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Béla Tarr

Hungarian filmmaker and anarchist (1955–2026)

5.18body-of-work score · ranked #201 of 2640 directors · 4 films in our library

A director's score is the sum of their films' composite canon scores — methodology.

Born
July 21, 1955 · Pécs
Died
January 6, 2026 · Budapest
Nationality
Hungary
Directing career
13 directorial credits, 1979–2011 · last: The Turin Horse (2011)
Work
screenwriter, film director, film producer, director
Reference
Wikipedia · Wikidata
Portrait of Béla Tarr
Soppakanuuna · CC BY-SA 3.0

Films in our library, ranked

Ranked by composite canon score across 20+ authoritative lists, awards and polls — our ordering, with every placement citing its evidence on the film's page.

  1. 1
    SátántangóMust-See #397

    1994 · Hungary / Germany / Switzerland · drama

    Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #62 · Hoberman's annual top 10 1996 #1 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #78

    1.986 citations
  2. 2
    Werckmeister HarmoniesWerckmeister harmóniák

    2000 · Hungary / Germany / France · drama

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #243 · Hoberman's annual top 10 2001 #2 · Film Comment year-end poll 2001 #10

    1.486 citations
  3. 3
    The Turin HorseA torinói ló

    2011 · Hungary / France / Germany · drama

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2012 #1 · Film Comment year-end poll 2012 #6

    1.362 citations
  4. 4
    DamnationKárhozat

    1988 · Hungary · drama

    Hoberman's annual top 10 1990 #3 · Rosenbaum's Essential Cinema

    0.362 citations

Complete filmography

All 13 directorial credits recorded on Wikidata, in chronological order; films in our library link to their canon-score page.

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