Goda's entertaining contemporary thriller chronicles a swindler who falls into his own trap when he meets a beautiful, intelligent dancer.
Irvin Kershner
, the director of The Empire Strikes Back, called Chameleon a "world-class film". "If it had been made with American stars, it would certainly have been a box-office hit."
The Michael Curtiz Audience Award went to Tamás Almási for his documentary Puskás Hungary. The film, about Ferenc Puskás, one of the greatest footballers of all time, won the top prize for documentaries at the Valladolid International Film Festival in Spain.
The newly established price of the Hungarian Consulate in Los Angeles went to János Edelényi for his film Príma primavera. The prize was presented by Foreign Ministry department head Norbert Konkoly, who said the prize acknowledged films that presented, a multicoloured, honest "slice of Hungarian reality" in a way that was interesting to American audiences.
The city of Los Angeles presented a special prize to the animated film director Gábor Csupó.
This year's festival drew record crowds, said festival founder and organiser Béla Bunyik. All screening rooms at Raleigh Studios Hollywood were packed, he added.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
