Director Lajos Koltai said he did not want to make a scientific film but wanted to present the man Semmelweis who followed his own path and achieved his goal.

Culture and Innovation Minister János Csák told the state media that Semmelweis’s journey sets an example. Despite malice and attacks he followed his vision and is remembered as “the saviour of mothers”.

Csák said it can be said about Semmelweis that he saved the lives of millions of people just as Katalin Karikó, who received the Nobel Prize recently.

Csaba Káel, president of the National Film Institute and government commissioner for the motion picture industry, said the movie offers an excellent opportunity to present a Hungarian talent to the world and tell his story.

Ambassadors from more than 20 countries attended the premiere.

Produced with support from the National Film Institute, the historical drama treats the life and work of Hungarian obstetrician Ignác Semmelweis who, confronting conventional theories, strove to eradicate puerperal fever, one of the most destructive diseases in the 19th century. Semmelweis is portrayed by actor Miklós H. Vecsei.

The Hungarian-language movie will also be shown at the Hungarian Film Festival in Los Angeles on October 27, and will be shown in Hungarian cinemas from November 30.