do that.”

There is grace, hope, and love in the middle of tragedy. “After the premiere, the audience came and started to tell their own stories to us.”

Encouraged by that, Mundruczó sent the play to an American producer and it became his first English-language feature. Vanessa Kirby has earned Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA, and Oscar nominations for her role as Martha. “She read it in 24 hours and she flew to Budapest the next day as she was touched and destroyed by the script and she really wanted to do it. So we did a little bit of a casting session in Budapest and I was sure that she is the right one because she had this kind of ’60s nerves in her and the strong silence and this kind of classic ’70s feeling or mood which is close to this movie.”

Listen to the podcast and hear what kind of kid Mundruczó was; what was his path from wanting to be a painter, studying acting, and becoming a recognized film and theater director; what kind of memories he has from film school; why the Cannes Film Festival has played an important part in his career; what criteria are important to him when he chooses the films he directs; how he met his wife, actress and writer Kata Wéber; how Covid-19 pandemic affected Pieces of a WomanSwan Lake in the Opera with his mother and brother; what is his parenting philosophy; and where is his home.