Fateless is a film directed by Lajos Koltai

Lajos Koltai

Lajos Koltai, ASC, HSC, is a Hungarian cinematographer and film director best known for his work with legendary Hungarian director Istvan Szabo, and Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore...

, released in 2005. It was based on the semi-autobiographical novel Fatelessness

Fatelessness

Fateless or Fatelessness is a novel by Imre Kertész, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize for literature, written between 1969 and 1973 and first published in 1975....

 by the Nobel Prize-winner Imre Kertész

Imre Kertész

Imre Kertész is a Hungarian Jewish author, Holocaust concentration camp survivor, and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2002 "for writing that upholds the fragile experience of the individual against the barbaric arbitrariness of history"....

, who wrote the screenplay. It is the story of a teenage boy who is sent to concentration camps at Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Zeitz

Zeitz

Zeitz is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river Weiße Elster, in the middle of the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony.-History:...

.

Its music was composed by Ennio Morricone

Ennio Morricone

Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...

 and one of its songs was sung by Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard

Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry....

. The film is one of the most expensive movie productions ever done in Hungary (it cost about US$

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

12 million to make).

Screening and reception

, it was screened in Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 and Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 (at Berlinale), at the Telluride Film Festival

Telluride Film Festival

The Telluride Film Festival was started in 1974 by Bill and Stella Pence, Tom Luddy and Jim Card in the town of Telluride, Colorado, United States. It is operated by the National Film Preserve....

 in Telluride, Colorado as well as the Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

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Distributed in the UK by Dogwoof Pictures

Dogwoof pictures

-History:Dogwoof was founded in 2004 by Andy Whittaker and Anna Godas, and originally concentrated on foreign films, including such titles as Don’t Move, Fateless, El Lobo, and Esma’s Secret...

, it first premiered in the UK at the Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum

Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...

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Awards and nominations

• Nominated - Golden Berlin Bear - Lajos Koltai
• Nominated - European Film Award - Best Cinematographer - Gyula Pados
• Nominated - European Film Award - Best Composer - Ennio Morricone
• Official Selection - Berlin Film Festival 2005
• Official Selection - Teluride Film Festival 2005
• Official Selection - Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
• Gala Presentation - Edinburgh International Film Festival
• Special Presentation - Toronto International Film Festival
• Chicago International Film Festival 2005
• AFI Los Angeles Film Festival 2005