Hungarian film director Béla Tarr will be a special guest at the fifth edition of Valletta Film Festival taking place between Friday 14 and Sunday 23 June.

Mr Tarr will be the Valletta Film Festival's master of cinema this year. Photo: Wikipedia

The renowned director, who directed award-winning films such as Almanac of Fall and The Turin Horse, will preside as the festival’s Master of Cinema.

As well as attending screenings and Q&As, Mr Tarr will also be giving a masterclass at the Grand Ballroom of the The Phoenicia Malta on Saturday 22 June.

Mr Tarr was born in Pécs in 1955 and began his directing career in the late 1970s with an aesthetic close to realism. He then moved away from that to direct he masterpieces of his mature period like Werckmeister Harmonies and the The Turin Horse, which was awarded with a Silver Bear, Jury Grand Prix at the Berlin International Film Festival.

He retired from directing following that success in 2011 and instead devoted himself to training young filmmakers.

The full programme of the Valletta Film Festival will be announced in May, but passes and tickets for Mr Tarr’s masterclass will go on sale on March 4.

The Valletta Film Festival is organised by Film Grain Foundation and supported by Arts Council Malta through the Cultural Partnership Agreement.