I am honored to be back at the Debreceni Egyetemi Színház International Theatre Festival in Hungary! Thank you, Lakó Zsigmond, for the invitation. Your friendship means so much to me.
Writer/Producer, Cartoonist Steven Fischer speaks at the Debreceni Egyetemi Színház International Theatre Festival in Hungary. April 15 2023. Photos by Nagy David.
Our new cartoon book, Debrecen Tales: An International Experience, launched in Hungary! Nine cartoonists from Tunisia, Myanmar, Hungary, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, and the United States coming together to find clarity, understanding, and healing through cartoon art. Thank you Tibor Glant, the City of Debrecen, The American Corner Debrecen, University of Debrecen and Debrecen University Press for helping to make many dreams a reality.
Cartoonist Steven Fischer speaking at the launch of Debrecen Tales: An International Experience in Debrecen Hungary April 2023. Photo by Miskolczi János.
Deputy Mayor of Debrecen István Puskás speaks at the launch of Debrecen Tales: An International Experience. Photo by Miskolczi János. April 2023.
Page from Debrecen Tales: An International Experience from the story Metanoia by Sumyat Swezin. Photo by Miskolczi János. April 2023.
Page from Debrecen Tales: An International Experience from the story Unfamiliar by Mark Kovacs. Photo by Miskolczi János. April 2023.
Cartoonist Maryem Ben Salem at the launch of Debrecen Tales: An International Experience. Photo by Miskolczi János. April 2023.
From Snaptwig, January 29, 2013
Steven Fischer, the talented writer, director, and producer, was raised in Maryland and abroad. Fischer has directed dozens professional documentaries, films, shorts, and television projects independently as well as for clients such as PBS, Nextel, and AmeriCorps. As a young child he had an intense love for cartoons, which stayed with him into his teens. Around the age of seventeen years old, Fischer began creating cartoons for the local paper in the town where he lived. This opened doors for him, and he began to freelance creating cartoons and illustrations for other writers. In his late teens, he began pitching children’s book ideas and comic strip book ideas to publishers. After many rejections, he decided to take measures into his own hands, and self publish his first children’s book, There’s a Blue Dog Under My Bed.
Fischer learned to not only publish his own book, but also marketing and distribution. The struggles and lessons he learned he credits with his outlook and drive to continue to develop as an artist, musician and film maker. He attended the London Cartoon Centre in London, England in order to further develop as an artist and cartoonist. He cultivated many inspiring friendships and mentors there, and counts Steve Melendez and his father Bill Melendez as his long time mentors and friends. After returning to the U.S., Fischer found himself drawn to the medium of film through freelance work for AmeriCorps and other clients. He completed his first documentary in 1996, and realized another passion, documentary film making.
“I went with it because it was coming to me, and it doesn’t really matter to me what I’m producing. If it’s a documentary, if it’s fiction, if it’s a radio drama, if it’s television, if it’s cinema; the only thing I’ve ever been interested in is telling a good story, and … I believe every story has its own medium that it is most effectively told through; some stories work better as a song, others are more effective as a theater play, others are more effective for cinema. I enjoy all of the mediums. My role in all of this is to tell a very good story, a compelling story with meaningful characters, a story that has something to say. ”, explains Fischer.
Fischer’s contagious enthusiasm continued to fuel his creativity, and many awards followed. In 2000, he was nominated for his first Emmy for Silence of Falling Leaves, a Polish language tribute to Polish POWs murdered in the Katyn Forest Massacre. Written and Directed by Steven Fischer; Cinematography by John Chester; Read by Bozena Jedrzejczak, and produced for TCI Communications.
In 2007, Fischer earned a second Emmy nomination for Now and Forever Yours: Letters to an Old Soldier. The film dramatizes the little known and scandalous story of a Union officer’s love affair with a Southern belle in Fairfax, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Fischer directed the movie for NVCC-TV and photographed it under his oft-used pseudonym Gordon O. Douglass. His cinematography was nominated for an Emmy Award. It stars Katie Tschida and Winston Shearin with music by Damion Wolfe.
In 2008, Fischer, along with his animation partner Craig Herron, won the CINE Masters Series Award for Freedom Dance. In the animated film, Fischer directed the very talented Mariska Hargitay. Ms. Hargitay narrated the film. The producers explain the film, “Freedom Dance documents four months in the lives of artist Edward Hilbert and his wife, Judy, four months as refugees defiantly leaving Communist Hungary during the violent 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Along the way, Edward kept a journal in cartoon form detailing a trip defined by adventure. Our movie, attempts to re-tell the Hilberts’ eventful escape by inter-cutting original character-driven animation with recorded interviews and photographs”
Fischer attended the CINE awards ceremony in Washington D.C. This award proved to be serendipitous for his next project, Old School, New School, in the creation of new professional relationships and what would prove to be long-time personal friendships.
Continuing with the positive momentum which has garnered Fischer eight Telly Awards as of this writing, Fischer made the decision to pursue his documentary Old School, New School. The fascinating project collects recorded conversations with world class artists including noted actor Brian Cox, Grammy-winning pianist McCoy Tyner, and legendary cinematographer William Fraker on the nature of creativity. The documentary is currently used as an inspirational teaching tool for artists in every medium around the U.S.
A big thank you to Karoly Jokay, Fulbright Hungary, and The Consulate General of Hungary in Chicago for including Freedom Dance (our movie with Mariska Hargitay retelling Ed and Judy Hilbert’s escape from Communist Hungary to the US during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution) in Hungary 1956 – Chicago 2016: A Day of Remembrance and Hope.
It was a honor to participate in the commemoration and a treat to meet fellow Fulbright alum!
Fulbright Hungary Director Karoly Jokay and film director Steven Fischer at 1956 Hungarian Revolution commemoration and Fulbright alum celebration, Chicago, Illinois. October 21, 2016.
Film director Steven Fischer introduces his movie Freedom Dance featuring Golden Globe winner Mariska Hargitay at the 1956 Hungarian Revolution commemoration and Fulbright alum celebration, Chicago, Illinois. October 21, 2016.
Fulbright alum at the 1956 Hungarian Revolution commemoration and Fulbright alum celebration, Chicago, Illinois. October 21, 2016.
Film producer-director Steven Thomas Fischer with Ambassador Ferenc Szebenyi, Consul General of Hungary, at the 1956 Hungarian Revolution commemoration and Fulbright alum celebration, Chicago, Illinois. October 21, 2016.
A very special thank you to Ambassador Reka Szemerkenyi, Cultural Attache David Singer and everyone at The Embassy of Hungary in Washington, DC, for including Freedom Dance in the Embassy’s 60th Anniversary Commemoration of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
For those who don’t know, Freedom Dance is an animated documentary that retells the adventure of a young couple, Edward and Judy Hilbert, escaping Hungary during the ’56 Revolution. Along the way, Edward kept a journal in cartoon form detailing their dramatic journey (which includes being robbed and nearly killed). The movie features Golden Globe winner Mariska Hargitay and is produced by Steven Fischer and Craig Herron.
Order your copy of DVD click here: http://www.freedomdancethemovie.com
Ambassador Reka Szemerkenyi and film director Steven Fischer at The Embassy of Hungary, Washington, DC, October 2016.
Cultural Attache Singer David and film director Steven Fischer at The Embassy of Hungary, Washington, DC, October 2016.
Director Steven Fischer speaks at the Festival of Film & Culture celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight. (Hosted by the Embassy of Hungary in Washington, DC.) October 12, 2016
Director Steven Fischer (left) and Cultural Attache Singer David (right) speak at the Festival of Film & Culture celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight. (Hosted by the Embassy of Hungary in Washington, DC.) October 12, 2016
Some of the Freedom Dance team. L-R: Diane Leigh Davison, Steven Fischer, Gregg Landry, Craig Herron, Barbara Herron
A big THANK YOU! to Dr. György Baffy, Dr. Ildikó Halász, MD, and Dr. Ágnes Virga, MD for hosting Thursday’s screening of Freedom Dance (featuring Mariska Hargitay) and lecture on how cartoon art contributes to a healing process. The event was a jointly presented by the Hungarian Medical Association of America and the Hungarian Society of Massachusetts.
The event was held in Boston at Northeastern University in the conference room of the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Albert-László Barabási, who generously offered this great venue regularly giving home to the Tudósklub of HSM.
Pictured (L-R) Dr. Gyorgy Baffy, writer-producer-director Steven Fischer, biologist Janos Polgar.
From the Debreceni Egyetemi Színházi Theatre Festival website:
Steven Fischer, writer-director-Fulbright Lecturer, spoke on Friday (October 17, 2014) about character development and directing. Click here to read!
Written by Marton Sándor; fotó by Lukovszki Judit.
ANIMATED HISTORY – Freedom Dance will be screening at Central European University’s Center for Arts and Culture, Monday, Oct. 13, 2014. Click here for details.
Date: October 13, 2014 – 18:00 – 19:30
Building: Nador u. 11
Room: TIGY Room
Event type: Panel Discussion
Event audience: Open to the Public
CEU host unit(s): Center for Arts and Culture (CAC)
Special thanks to Professor Tibor Glant at the University of Debrecen and Dr. Károly Jókay, Executive Director of the Hungarian-American Fulbright Commission, for making this a reality!
Also, be sure to check out Steven Fischer’s documentary on creativity, Old School New School, available at SnagFilms.com.
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs recently recommended two-time Emmy® nominated filmmaker Steven Fischer for the Fulbright Specialist Roster. Read more.
Watch Old School New School, Steven’s personal study on creativity with actor Brian Cox, jazz great McCoyTyner and many more world-class artists.
Old School, New School 