Istvan Szabo on Stasi Accusations

Film director István Szabó ("Mephisto") worked in an unofficial capacity for the Hungarian State Security Service from 1957 to 1963. As a student at the Hungarian Film School in Budapest, he was forced to collaborate when confronted with compromising material. He responds in an interview to the recent revelations about his past. "I'm grateful and, with the benefit of hindsight, even proud of having collaborated because thanks to this work we were able to prevent a fellow student from being sentenced to death following the revolution of 1956. I'm also glad to be finally able to tell my story (perhaps even in a film), because it will act as a cure and give people a clearer picture of the years between 1957 and 1960. I'm not interested in defending myself."

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