Stefan Lorant: Man in Pictures

The Hungarian Stefan Lorant is considered the inventor of the ‘pictorial biography’. In the twenties he reaped fame as a director in the German movie industry, but he traded this job for a career in journalism. His opinions about the layout and design of illustrated magazines were trail-blazing. He became the godfather of photo journalism, having a sixth sense for things that appealed to the general public, first in Germany, later on in the United Kingdom, where he set up magazine. Successful as he was, Lorant managed to penetrate into the highest political circles. When World War II broke out, he moved to the United States because it turned out that due to his Hungarian nationality he was still reputed to be subversive. STEFAN LORANT: MAN IN PICTURES shows an energetic man who is far from burnt out. If something does not please him, Lorant friendly but coercively directs filmmaker Cohen as to what he should and should not film.