Can Togay


Can Togay, also known as János Can Togay, is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter, actor, poet, producer, cultural manager and cultural diplomat.

Biography

Can Togay was born the son of Turkish parents. He spent his childhood in Germany. In 1969, he joined the Péter Halász troupe. Between 1973 and 1978, he studied on the German and English faculty of Eötvös Loránd University, followed by two years of post-graduate work on German-French comparative linguistics under Jean-Marie Zemb of the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris. He finished in 1980. In 1984, he graduated from the faculty of direction of the Színház- és Filmművészeti Főiskola in Budapest as the student of Zoltán Fábri. In 1991 he moved to Finland for four years.
His 1992 film A nyaraló was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.
In 1978, he had poems published in the Mozgó Világ. In 2004, his first collection of poems was released by the publisher Aranykor Kiadó. He conceived the idea of the Holocaust Memorial Cipők a Duna-parton in Budapest, and was also a co-maker of it with Gyula Pauer.
Since January 1, 2008, he is the head of the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin, the Hungarian Institute for Science and Culture in the German capital and the cultural attaché of the Hungarian Embassy.

Works

YearOriginal titleEnglish titleDetails
1993A szigetThe IslandFinnish short
1996Napfogyatkozás 2000 Solar Eclipse 2000Feature film
1997GlamourGlamourFeature film
2000A HídemberThe BridgemanFeature film with Géza Bereményi
2003Szerelemtől sújtvaStricken by LoveFeature film with Tamás Sas
2004Történetek az Elveszett BirodalombólStories from the Lost EmpireTV, based on Árpád Ajtony's writings with Frigyes Gödrös
2007A barátkozás lehetőségeiThe Possibilities of Making FriendsTV, based on Ádám Bodor's friends with Gábor Ferenczi

Original titleTitle in EnglishGenreRoleDirected by
Petőfi '73 Petőfi '73Feature filmProtagonistFerenc Kardos
Mozart és Salieri Mozart and SalieriFeature filmTitle characterAndrás Surányi
Le dernier métro The Last MetroFeature filmEpisode actorFrançois Truffaut
Redl ezredes Colonel RedlFeature filmEpisode actorIstván Szabó
Erőltetett menet Forced MarchFeature filmEpisode actorNick Rice
Eszterkönyv Eszter-bookFeature filmEpisode actorKrisztina Deák
Malina MalinaFeature filmProtagonistWerner Schröter
Zsötem ZsötemFeature filmEpisode actorAndrás Salamon
The Blue Exile Blue ExileFeature filmProtagonistKiral Erden
Bir Sonbahar Hikayesi An Autumn StoryFeature filmProtagonistYavuz Özkan
Franciska vasárnapjai The Sundays of FranciskaFeature filmEpisode actorSándor Simó
Fosforlu Cevriye Fosforlu CevriyeTV filmProtagonistMustafa Altioklar
A Hídember The BridgemanFeature filmEpisode actorGéza Bereményi
Sniper 2 Sniper 2Feature filmEpisode actorCraig R. Baxley
Rózsadomb RosemoundFeature filmEpisode actorMari Cantu

Awards