Farewell to the greatest Hungarian film producer who died at age 74 in his Budapest home.
Andrew G. Vajna was born in Budapest in 1944. He immigrated to the United States as a child in 1956 and settled there for good.
Once he graduated from the University of California Los Angeles, he started working at the university’s Educational Motion Picture Department. Before becoming a producer, he was running his own photography studio and operated cinemas in Hong Kong.
He was the man behind the first three Rambo movies, Evita, Red Heat, Total Recall and Air America, and he produced 59 films during his career.
Andrew G. Vajna as Hungarian government film commissioner
Even if he was well-known in Hollywood, he never forgot Hungary. He produced the film “Children of Glory”, – a movie about the Hungarian freedom fight to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
In 2010, Vajna became the government film commissioner of Hungary. He set up the Hungarian National Film Fund and brought Hungary enormous success and tremendous recognition.
During his “commissioner” work, Hungarian films won hundreds of prizes including two Oscars, an Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe, Bafta, prizes from Cannes, a Golden Bear and a first prize in Karlovy Vary.
The Hungarian movie industry would not have achieved such success without Andy Vajna. RIP, Andy!
