filmunio hirlevelGB2005/01

Newsletter of Magyar Filmunió · May 2005 · No.6
MAGYAR FILMUNIÓ
newsletter
CONTENTS
3Hungarian Pavilion in Cannes
at the Marché du Film
458 Cannes Film Festival
th
Before Dawn
Johanna
Slitfilm
On a Train
András Muhi
Producer on the Move
8Hungarian short films all
around the world: 1994-2004
12
National Film Office reports
News of MOKÉP
Hungarofilm Division
13
Magyar Filmlabor
MEDIA Desk Hungary
15
Prizes of the
36th Hungarian Film Week
16
Press
18
Coming Soon
Films in Production
Impress
www.filmunio.hu
Hungarian Pavilion
In 2005 the Hungarian film profession will be present at the Cannes Film
Festival again under the umbrella of Magyar Filmunió.
The past year has brought about great changes in the life of the
profession with the new Film Law which encourages the filmmakers of
the world to bring their projects to Hungary either to make coproductions or to use the available facilities, because due to the 20
percent tax refund they can make their films more economically.
Hungary’s joining the European Union has also resulted in great changes
as now the Hungarian producers, distributors, cinema operators and all
the representatives of the profession can make the most of the support
offered by the MEDIA Plus programme and thus become excellent
partners in European as well as regional cooperation schemes.
The Hungarian films are present at the film festivals of the world
bringing more and more appreciation for the Hungarian cinema of great
traditions while a new and talented generation is also growing up.
Besides their appearance at prestigious events, their films also appear
in the cinemas of several countries in the world.
The Hungarian Pavilion at the Village International in Cannes serves
the purpose of providing a venue for the representatives of the Hungarian
and the international cinema to meet each other.
The representatives of Magyar Filmunió, the National Film Office and
Media Desk Hungary will welcome all their guests and provide them with
professional information while Mokép — Hungarofilm Division, the sales
agent for the majority of Hungarian films will offer for distribution the
latest films and also those produced earlier.
The Hungarian Pavilion is supported by:
NATIONAL
FILM OFFICE
3
3
Before Dawn
(2005, short film, 35mm, colour, 13 min., cinemascope, DolbySRD)
Before dawn, the wheat
is quietly ondulating on
the hillside. Before
dawn, people will rise
and other people will
take away their hope.
Director: Bálint Kenyeres
Screenplay: Bálint Kenyeres
Photography: Mátyás Erdély
Editor: Péter Politzer
Art director: Márton Ágh
Costumes: Andrea Flesch, Edit Szûcs
Sound: Tamás Zányi
Assistant to the director: László Jeles
Production company: Inforg Stúdió,
Duna Workshop, Windmill
Production manager: Andrea Taschler
Producer: András Muhi
Co-Producer: György Durst,
Bálint Kenyeres
Cast: János Kalmár, Sándor Badár,
Lajos Kovács
36th Hungarian Film Week
Best Director:
Bálint Kenyeres
Best Cinematography:
Mátyás Erdély
filmography (selected)
1999: Closing Time / Zárás (s)
2000: Teleplay / Tévéjáték (s)
2005: Before Dawn (s)
4
Bálint Kenyeres
Born in 1976. Studied Philosophy, Film History and Film Theory at
ELTE University, Budapest. He will graduate in 2005 in Film
Directing from the Hungarian Academy of Film and Drama.
His short film Zárás/Closing Time was in competition at the Venice
International Film Festival. The film was selected for more than thirty
international film festivals, won a dozen awards.
His short Before Dawn is in competition at this year’s Cannes Film
Festival.
Currently he is developing his first feature.
Cannes
th
58 Cannes Film Festival
(2005, feature film, 35mm, colour, 83 min., 1:1,85, DTS)
Johanna
Johanna, a young drug addict, falls into a deep coma
after an accident. Doctors miraculously manage to save
her from death’s doorstep. Touched by grace, Johanna
cures patients by offering her body. The head doctor
is frustrated by her continued rejection of him and
allies himself with the outraged hospital authorities.
They wage war against her but the grateful patients
join forces to protect her. A filmic and musical
interpretation of the Passion of Joan of Arc.
KornélMundruczó
Born in 1975 in Budapest. In 1998 he graduated from the Hungarian Academy of
Drama and Film as an actor and in the same year he began his studies as a film
director. During his years at the university he made several films which won many
recognitions both in and out of Hungary. His short films won awards in
Oberhausen, Krakow, Ludwigsburg, Imola and St. Petersburg among other places.
His film Pleasant Days won the Silver Leopard in Locarno in 2002 and other prizes
in Brussels, Sofia and Angers.
In 2003 Joan of Arc on the Night Bus was invited into Directors’ Fortnight in
Cannes and Delta,his film-plan was invited to the Festival de Cannes Résidance.
His diploma film Little Apocrypha No. 2 was the first Hungarian participant of
Cinéfondation.
He founded the production company Proton Cinema with Viktória Petrányi in 2004.
Director: Kornél Mundruczó
Screenplay: Kornél Mundruczó,
Viktória Petrányi
Co-Author: Yvette Bíró
Photography: Mátyás Erdély,
András Nagy
Editor: Vanda Arányi
Libretto: János Térey
Art director: Kornél Mundruczó
Costumes: János Breckl
Sound: Gábor Balázs
Music: Zsófia Tallér
Cast: Orsi Tóth (Eszter Wierdl),
Zsolt Trill (Tamás Kóbor), László Boldog,
Hermina Fátyol, István Gantner,
Dénes Gulyás, József Hormai ,
Sándor Kecskés , János Klézli,
Viktória Mester
Production company: Proton Cinema,
T.T. Filmmûhely
Production manager: Gábor Téni
Producer: Viktória Petrányi, Béla Tarr
filmography
2000: This I Wish and Nothing More /
Nincsen nekem vágyam semmi
2001: Day after Day / Afta (s)
2002: Pleasant Days / Szép napok
2003: Little Apocrypha No.1 / Kis Apokrif No.1 (s)
2003: Joan of Arc on the Night Bus /
A 78-as Szent Johannája (s)
2004: Little Apokrypha No.2 / Kis Apokrif No.2 (s)
2005: Lost and Found - Short Lasting Silence
(sketchfilm)
2005: Johanna
In development:
- Delta (feature science fiction)
- Devils Dreaming of bloodless crimes (feature)
5
Cannes
th
58 Cannes Film Festival
Slitfilm / Résfilm
(2005, short film, 35mm, colour, 12 min., cinemascope, DolbySR)
Director: Sándor Kardos
Screenplay: Sándor Kardos
Photography: Sándor Kardos
Narrator: László Helyey
Editor: Péter Politzer
Art director: Rita Dévényi
Costumes: Ádám Kisprumik
Sound: Rudolf Várhegyi
Cast: Nakagami Hisato, Yamada Ayaka,
Sámson Kardos, Abigél Balogh
Production company: Inforg Stúdió
Production manager: Judit Fodor
Producer: András Muhi
Based on Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s short story
The Handkerchief.
36th Hungarian Film Week
Best Experimental Short Film
filmography as a director
1983: The Beginning of Beautiful Trades /
A szép mesterségek kezdete (d)
1986: Anthem / Himnusz (with Péter Tóth Pál) (d)
1992: Sculptor Sándor Csutoros /
Csutoros Sándor szobrászmûvész (d)
1993: City of God (Interlude) /
Isten városa (Közjáték) (s / TV)
1997: Growing City / Növekvô város (s)
2003: Winning Ticket / Telitalálat (with Illés Szabó)
2005: Slitfilm / Résfilm (s)
Sándor
Kardos
Born in Budapest in 1944. Graduated in Hungarian literature /
linguistics and cultural management from the ELTE University,
then in cinematography from the Hungarian Academy of Drama
and Film.
Since 1979 he has been working as a cinematographer for the
Hungarian Film Production Company (MAFILM) and as a director
and DOP for the Hungarian National Television (MTV).
He has worked with great Hungarian directors like András Jeles,
Géza Bereményi, Péter Tímár.
He directed his first full-length feature film Winning Ticket /
Telitalálat with Illés Szabó in 2003.
His short film Slitfilm / Résfilm made in 2005 was awarded Best
Experimental Short Film Prize at the 36th Hungarian Film Week.
”Since I’ve been involved in film-making it has always bothered
me that images in films are too concrete and as such they
ignite the imagination but do not let it soar. The image seen in
the target of a slitcamera never exists in that particular form
in real life. Thus, contrary to traditional means of recording
images it isn’t designed to create the illusion of reality. In this
film an attempt is made to tell a story using a means that has
nothing to do with real experience.”
Sándor Kardos
(2003, short film, colour, 11 min.)
Vonaton / On a Train
Europe en courts: Films de l’Est
44th Semaine de la Critique
Zsolt, a young Hungarian fan of FC Bayern München is traveling on a night
train from Italy to Germany. He meets Timo, a Finnish student. Despite their
mutual interest, they don’t manage to communicate due to language barriers.
The story of a frustrating night journey.
Barnabás Tóth
filmography
Born in 1977, Strasbourg. Since his early
childhood he had played in theaters, tv programs
and films. After some business studies in English
and French, he had graduated at the Academy of
Tv, Drama and Film as director/producer in 2003.
He had written, acted and directed 9 short
films, including On a Train, Location Hunting,
Getting Even (2003) and Exhibition (2004).
Presently he is working on his first feature
script, Mon Guide. Founder and member of
“Momentán” theatre troupe.
As a member of the EFP Hungary has
participated in the Producers on the
Move programme at the Cannes Film
Festival since 2002:
András Muhi studied in the Faculty of Law
at the Eötvös Loránd University from 1975
and graduated as a Doctor of Law in 1980.
His first job after university was as a legal
advisor to the CSEPEL Iron and Metal
Works for twelve years and subsequently
became the company’s Managing Director
from 1995 to 2000.
András founded the production company
Inforg Stúdió Ltd in 1999 and received the
Best Short Film Producer Award at the 33rd
Hungarian Film Week in 2002.
The Golden Bird by István Szaladják was
awarded the Best European Short Film
in Naples at Corto Cicuito Short Film
Festival in 2001.
A year later, his production of Benedek
Fliegauf’s feature debut Forest and the
tragicomical socio-tale-musical Libiomfi
won him the Best Film Producer Award at
the Hungarian Film Week. Libiomfi also
picked up the Best Actor Award for Zoltan
Mucsi at the Film Week, while Forest was
Director: Barnabás Tóth
Screenplay: Barnabás Tóth
Photography: Przemyslaw Niczyporuk
Editor: Barnabás Tóth
Sound: Tristan Laurin
Music: Mandarine
Cast: Jyri Kahonen, Barnabás Tóth
Producer: Guillaume Desmartin
2004 — Exhibition / Kiállítás (s)
2003 — On a Train / Vonaton (s)
2003 — Location Hunting / (terep)SZEMLE (s)
2003 — Getting Even / Szerelem meg hal (s)
2002 - Our Car / A mi autónk
2001 — Feri Kiss Scores Big Time / Kiss Feri
tutira megy (s)
2000 - The Man Who Was Left Out / Az ember,
akit kihagytak (s)
2000 - Ageless People / Szépkorúak (d)
2002: Csaba Bereczki
2003: Viktórai Petrányi
2004: Gábor Forgács
2005: András Muhi, Inforg Stúdió
presented with the Simo Sándor Prize and
Gene Moskowitz Prize awarded by foreign
critics.
He was named the winner of the Best Film
Producer Award at this year’s Hungarian
Film Week for Fliegauf’s second film
Dealer which received numerous prizes
from such festivals as the Berlinale
(Forum), Wiesbaden’s goEast, Mar del
Plata Film Festival and Lecce’s European
Cinema Festival.
In addition, András produced a number
of shorts and documentaries, including
Péter Politzer’s Grenades (Gránátok)
which screened in the Critics Week at
Cannes in 2003.
Last year, he produced István Szaladják’s
Birdreleaser, Cloud, Wind and also
served as co-producer on another three
Hungarian and international features:
Bab’ Aziz by Nacer Khemir; Black Brush
by Roland Vranik; Paths of Light (A fény
ösvényei) by Attila Mispál.
PRODUCERS
ON THE E
MOV
Besides several other film projects in
development — like DecaDance by András
Monory Mész, Rise and Walk by András
Fésôs or Mutabor by Can Togay —
András attends the realisation of István
Szaladják’s next feature, The Crimson
Scroll, a philosophical samurai movie
taking place in the 1600’s in Japan.
This February, András attended the
Berlinale’s Co-Production Market with
Fliegauf to pitch the director’s next
feature, the English-language Fairy Ring
which is described as “a dark fantasy film
from deep within the forests of Europe...a
Greek tragedy as told by the Brothers
Grimm.”
7
H
1994 - 2004
ungarian short films all around the world
Wild Imaginations
Short film making has a very strong tradition in
Hungary. By providing the possibilities for
experiment and starting a career, Balázs Béla
Studio, which was established at the turn of the
1950s and 1960s, with its productions expanding
the limits of traditional expression, has
constituted a constant challenge for official film
making. In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s almost
all of the most important filmmakers of the
Hungarian cinema made films in that studio. By
the 1990s, however, Balázs Béla studio had lost
its significance. In the second half of the 1980s
non-professional workshops appeared on the
stage and the political changes completely
rearranged the situation.
The first half of the 1990s was the age of
transition: the old studios were already out of
operation while the new ones had not been
established yet and the young talents appeared
in a vacuum. There was no continuation to the
successful short films made by the young
filmmakers (Silver Age by Csaba Bollók, Angst,
Altamira by Attila Mispál, A Movie that
Disappeared by András Fésôs) who graduated
from film school at the time. It was no accident
that all of them had to wait long years before
getting the opportunity to make their first
feature films.
The turn was brought about by the establishment
of new workshops in the middle of the decade.
Duna Workshop was founded ten years ago to
support young filmmakers as well as short and
experimental films in Duna Television, a public
television channel. Although it is a television
workshop, it operates like an independent island
and it makes its productions, whenever possible,
on 35 mm film. It was a great help in making Duna
Workshop so widely known that its first film,
Wind, directed by Marcell Iványi won the Palme
d’or in Cannes in 1996.
Inforg Studio was also established in the mid
1990s and besides Duna Workshop, it soon
became an important short film producing studio.
Neither workshop specialises in short films only,
in the past few years they have produced a great
number of prize winning documentary and feature
films as well (the name Inforg Studio acquired
international fame after Forest and Dealer by
Benedek Fliegauf).
Besides Duna Workshop and Inforg Studio several
Bálint Kenyeres - Closing Time
young filmmakers debuted at independent film
festivals organised by the Hungarian Independent
Film and Video Association, moreover in the past
few years several other new studios and
workshops have been established. Thus, by the
millennium the ice had broken and it became
Lívia Gyarmathy - Our Stork
obvious that this genre is the base of operation for
young talents. However, contemporary Hungarian
short film can rely not only on young filmmakers
as in the past few years János Szász, Péter Gothár
and János Xantus have also come up with exciting
experimental shorts while Our Stork, an ironic and
playful short documentary directed by Lívia
Gyarmathy has received the European Film
Award.
Anecdotes, Novelettes and Short Stories
The motion picture anecdotes and few minute
long gag films constitute an especially exciting
area of Hungarian short films. In those films
which are designed to culminate in some kind of
a punch line the good initial idea and the
condensed narrative guarantee success. The
etude by Marcell Iványi mentioned above as well
as two short films (Closing Time, Before Dawn)
by Bálint Kenyeres are good examples of the
interrelation between and interdependence of
formal solutions and choice of subject. All three
films are based on basically one continuous shot
which is a means of creating tension and
presenting atmosphere. The point of the space
and story depicted with meticulous and slow
camera movements will only be revealed for us
in the very last moment. Wind tells the story of
a brutal execution in the „puszta”, Closing Time
is about a fight in a bar and Before Dawn, which
will be screened in competition at Cannes so I
don’t want to spoil it for you, reveals the secrets
of a quiet early morning meadow.
The structure of the short films by Péter
Mészáros is also based on omission and
deferment. After Rain and Kyrie tell about the
„deadlock” of a relationship with images of
nature and quiet passages, Who Is the Cat? is an
Hungarian Short Films awarded at International Film Festivals:
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Year
Festival
Title
Director
Prize
2003 Siena
18 Scenes from the Life of a Conserve Factory Girl
Ágnes Kocsis
Special Prize
2004 Houston, WorldFest
Joan of Arc on the Night Bus
Kornél Mundruczó
Bronze Remi Prize
2004 Tabor, Zabok
The House
Károly Ujj Mészáros
Main Prize
1996 Espinho, Cinanima
Song of the Sand
erenc Cakó
Special Prize
1999 Antalya, Golden Orange
Our Stork
Lívia Gyarmathy
Special Prize, Prize of the City Council of Antalya
1999 Bucharest, DaKINO
Our Stork
Lívia Gyarmathy
Special Prize
2000 European Film Academy
Our Stork
Lívia Gyarmathy
Best European Short Film
1999 Marseille, Vue sur les Docs
Our Stork
Lívia Gyarmathy
Planét Prize
2000 San Francisco, Golden Globe
AwardsOur Stork
Lívia Gyarmathy
Golden Spiral
2004 Houston, WorldFest
Smack in the Face
András György Dési, Gábor Móray
Bronze Remi Prize
2004 Antalya, Golden Orange
The Fox and the Raven
Ferenc Cakó
Best Animation Film, Public Jury’s Prize
2004 Houston, WorldFest
The Fox and the Raven
Ferenc Cakó
Golden Remi Prize
2004 Isfahan, Children and Young Adults Festival
The Fox and the Raven
Ferenc Cakó
Best Short Film
2000 Espinho, Cinanima
The Sexual Life of Fireflies
Pál Tóth
Special Prize, Audience Prize
2001 Cottbus
Day After Day
Kornél Mundruczó
Main Prize
2001 Imola
Day After Day
Kornél Mundruczó
First Prize
2001 Cracow
Day After Day
Kornél Mundruczó
Silver Dragon
Day After Day
Kornél Mundruczó
Prize of ARTE, Diploma of the Ecumenical Jury
2001 Oberhausen, Kurzfilmtage
2001 Saint-Petersburg
Day After Day
Kornél Mundruczó
Diploma
2001 Stuttgart - Ludwigsburg
Day After Day
Kornél Mundruczó
Second Prize
2000 Trencianske Teplice, ArtFilm
The Hanged
Péter Gothár
Bronz Key
2001 Targu-Mures, AlterNative
Stills
Mária Horváth
Prize of the DaKino Foundation
1998 Brno
Altamira
Attila Mispál
Audience Prize, Diploma of the Jury
1998 München, FilmFest
Altamira
Attila Mispál
Best Set Design: Krisztina Berzsenyi
1995 München, Student
13 Angyal Street
Péter Rátky
Best Set Design
2001 Naples, Corto Circuito
Golden Bird
Istrván Szaladják
Best European Short Film
2000 Sfintu-Gheorghe
Golden Bird
Istrván Szaladják
Best Short Feature
1999 Drama
Insurance
Nimród Antal
Best Cinematographer: Gyula Pados
2004 Madrid, Experimental Cinema Week
Shoes
Ferenc Török
Special Prize
2002 Targu-Mures, AlterNative
The Kingdom of Silence
Róbert Lakatos
Best Hungarian Film of the Region
2003 Moscow, Golden Knight
The Kingdom of Silence
Róbert Lakatos
Special Mention
1998 Trencianske Teplice, ArtFilm
Dencity 0.37
Kinga G.Tóth
Prize of the European Council
1995 Ankara
Cultural Manoeuvre at Night
Sándor Szilágyi Varga
Second Prize
2002 Antalya, Golden Orange
After Rain
Péter Mészáros
Best Dramatic Film
2002 Cannes
After Rain
Péter Mészáros
Palme d’Or
2004 Forio, Isola d’Ischia
After Rain
Péter Mészáros
Second Prize
2003 Motovun
After Rain
Péter Mészáros
Best Short Film
2003 Wellington, Drifting Clouds
After Rain
Péter Mészáros
Golden Dragon
1998 Houston, WorldFest
Euthanasia
Csaba Farkas
4th Prize of the Category
1994 Saint-Petersburg
Silver Age
Csaba Bollók
First Film Prize, Prize of the Russian Television
1998 Gavá, Environment and Culture
Nest
Ferenc Cakó
Best Animation Film, Main Prize of Gavá City
1999 Roma, Genzano di Roma
Nest
Ferenc Cakó
Special Prize
2004 Houston, WorldFest
Grenades
Politzer Péter
Platinum Remi Prize
2004 Houston, WorldFest
The Rubberman
Károly Ujj Mészáros
Silver Remi Prize
1996 Solothurn
Murder - They Said
Mihály Gyôrik
Gold Prize (ex aequo)
1994 München, Student
Single Hair and Hand-ball
Attila Mispál
Producers’ Prize
1994 Berlinale
Ash
Ferenc Cakó
Golden Bear
1994 Huesca
Ash
Ferenc Cakó
Second Prize
2004 Houston, WorldFest
Side-Track
Bence Makkai, Sándor Cs.Nagy
Gold Remi Prize
2002 Cottbus
Hypnos
Benedek Fliegauf
Special Prize
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9
ungarian short films all around the world
1994 - 2004
H
draws its inspiration from the great figures of
modernism, more exactly Akira Kurosawa’s
films, while Day after Day, Kornél Mundruczó’s
first serious festival hit, which also proved to be
the prototype of the feature film Pleasant Days,
mapped, in a series of hard, exact and dramatic
scenes, the eventless and violent everyday life of
the young people living in provincial towns. After
the finely stylized neo-realistic world of Day after
Day and Pleasant Days in the past years
Mundruczó has also made a detour into the world
of metaphoric and laconic short forms. After
Little Apocrypha No.1 in which he rounded the
paradoxes of identity and uniformity into
playful-philosophical etudes, Little Apocrypha
No.2 tells the story of a mysterious and strange
miracle.
Marcell Iványi - Wind
Neither are the special and unique genre
mixtures missing from the Hungarian short
eerie children’s drama from the times after the
war, and The Way of the Pig is a grotesque
parable of the bumpy road, full of potholes, which
leads to the united Europe.
The motion picture anecdotes described above
are the real festival winning success stories of
Hungarian cinema. Six years after the Wind,
After Rain by Péter Mészáros won the Palme d’Or
which goes to the best short film. Moreover,
stepping over the borderline of the strict criteria
of the genre, the special sand animations of
Ferenc Cakó, which have won prizes all over the
world, also belong to the series of world-creating,
metaphorical-philosophical anecdotes and
visions (Ashes, Song of the Sand, Vision).
Kornél Mundruczó - Day after Day
Péter Gothár - The Hanged
Remaining by the literary parallels, if a few
minute long film can be compared to an
anecdote, a twenty-thirty minute long one to a
short story. In this genre the unfolding of
the story and the tempo of the narrative gain
special importance. Ágnes Kocsis’s films
are characterised by a restrained style, the
presentation of the world and surroundings of
the heroes in detail instead of actions, the fine
irony of demonstrating everyday rottenness
(Assorted Letters, 18 Pictures from the Life of a
Conserve Factory Girl, Virus), István Szaladják’s
The Golden Bird, a beautifully photographed
court ballad of a very special atmosphere which
Péter Mészáros - After Rain
Kornél Mundruczó - Little Apocrypha No.1
films of the end of the old and the beginning of
the new millennium. Wild Imagination, a series
by Diana Groó are experimental films on the
borderline between creative art and animation
bringing to life paintings by Chagall, Renoir and
Rousseau, and Lover of Pirates, a painting
animation by Zsófia Péterffy, which won a UIP
Award in Venice, recreates the world of a Villon
Zsófia Péterffy - Lover of Pirates
ballad in an exciting and suggestive whirlpool
of world colours and wildly changing
compositions.
Wild Imaginations. When we talk about the
„new wave” in Hungarian cinema, besides
Hukkle, Pleasant Days, Kontroll and Dealer,
these exciting, colourful and varied short films
are also worth some attention.
Balázs Varga
Hungarian Short Films awarded at International Film Festivals:
Year
›
›
Festival
›
2003
Dresden, Filmfest
2002
Venice
1999
Trencianske Teplice, ArtFilm
›
›
Tabor, Zabok
2003
Targu-Mures, AlterNative
2003
Oberhausen, Kurzfilmtage
2003
Stuttgart - Ludwigsburg
2004
Belo Horizonte ISFF
2001
Targu-Mures, AlterNative
2002
Mallorca, Búger
›
›
2002
Stuttgart, Trickfilm
Houston, WorldFest
2000
Zagreb
1995
Annecy
1995
Berlinale
2003
2000
2003
2003
2000
2004
2000
2002
1996
1997
1996
1997
1997
1996
1997
2003
2003
2004
2004
2001
2001
2002
1999
1999
2003
1997
2002
2004
2004
1999
1999
2000
›
›
›
›
›
›
›
›
Little Apocrypha
Pub TV
Stones
›
›
›
›
Ferenc Cakó
›
My Baby Left Me
My Baby Left Me
›
›
›
Kornél Mundruczó
›
›
›
Prize of the Hungarian Film Laboratories
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
Special Prize
›
Best Sound: Gábor Balázs
Prize of the Rumanian National Film Institute
Best Animation Film
›
SWR Audience Prize
András Fésôs
›
Main Prize of Category
Special Diploma of Merit
Milorad Krstic
›
Silver Mikeldi
Kornél Mundruczó
›
›
Best Student Film
Special Mention
Kornél Mundruczó
Ferenc Cakó
Different Places
›
›
›
›
Kornél Mundruczó
László Káldy
Ferenc Cakó
›
Diana Groó
Péter Mészáros
Little Apocrypha
›
›
Prize
Youth Prize
Best European Short Film
Péter Mészáros
Little Apocrypha
Stones
Labyrinth
›
Kazinczy Street
Little Apokrypha No.2
›
›
›
Zsófia Péterffy
Who’s the Cat?
1998
1996
›
›
Director
Benedek Fliegauf
Who’s the Cat?
Bilbao, ZINEBI
2004
›
›
›
›
Lover of Pirates
2004
›
Title
Hypnos
Milorad Krstic
›
First Film 1st Prize
›
Silver Bear
›
›
› Prize of the Turkish Cultural Ministry
Targu-Mures, AlterNative › Days that were Filled with Sence by Fear › László Csáki › Main Prize
Targu-Mures, AlterNative › Pannon Hill › József Szolnoki › Best Non-Fiction Film
Bucharest, DaKINO › Butterfly › István Komár › Main Prize
Belo Horizonte ISFF › Psycho-parade › Ferenc Cakó › Best International Short Film awarded by the Critics
Targu-Mures, AlterNative › Ranbo 13 › Pál Balázs › Best Animation Film
Valladolid › Rendezvous › Ferenc Cakó › Prix UIP
Saint-Petersburg › And Now I’m Here › Attila Moharos › Diploma of Merit
Antalya, Golden Orange › Safari › Boglárka Pölcz, Róbert Pölcz › Best Experimental Film
Cannes › Wind › Marcell Iványi › Palme d’Or
Dresden, Filmfest › Wind › Marcell Iványi › Special Mention
Figueira da Foz › Wind › Marcell Iványi › Main Prize
Hannover › Wind › Marcell Iványi › Main Prize
Tampere › Wind › Marcell Iványi › Special Prize
Torino › Wind › Marcell Iványi › Third Prize
Vila do Conde › Wind › Marcell Iványi › Special Prize
Antalya, Golden Orange › Wild Imagination - Renoir’s Dreams › Groó Diana › Best Experimental Film
Targu-Mures, AlterNative › Wild Imagination - Renoir’s Dreams › Groó Diana › Prize of the Illyés Public Foundation
Houston, WorldFest › Wild Imagination - Renoir’s Dreams › Groó Diana › Silver Remi Prize
Plovdiv, Golden Chest › Wild Imagination - Rousseau’s Dreams › Groó Diana › Grand Prix
Diana Groó › Best European Video
Málaga, Unicaja video › Wild Imagination - Chagall’s Dream
Trencianske Teplice, ArtFilm › Wild Imagination - Chagall’s Dream › Diana Groó › FICC Prize, Prize of the Festival’s President
Evora › Wild Imagination - Chagall’s Dream › Diana Groó › Best Experimental Film
Antalya, Golden Orange › Funeral › János Szász › Best Short Feature
Cracow › Funeral › János Szász › Diploma of Merit
Targu-Mures, AlterNative › Bier-right or Deal by Blood › András Hatházi › Duna Workshop’s Prize
Trencianske Teplice, ArtFilm › Trapé › Diana Groó › Best Student Film
Vicenza › Vision › Ferenc Cakó › Prize of New Vision Category
Aubagne › On a Train › Barnabás Tóth › Audience Award
Cottbus › On a Train › Barnabás Tóth › Special Prize
Aubagne › Closing Time › Bálint Kenyeres › Special Prize
Flagstaff, WorldFest › Closing Time › Bálint Kenyeres › Bronze Prize
Targu-Mures, AlterNative › Closing Time › Bálint Kenyeres › Best Short Film
11
Antalya, Golden Orange
Na…bumm!
Péter Szoboszlay
Mokép
Hungarofilm Division
News
AS A RESULT OF OUR NEGOTIATIONS AT
THE HUNGARIAN FILM WEEK AND
BERLIN FILM MARKET WE HAVE SIGNED
SEVERAL NEW AGREEMENTS.
Television broadcasting
Like in the previous years, our guests invited to the Hungarian Film
Week returned to their countries with „packages” of Hungarian films.
The buyer of the Croatian Public Television acquired THE UNBURIED
MAN, while our parter from the Czech Republic chose HAPPY
BIRTHDAY! for his television audience. We are still awaiting their
decision regarding another 4-5 titles.
We licensed AFTER THE DAY BEFORE by Attila Janisch to television
companies in Australia, Finland and Slovakia. The „package” of the
latter one contains A LONG WEEK-END IN PEST AND BUDA by Károly
Makk and DEALER by Benedek Fliegauf amongst 7 other films.
The Slovakian Public Television also bought 5 features by BELA
TARR. The audience of the Finnish television can soon enjoy our cult
director’s WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES. New members from
Russia, Spain and Slovenia have joined our project of the
international DVD release of TARR oeuvre.
ARTE is going to broadcast HUKKLE and COLONEL REDL this year.
Interest in our documentaries has grown, especially towards NEW
ELDORADO that has currently been on offer in several countries. A
number of DVD distributors have shown interest in PURE FILM, we
are about to reach an agreement with a Russian and a French client.
KOLTAI’S DIARY by András and Klára Muhi is also in the center of
attention. Over ten television companies are going to inform us on
their decision regarding its acquisition shortly. POLIO by Ádám
Csillag is of similar interest in several countries of the world.
Our success at the DVD market continues. We have signed an
agreement with one of our American partners for distribution limited
to Hungarian expatriates of SMOULDERING CIGARETTE, DAD GOES
NUTS, MIRACLE FILM, BLIND GUYS and SOBRI. We are having
negotiations with another buyer from the USA about distribution in
English speaking territories of films directed by GYULA GAZDAG. As
a result of another deal American viewers will be able to purchase
DVDs of CANTATA, THE ROUND-UP, RED PSALM, MERRY-GOROUND and SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE in their video stores this year.
Theatrical releases:
HUKKLE premiered in Moscow on March 24, later on, Rostov and
Samara included it in their programs as well. DAMNATION is showing
in French theaters this spring being released with 5 prints. In
Transylvania those interested in Hungarian cinema can enjoy a wide
variety of films.
We have sold the rights of WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES, SONG OF
THE MIRACULOUS HIND, SCHOOL OF SENSES and THE WITNESS
AGAIN. Currently we are having negotiations regarding other titles
in the hope of new theater releases.
Suzanne Szigeti
Masha Muszely
[email protected]
12
National Film Office
reports
NATIONAL
FILM OFFICE
The National Film Office, in collaboration with the Ministry of
Cultural Heritage organized the first session of the Council of the
Motion Picture Co-ordination on 7th April, as it is laid down in the
annual Motion Picture Act.
The Council makes decisions on strategic issues, drafts
recommendations and the members implement their common
directives and decisions. It is an informal meeting to foster official
communication with legislative background among the actors of the
audiovisual field.
Four sectors are represented in the Council: the public
administration, the audiovisual public foundations, the public and
the commercial television channels and representatives of the film
industry.
According to the minutes the Council first approved the agenda and
the working scheme. Then the members discussed the harmonization
of the cinematographic public tenders and their most efficient
utilization.
The National Film Office is in charge of the organization and chairing
of the professional meetings between the sessions by involving
experts from the industry.
In the first quarter of 2005 the National Film Office issued tax
certificates for a total amount of 78 760 000 HUF (315 000 EUR) for
15 film productions: features, 5 documentaries and 2 short film.
Two European co-productions have just been shot in Hungary: „Joy
Division” produced by Hungarian Film Connection and the „Velvet
Side of Hell” by Eurofilm. In both productions Hungary is a coproducer.
Productions being shot, registered and financially supervised by the
National Film Office in order to be able to apply for the 20 per cent
tax credit:
“Copying Beethoven” produced by Eurofilm. It is a co-production
with Hungarian participation.
“The Day of Wrath” starring Christopher Lambert and Blanca
Marsillach, produced by Laurinfilm and co-produced by IMS 5
(UK) and Taznia Media S.L. (E).
The new feature film by the young director György Pálfi,
„Taxidermia / Taxidermy”, produced by Eurofilm and currently
being shot in Austria. It is a Hungarian co-production with
British and Austrian participation.
The Hungarian – Romanian – Italian co-production, „Az érsek
látogatása / The Archbishop’s Visit” (Zoltán Kamondi),
supported by the Eurimages and currently being shot in
Transylvania.
The remake of the Hungarian classic movie, „Egy szoknya, egy
nadrág / One Skirt, One Pants” by Europe 2000.
The DYN has already produced 30 episodes of the television
series „Sztárvár” and will probably get 120 more episodes to
work on.
The Decree on classification of Art Cinemas came into force at the
end of last year. The Decree allows for registered Art Cinemas to get
“automatic” public support.
Up till now there have been 40 registered cinemas, one third in
Budapest and two thirds in the countryside.
[email protected]
Magyar Filmlabor
HungarianFilmlaboratories
H-1021 Budapest, Budakeszi út 51. Phone: +36 1 391 0500 Fax: +36 1 394 3968
General Manager: István Erdélyi, Mr. E-mail: labor@filmlab.hu Homepage: www.filmlab.hu
The company is one of the largest and well equipped laboratory and post production facility in Central-eastern Europe. Their film processing possibilities
include colour as well as black and white negative development, negative cutting and printing services (16/35 mm). The standard film processing technology
is graded the highest possible (level A) by Kodak world-wide monitoring and controlled by Windens monitoring system. Some unique services are e. g. silver
re-developing, bleach bypass, flashings, push and pull processing, optical special effects including conversion of S-35 negative to cinemascope format and
blow-up. Colormaster analyzer is used for colour timing. They also offer laser subtitling technology.
Post production services consist of telecine transfer (Thomson telecine with DaVinci 2K and Aaton Keylink), film scanning, video editing (Avid, Smoke and
DPS Velocity HD), making special effects and compositing (Digital Fusion, Maya), digital restoration (Diamant), resolution independent digital film grading
and finishing (Baselight), optical sound recording (Dolby SR, SRD, DTS) and image recording (Arrilaser). They can work with PAL, NTSC and even HD standard
material. The laboratory also makes commercial spots with the full range of services.
With its background of professionalism and dedication spiked with revolutionary inventions to moving pictures, being on celluloid or in digits, their staff
provides a service matching flexibility to the often hectic demands of the film industry worldwide. A large number of award winning films have demonstrated
the high quality of the services.
Services in Hungarian Film Laboratories
NEGATIVE DEVELOPMENT
Windens Checking System
Kodak Kit Chemicals
TIMING
Colormaster analyser
Our grading team:
Éva Balogh, Judit Szép, Szabolcs Barta
TELECINE
da Vinci 2K colour corrector
Gallery reference storage
Defocus plus, Power Tiers
Our Colourist team:
Gabriella Für, Benedek Kabán, Ádám Halász
FILM SCANNING
Wet Gate (elimination of scratch/dirt!)
16/35mm film format
Pin registered scanning
2K/4K resolution
ANAMORPHIC TECHNOLOGY
Optical Transfer of Cinemascope negative
(from both S35 and S16 formats)
Anamorphic conversion
ARRI LASER IMAGE RECORDER
3,2 sec/frame
Academy and HD option
HD SERVICES
Real time HD grading and editing
Arri Laser image recording to 35mm film
DIGITAL STUDIO
2D and 3D effects
Film and Video Titles
Digital film restoration
BASELIGHT DIGITAL COLOUR
CORRECTION SYSTEM
Resolution independent (e.g. HD, 2K, 4K)
Traditional and Telecine style
primary colour correction
Unlimited Number Secondary Colour Correction
LASER OPTICAL SOUND RECORDING
MWA LLK3 optical sound camera
Dolby SR, SRD, DTS
Loudness Checking (Dolby Leq recommendation)
LASER SUBTITLING
3 CTM Debrie subtitle equipments
The first year of the MEDIA Desk Hungary
The MEDIA Plus Programme of the European Union
Hungary officially became member of the MEDIA Plus programme
aiming to support the European audiovisual sector on 1st May 2004.
Hungarian professionals have had the possibility to apply to MEDIA
Plus support for development, distribution, promotion, festivals,
trainings and several financial initiatives since the beginning of
2004. Tasks to provide information on the programme within
Hungary are handled by the MEDIA Desk Hungary headed by Ms
Enikô Kiss.
The interest for applying has been quite significant since the beginning
of the year, thus the personal consultations concerning the applications
had to begin simultaneously with the establishment of the office.
Later, all those interested could get information about the terms of
applications, European news and events from the homepage of the
office as well.
MEDIA Desk Hungary also aimed to help Hungarian audiovisual
professionals by informative presentations to prepare the applications
offered by the MEDIA Plus Programme more effectively. As a start the
(Nr. 66/2004) support for development was presented to nearly 70
Hungarian producers on 6th December 2004.
Results of the first year
Taking part in the MEDIA Programme has two advantages for
Hungary: on the one hand it means a financial support that when
combined with the national support makes the films and organisation
of events easier or in some cases at all possible. On the other hand it
also means the possibility to get into an international professional
network.
Within the area of MEDIA supports, distributors had the greatest
success. The well-known distributors working with European films
– like Budapest Film, Mokép, Best Hollywood, SPI, Cirko Film, Odeon
– won all kinds of support: selective, automatic, DVD-Video
distribution, etc. Of course other film companies aiming to present
films in Hungary had successful applications as well. Thus this
year’s films like Tais-toi (French), Kamel (The Story of the Weeping
Camel) (Mongolian-German), Schultze Gets the Blues (German),
Around the World in 80 Days (UK), Les choristes (French), Kopps
(Swedish-Danish) and Les rivieres pourpres 2: Les anges de
l’Apocalypse (French) were screened with MEDIA support.
At the distributors’ application of MEDIA, distributors from
different countries can apply together to screen certain films.
Thanks to this, Pleasant Days by Kornél Mundruczó and Kontroll
by Nimród Antal are to be presented in several countries in the near
future.
Our presence is also successful in the category of development.
Supports were given to four applicant companies for single projects
and two applicants for slate funding.
With the help of the television broadcasting support of MEDIA, a
documentary project by Engram Film and a feature film by the
production company EUROPA 2000 were supported as well.
Beside the older cinemas some new ones were accepted as members
of Europa Cinemas, the network of cinemas screening European
films. This way among others Bem Cinema, Belvárosi Cinema of
Szeged and Krúdy Cinema of Nyíregyháza became new members of
the Europa Cinemas.
There was a possibility to apply to MEDIA to organise training
courses, where Katapult Film is among the winners with their
scriptwriting course beginning in the summer 2005.
Anifest Film Festival and the International Animation Film Festival
of Kecskemét were also given support as part of the MEDIA support
for festivals.
13
The first year of the MEDIA Desk Hungary
The MEDIA Plus Programme of the European Union
In year 2004, 1.521.813 Euros were given to Hungarian applicants by
the MEDIA Plus Programme. Beside this amount, foreign distributions
of Hungarian films were also supported by 331.000 Euros.
that are supported by Hungary’s
new film law and tax refund
policies.
Application deadlines in 2005
SOURCES 2 organised its first
seminar of the year with the
contribution of Hungarian
Filmunió in Budapest between 1st
and 9th April, 2005. During the
course, scripts of three
Hungarian feature projects were
developed. István Szabó was
invited as guest at the traditional
Sources of Inspiration lecture of
the training.
66/2004 Support to development
(single projects, slate funding):
Deadline: 31 May 2005
87/2004 Support for television broadcasting
of European audiovisual works
Deadline: 4 May 2005 / 9 September 2005
01/2005 Support for the transnational distribution
of European Films – Selective Scheme
Deadline: 8 July 2005 / 1 December 2005
02/2005 Support for the transnational distribution
of European Films – Automatic Scheme
Deadline: 30 April 2005
03/2005 i2i Audiovisual
Deadline: 15 July 2005 / 16 January 2006
04/2005 Pilot Projects
Deadline: 26 June 2005
Events
Since Hungary joined the MEDIA Programme several trainings
concerning the European audiovisual area supported by the MEDIA
have been organised here. MEDIA Desk Hungary had a great part in
organising these and in the compilation of their professional
programmes.
“Cinema Exhibition in Europe – a New Approach”, an international
conference for cinema exhibitors was organised by MEDIA Salles
between 22nd and 26th September, 2004.
At the 36th Hungarian Film Week
MEDIA Desk Hungary was
represented by three events.
Firstly it aimed to give up-todate information to Hungarian
professionals
about
the
international
documentary
market during a documentary
panel
discussion
titled
“Documentary in Europe”. The
discussion was moderated by
János Vészi, representing Fórum
Film and the participants were the
director of One World Film Festival,
Igor Blazevic, the director of Jihlava International Documentary
Festival, Marek Hovorka, the representative of the European
Documentary Network, Ove Rishoj Jensen, the director of ESoDoc,
Heidi Gronauer and the study leader of Ex Oriente Film, Ivana
Milosevicova.
The second event of the Film Week concerning the MEDIA was a
lecture given by Gábor Greiner of the European Commission
concerning distribution supports.
Following the presentation, ten training courses from the European
Union (mostly concerning scriptwriting and producing) held a market
in the hall of Mammut cinema. The mini-market was held with the
participation of representatives of ESoDoc, Ex Oriente Film, Arista,
Katapult, SOURCES 2, Strategics, Vertical Strategy, East of Eden and
of NIPKOW Programm.
The aim of the training was to compare international experiences
acquired within the field of cinema exhibition and marketing that has
– as expressed by the message of Costas Daskalakis, the head of the
European Union MEDIA Programme – “is all the more important in a
sector like cinema exhibition,
where cultural content and
business aspects exist side
by side”.
“Finance and Distribution:
Introduction
to
the
Market”, a seminar of
the training programme,
EAVE, primarily targeting
producers was held in
Budapest between 15th and
22nd November, 2004.
During the seminar’s
co-production
forum,
participants were informed
of all aspects of possible coproductions in Hungary,
including those conditions
14
www.mediadesk.hu
36 th H u n g a r i a n F i l m W e e k
The jury of feature films has awarded the following prizes:
Main Prize: BLACK BRUSH directed by Roland Vranik
Best Director: Péter Gárdos for THE PORCELAIN DOLL
Prize for Visual Expression: Áron Gauder for THE DISTRICT
Best First Film: Attila Mispál for PATHS OF LIGHT
Best Cinematography: Gergely Pohárnok for BLACK BRUSH
Best Screenplay: József Pacskovszky, Pál Sándor, Francisco Gózon for SEE YOU IN SPACE!
Best Producer: Péter Miskolczi and Gábor Váradi for PATHS OF LIGHT
Best Producer: Gábor Garami for WHO THE HELL IS BONNIE & CLYDE and for A MIRACLE IN CRACOW
Best Producer: Ágnes Pataki, István Major, Gábor Kovács, András Muhi for BLACK BRUSH
Best Actress: Dorka Gryllus for DALLAS PASHAMENDE
Best Actor: György Cserhalmi for THE UNBURIED MAN and PATHS OF LIGHT
Best Supporting Actress: Ildikó Tóth for SEE YOU IN SPACE!
Best Supporting Actor: Sándor Csányi for THE PORCELAIN DOLL, STOP MOM THERESE! And PATHS OF LIGHT
Best Editor: Péter Politzer for PATHS OF LIGHT
Best Sound: Gábor Balázs for DALLAS PASHAMENDE, PATHS OF LIGHT and STOP MOM THERESA!
The Gene Moskowitz Prize awarded by the foreign critics:THE PORCLAIN DOLL directed by Péter Gárdos
People’s choice via Internet: ARGO by Attila Árpa
Most Successful Movie in Cinemas in 2004: Gábor Herendi HUNGARIAN VAGABOND
Experimental and Short Film Category:
Prize for Best Direction & Cinematography:
Bálint Kenyeres director & Mátyás Erdély cinematographer for BEFORE DAWN
Best Short Film: THE CAROUSEL RITE directed by Zoltán Gayer and Péter Molnár
Best Experimental Short Film: SLITFILM directed by Sándor Kardos
The jury of documentary films has awarded the following prizes:
Main Prize: NEW ELDORADO directed by Tibor Kocsis
Special Prize of Duna Television: IF THERE WAS A GREEN HOUSE directed by János Litauszki
Best Director: Ágota Varga for DESCENDANTS
Best Director: Dezsô Zsigmond for SNAIL FORTRESS
Best Documentary: Gábor Balog and Zoltán Hajdú Farkas for ABOUT BETRAYAL
Best Documentary: Anna Páskándi Sebôk for TRANSYLVANIA 1956
Best Cinematography: Gábor Xantus for GOD’S PEOPLE MAN’S PEOPLE
Best Cinematography: Tibor Bucsek for PICTURE WRITER
Prize of the Ministry of Youth, Family, Social Affaires and Equal Opportunities:
JOURNEYS WITH A MONK directed by Ibolya Fekete
Schiffer Pál Prize: Tivadar Fátyol for ROAD TO DEATH
Special Mention for DUNATÁJ FOUNDATION
International Visegrad Fund Award: Dezsô Zsigmond for SNAIL FORTRESS
15
36th Hungarian Film Week — Pr
More than 120 foreign critics, festival directors and guests came
Saturday to Budapest for the Magyar Film Week, the annual review of
Hungary’s latest feature and documentary films. The event is the
country’s leading movie showcase and has been a fixture on the
European festival calendar since 1965.
THR, Nick Holdsworth
th
The 36 edition of the Hungarian Film Week
saw a major admission increase this year,
according to the organisers. They were nearly
48,000 — a 5,000 increase on last year.
Screen International,
Blanka Elekes Szentágotai
This Tuesday, the 36th edition of Hungary’s most important
cinema event, the Hungarian Film Week is starting in
Budapest. Until the 8th of February, the best of this year’s
national productions will be put on the screen at the Mammut
Multiplex and the Millennium Center. 21 full length fiction
works are in competition, amongst which 11 have never been
shown before. 36 short films and 42 documentaries will be
running.
Cineuropa, Fabian Lemercier
Fekete kefe helmer Vranik Roland’s dark comic drama about fraudulent
chimney sweeps in modern-day Hungary, won film honors at the 36th
Hungarian Film Festival…
Variety, Johna Nadler
Fekete kefe an arty black-and-white film about four men posing
as chimney sweeps who search for answers to life’s problems in
a goat’s stomach after a disastrous afternoon, took top honors
Tuesday at the closing awards of the 36th Hungarian Film Week
in Budapest.
THR, Nick Holdsworth
The Hungarian New Wave has another director to add to its shooting
stars. Fekete kefe, Roland Vranik’s first feature film, was elected Best
Film at the 36th Hungarian Film Week, the showroom for Magyar
productions.
Cineuropa, Fabien Lemercier
Black Brush directed by the young film director Roland Vranik won the
main prize this year. The jury emphasised the innovative film language
and the team work serving the creative aims with extraordinary
exactitude.
Le JFB, Bérengére Petit
József Pacskovszky has once again proven
himself … with this year’s competition entry See
You in Space!. This bittersweet love story was
shot in multiple locations, languages and with
acting talent from several countries, making it
also a likely hit on the festival circuit.
Ontheglobe.com,
Blanka Elekes Szentágotai
16
Once again, the Budapest Film Week bore witness of the vitality of the
Hungarian film profession… Hungary is the only one in the rank of EastEuropean countries which has shown relentless activity in cinema since
the Berlin wall came down. Among the high standard and original works
convention-breaking Death Rode out of Persia by Putyi Horváth stands out.
Il Manifesto, Sergio Micheli
The Hungarian Film Week has been held for the 36th time. All the films
produced in the past year are screened, which gives a true reflection not
only of the cinema but much more of the economic, sociological and
political situation of the whole country.
… a film, which is characterized by bravura of form as it used to be a
tradition in Hungary, a film, which at last concentrates not on what it
wishes to talk about, but what cinema actually is: Death Rode out of
Persia, directed by Putyi Horváth, produced by Béla Tarr.
L’Humanité, Jean Roy
ess Reactions
snoitcaeR sserP — ke
Reviews by Eddie Cockrell in the
Black Brush
A widescreen black-and-white slacker comedy featuring droll wit and a keen sense of
timing coated in a dreamlike ennui, Black Brush … is now poised to rep the new
generation of Magyar filmmakers at high-profile international fests …
The Porcelain Doll
Three novellas incorporating elements of resurrection, rural life and mystical realism
are woven into a magic carpet of thought-provoking fables a la O. Henry or Rod Serling
in the distinctively whimsical The Porcelain Doll. … arresting visuals and supernatural
vibe … amateur performances of disarming honesty.
Who the Hell’s Bonnie and Clyde?
The time-honored tale of young lovers on the run from the law gets a thoroughly modern
Central European makeover in director Krisztina Deák’s provocative yet determinedly
low-key character study, “Who the Hell’s Bonnie and Clyde” … shrewdly-structured script
… breakout leading turn by young Ráczkevey as the nubile, headstrong Lili.
Colossal Sensation!
Expanding on the political humor of his 1998 comedy May Day Mayhem, veteran farceur
Róbert Koltai’s new romp, Colossal Sensation! sets the tumultuous lives of twin circus
clowns against watershed moments in Hungarian history. … genial way with a gag and
Chaplinesque sentimental streak …
Bedlam
If Kevin Smith, or maybe Quentin Tarantino, had directed It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad
World, entirely on the grounds of an eastern European apartment complex, the results
would look very much like adrenalized … action comedy Bedlam
17
COMING SOON
Árpád Bogdán
Boldog Új Élet! / Happy New Life
(working title)
Producer: Gábor Sipos, Gábor Rajna
Production company: Laokoon Film
Shooting: November 2004 —
February 2005, Budapest
Expected completion: July 2005
hopeless way love fades away. A story
about a young couple who live their
everyday life watching commercials, cheap
quizzes and football matches on
television.
Tibor Szemzô
Csoma legendárium / Csoma Legendry
Producer: György Durst
Production company:
Mediawave 2000, Duna TV
Shooting: September 2003 —
July 2004, India
Expected release: September 2005
Production company:
Honeymood Films (H)
Co-produceers: MediaPro Pictures (R),
GAM Film (I), Focus Film (H)
Shooting: December 2004 —
August 2005, Hargitafürdô (R), Roma (I)
Expected release: February 2006
Photo: Ildi Hermann
Beyond drawing on the (well justified)
fears generated by a love affair, the story
wishes to tell about the helpless situation
of young people who grew up under state
care. Throwing away or denying the
past often drag the young people, who
have been released into LIFE with
capital letters, into actions with serious
consequences. Their desires oscillate
between unrealistic and vegetative aims.
Their relationships and love affairs
often end in tragedy because they are
unprepared and have little experience. The
desire to belong to someone is very strong,
not so the patience and endurance to build
up a relationship.
The main character is a Romani boy who
grew up in a state orphanage. In his
situation those deficiencies are even more
manifold.
Péter Mészáros
Cythere
Producer: György Durst, András Dávid
Production company: Mediawave 2000
Shooting: September 2004—
November 2005, Greece, Hungary
Expected release: Spring 2006
Gabriel Ventuza leaves Rome to fetch the
mortal remains of his father from a never
heard of remote corner of the world.
Arriving robbed, without any money or
papers, he cannot leave the wracked little
town for years. Love, hatred, betrayal and
friendship are swirling around and
towards him.
„A great many books and films have
discussed Sándor Kõrösi Csoma’s trip, his
oeuvre and his scientific and linguistic
significance. I do not wish to provide
yet another biography or yet another
interpretation, although the script has
been inspired by moments of his life and
his fate.”
Tibor Szemzõ
Gyula Nemes
Egyetleneim / My One and Onlies
Producer: György Durst
Production company:
Mediawave 2000, Duna TV
Shooting: November 2003 —
August 2004
Expected release: September 2005
Szabolcs Hajdu
Fehér tenyér / White Palms
Producer: Iván Angelusz, Ágnes Pataki,
Péter Reich, Production companies:
Katapult Film, Filmpartners
Shooting: February —
June 2005, Dunaújváros, Debrecen,
Budapest, Calgary, Las Vegas
Expected completion: January 2006
A sports story based on real events about
the friendship, which forms with difficulty,
between an Olympic champion Canadian
gymnast and his Hungarian coach, their
rivalries, failures and victories.
A striker’s last day and big love. Several
hundred girls and several thousand cuts
with radical urban folk music.
The film is a bitter, present-day adaptation
of one of the most mysterious paintings of
the 18th century, Setting Off for the Island
of Cythere. It is about the grey and
18
Zoltán Kamondi
Az érsek látogatása / The Archbishop’s
Visit
Producer: Zoltán Kamondi
Péter Gárdos
Az igazi Mikulás / The Real Santa
Producer: Dénes Szekeres
Production company:
Tivoli Filmproduction
Shooting: January - March 2005
Expected completion: October 2005
Expected release: 6 December 2005
Films in Production
Csaba Bollók
Miraq
Producer: Ágnes Csere
Production company: Merkelfilm
Shooting: 2003-2004, Hungary
Expected release: February 200
The film follows the story of a successful
police investigation. Its protagonist is a sublieutenant of Gypsy origin with a degree in
law who does his job mostly as a lonely hero.
Because of his origin and his wife who has
come home to live from America he becomes
the target of social prejudice. This is
aggravated by a police case in which the
suspect happens to be a Gypsy as well…
Maniac meets bar pianist, when little girl
meets one-legged Santa in the snowcovered City — a struggle for life and death.
Péter Bacsó
A Lumnitzer nôvérek /
The Lumnitzer Sisters
Producer: Pál Sándor, Dénes Szekeres
Production company:
Hunnia Film Studio,
Tivoli Filmproduction
Shooting: May — June 2005
Expected completion: December 2005
Expected release: February 2006
Olivér and Ficskó, the two heroes of the
film are devoted restaurant reviewers.
They fight passionately for the honour and
standard of the art of cooking and scourge
the bunglers and hucksters in vitriolic
voices.
István Szaladják
Madárszabadító, felhô, szél /
Bird Releaser, Cloud, Wind
Producer: András Muhi, István Major,
Attila Csáky, Production companies:
Inforg Studio, Filmteam, Cameofilm
Shooting: July 2004, Hungary
Expected release: Autumn 2005
The film tells the story of how Bird
Releaser, a man of a strong and
independent character, meets a peasant
boy. As they are going in the same
direction, the boy joins the strange man
and during their wanderings they talk
about life and death as well as the
importance of sacrifice. A new world opens
up for the boy The Bird Releaser is free and
carefree. He is a man possessing the
knowledge that puts him beyond the world
of the everyday mind.
Gábor Dettre
Romazsaru / Romacop
Producer: László Kántor
Production company:
Új Budapest Filmstúdió
Shooting: July — August 2005,
Budapest, Bucharest
Expected release: February 2006
Mark, by way of an accident, ‘falls out of
time’, and finds himself in a different
world, that is, the territory of Miraq.
Ákos Barnóczky
Pesti Harlem / Budapest Harlem
Producer: György Dora
Production company: New Balance
Shooting: Budapest
Expected release: September 2005
Nándor Lerner is a successful but slightly
smug building contractor. One single
mistake is enough for him to suddenly find
himself in a world totally strange for him.
In a single minute he loses his car, his
stocks and shares worth several million
and even his beautiful girlfriend. At such
times other people turn to their friends.
However, he never had any.
Since he has no hope to find help
anywhere else, he makes friends with
Veréb, the Romani car mechanic who
enjoys singing even though he is tone
deaf, and his two companions, Ricsi, the
rambunctious Elvis imitator and the
taciturn Robi, who lives only for women
and fights. They have a single day to jump
into Veréb’s newly tuned 1200, get back
everything and overcome all evil as well
as the prejudices they have deep down
against one another.
Our list is based on information provided by the production companies.
György Pálfi
Taxidermia / Taxidermy
Produced by Eurofilm Stúdió (H),
Amour Fou Filmproduktion (A),
Memento Films Production (F),
Production company: Eurofilm Stúdió
Shooting: May 2004 — April 2005,
Hungary, Austria
Expected completion: December 2005
Taxidermy is a family saga in three
different eras, during the last 50 years of
the 20th century, and today, at the
beginning of the 21st. Grandfather - the
founder, father — culmination, the son —
decadence.
Filmunió
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Tel: +36-1 351-7760
Fax: +36-1 352-6734
E-mail: [email protected]
Lay-out by Arktisz Stúdió
Translated by Annamária Róna
Printed by Gelbert Kft.
HU ISSN 1785-4865
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