His extraordinary Auschwitz film won every award going. Now the Hungarian director is back with new drama Orphan, as well as a Jean Moulin biopic at Cannes. He talks about resurgent global prejudice \u2013 and refusing to be lectured by the film industry \u2018overclass\u2019<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve been talking for less than five minutes when I spot the swastika. It\u2019s just above the head of L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Nemes, one of Europe\u2019s most acclaimed directors, as he sits in the suite of a London hotel, talking about Orphan, his intensely personal new film that dwells on \u2013 among other things \u2013 the impact of the Holocaust on the generations that followed. It\u2019s an ancient, Hindu swastika, part of a decorative wall-hanging \u2013 but still.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m halfway through a question when I notice it. Nemes laughs; of course, he\u2019d seen it immediately. \u201cI wanted to point that out to you,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is so funny. Before leaving this room, I will take pictures.\u201d Mind you, he\u2019s had worse. \u201cWhen I was at the San Sebasti\u00e1n film festival with Son of Saul<\/a>, they put me in the Mel Gibson room.\u201d<\/p>\n
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