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Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986.

In January 2006, it became public that he had been an agent of the III/III department, a former communist agency of interior intelligence. After the revolution in 1956, he was blackmailed and forced to cooperate, though later he was considered willingly cooperative. Allegedly, he wrote reports about fellow Hungarian directors, actors and actresses such as Miklós Jancsó, Mari Töröcsik, Károly Mécs. An acknowledged Hungarian journalist Zsolt Bayer said: "This is the time to re-watch Mephisto (1981). It has just become obvious that Szabo directed his own life in the movie, masterfully." Szabo has never denied the charges and considers his agent work heroic and needful, claiming he saved the life of a friend sentenced to death for his involvement in the revolution of 1956.

Directed one Oscar nominated performance: Annette Bening in La diva Julia (2004).

Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1985.