Eszter Balint is a singer, songwriter, violinist, and actress.

She first emerged as a child member of the avant-garde

Avant-garde

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

 Squat Theatre

Squat Theatre

Squat Theatre is a theatre group who moved to New York City in 1978.Squat Theatre was founded by artists, writers, designers, musicians in Budapest, Hungary in the late 1960s. They were known as Kassak Studio, and later, during their underground years in Budapest as "apartment theatre". Members of...

 troupe before making her cinematic debut in 1984 in director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 Jim Jarmusch

Jim Jarmusch

James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...

's independent film Stranger Than Paradise

Stranger Than Paradise

Stranger Than Paradise is a 1984 American absurdist/deadpan comedy film. It was written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and stars jazz musician John Lurie, former Sonic Youth drummer-turned-actor Richard Edson, and Hungarian-born actress Eszter Balint...

. From there she seemed to drop out of sight for the remainder of the decade, not reappearing on-screen until 1990's little-seen Bail Jumper. Roles in The Linguini Incident

The Linguini Incident

The Linguini Incident is a 1991 American comedic film set in New York starring David Bowie and Rosanna Arquette. The film was directed by Richard Shepard, who co-wrote the script with Tamar Brott...

, Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog

Shadows and Fog

Shadows and Fog is a black-and-white film directed by Woody Allen and based on his one-act play Death. It stars Allen, Mia Farrow, John Malkovich, John Cusack, Madonna, and Kenneth Mars. It was filmed on a set at Kaufman Astoria Studios, which holds the distinction of being the biggest set ever...

" and Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi

Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...

's Trees Lounge

Trees Lounge

Trees Lounge is the 1996 feature film debut written and directed by Steve Buscemi. It was produced by Brad Wyman and Chris Hanley and features a large ensemble cast of actors, including Buscemi, Anthony LaPaglia, Chloë Sevigny and Samuel L. Jackson...

followed.

Eszter's own two releases to date, Flicker and Mud, both produced by JD Foster, were praised by the likes of The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, The New Yorker

The New Yorker

The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...

, and Billboard Magazine. In his review of Mud, Jon Pareles

Jon Pareles

Jon Pareles is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of the New York Times. He played jazz flute and piano, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in music. In the 1970s he was an associate editor of Crawdaddy!, and in the 1980s an associate...

 writes: "Miss Balint has her own film noir sensibility as a songwriter. She puts arty twists into back-alley Americana... but the cleverness is not the point. She slips inside her characters to project their restlessness and longing."

Eszter has appeared on recordings by Michael Gira's

Michael Gira

Michael Rolfe Gira is an American musician, author, and artist. He is the main force behind the recently reformed New York City musical group Swans and fronts the Angels of Light...

 Angels of Light, Marc Ribot's

Marc Ribot

Marc Ribot born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer.His own work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notably Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and composer John Zorn.-Biography:Ribot was...

 Los Cubanos Postizos, and John Lurie's

John Lurie

John Lurie is an American actor, musician, painter and producer. He is co-founder of The Lounge Lizards, a jazz ensemble. Lurie has acted in 19 films including Stranger than Paradise and Down by Law, composed and performed music for 20 television and film works, and he produced and starred in...

 Marvin Pontiac's Greatest Hits, to name a few. She was a featured guest member of Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog throughout 2009.

External links

• Official website
• SiouxWIRE interview interview + profile