Pater Sparrow

Pater Sparrow (born Zoltán Verebes in 1978, in Budapest) is a Hungarian filmmaker and production designer. He graduated from London Film School as a director with a production designer distinction. He is the son of Hungarian actor/director/media personality István Verebes and grandson of actor Károly Verebes.

Starting as an amateur filmmaker, Sparrow made his first two short films (Without With 1998, The Something 1999,) which were nominated both year in competition in the biggest film festival in Hungary.

Since being intertested in the boundaries of conventional filmmaking he applied to the very pragmatic London Film School. While studying in London he had made two short films Sense (2001) Limit (2002) and worked in several film projects as a production designer. He graduated as a MA director and production designer with his diploma film called T?ick (2004) and wrote dissertation in the topic of non-narrative film theories. After living and studying in the United Kingdom, he returned to his hometown, Budapest where he started developing on his first feature film based on a Stanislaw Lem essay, with the help of his former mentor Zoltan Kamondi’s company Honeymood Films. Meanwhile, he was making several experimental films and visual projects like RECYCLEd – Pro – Reo – Neo (2006) which also attracted attention to him.

His first feature film 1 (2009) reached a big success for a debut film in Hungary, and also collected awards abroad.

He is primarily interested in unique experimental style of mystic and surreal elements in shifted space and time with visual allegories and codes. He considers himself a filmmaker who approaches filmmaking as a visual communication in the face of storytelling.

During the years he had experienced working in different fields of professional film and television crews, such as assistant for director Zoltán Kamondi in The Alchemist And The Virgin (1999) assistant production designer for Academy Award winner Luciana Arigghi in Being Julia (2004) art director for Kevin Phipps production designer (Eyes Wide Shut, Fifth Element, Dune, Slipstream, etc.)in a Cadbury commercial which was directed by Brian Buckley, or production designer of Pater Strickland's third feature film The Duke Of Burgundy (2014).

In 2015 he made the production design on several Hungarian feature films such as 'My Night Is Your Day / Éjszakám a nappalod (2015), Well / Kút (2015), Troupers / Vándorszínészek (2015), in 2016 Budapest Noir (2016), in 2017 Swoon (2018), and in 2018 BUÉK (2018).

He is currently developing his second feature film based on Boris Vian's Heartsnatcher, and working freelance in Hungary.