SFILMUJ

Cinematographer
Minco Szalay

As a filmmaker, I work across production, direction, cinematography, and editing, guiding projects from concept to final cut.
 My work spans commercials, music videos, documentaries, and branded content often managing projects end-to-end to ensure a cohesive visual and narrative vision.

Selected Background

My relationship with image-making began early. When I was ten years old, my father bought me my first digital Olympus camera and a Sony camcorder. I started by photographing family moments, classmates, and everyday life without ambition, simply drawn to capturing what was happening around me. For a period, music became my main focus. I played guitar in a band and performed at small local shows in Senec. Those experiences shaped my sense of rhythm, timing, and the emotional exchange between performer and audience.

After the band dissolved, I became immersed in rap and street culture. Freestyle battles, graffiti, BMX, and skateboarding formed a creative environment where visual expression played a central role. It was there that I returned to filmmaking shooting photos and videos on an iPhone 5, creating early rap visuals and documenting people, movement, and atmosphere around me. A turning point came with filming a Playboy party, which led to ongoing work as a cameraman and photographer for Slovak Playboy. Shortly after, I purchased my first own camera the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera OG and began filming rapper Ego’s Precedens tour.

Footage from the tour led to a collaboration with director Michal Romeo Dvořák on the documentary Obraz doby 6, which was screened in cinemas across Slovakia. Alongside contributing footage, I became involved in the editing process, learning storytelling from the ground up. Seeing my images on the big screen for the first time confirmed that this was the path I wanted to follow. Alongside documentary work, I filmed major club and concert events in Bratislava and contributed to music videos for artists such as Ego, Separ, and Majk Spirit. These projects helped me refine my cinematic language and balance visual style with authenticity.

Over time, I realized that I am most drawn to projects with meaning and content stories that go beyond surface aesthetics. This approach has taken me to Salzburg, Prague, Nashville, and Miami’s Key West, working with artists and creatives across different cultures and environments. Alongside digital filmmaking, I maintain a strong connection to analog photography. Shooting on film allows me to slow down, focus on intention, and embrace imperfection an approach that continues to influence my cinematic work. Today, I focus on creating visually refined, story-driven films that balance atmosphere, rhythm, and authenticity. Whether working independently or within a larger creative team, my goal is to create images that feel honest, intentional, and lasting.