Producer Tamás Lajos described Dragons over Kabul as the most CGI-intensive Hungarian film ever made during a press event on Monday. He said the project was driven by the belief that the bravery, patriotism and sense of duty of Hungarian soldiers had never before been depicted in a fitting dramatic feature film.
According to Lajos, almost every landscape, backdrop and set was enhanced digitally, allowing the filmmakers to shoot the Kabul-set production entirely within Hungary.
Asked about the film’s romantic subplot, he stressed that it is purely fictional—an artistic addition created to serve dramatic storytelling. ‘This is a feature film, a tale that could have happened, but not in this way,’ he said.
Directed by Zsombor Dyga, the war action film portrays Operation Shaman Shield, Hungary’s 2021 rescue mission in Kabul. Dyga highlighted the emotional weight of filming with extras who had lived through the real evacuation. ‘We brought many of them back into the very situation they faced three years earlier, where they once fought for their own lives,’ he said.
Colonel Péter Simon, serving as a military advisor, praised the film’s authenticity. He said its dramatic tone does not stray far from the reality of 2021 and noted that he personally knew the real counterparts of several characters. The film, he added, compresses events that genuinely occurred during the Hungarian Defence Forces’ 18-year deployment in Afghanistan. He expressed pride in how the army conducted the operation.
Actress Blanka Mészáros said she was drawn to her role as a doctor because it captures the tension between life-saving duty and real danger. Actor Gábor Jászberényi compared the atmosphere on set to military service, pointing to similar hierarchies and the importance of fulfilling one’s role toward a shared mission.
Dragons over Kabul is produced by Szupermodern Stúdió with support from the National Film Institute, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence and the Hungarian Defence Forces. The film is a co-production with Sárkányok Produkció Ltd and MTVA.
The screenplay is by Áron Horváth, with cinematography by Tamás Dobos and editing by Béla Barsi and Júlia Hack. The cast also includes Tamás Borovics, Dávid Hajmási, Gusztáv Dietz, Nóra Trokán, Zsombor Ertl and András Stohl.
The film will premiere in Hungarian cinemas on 20 November, depicting the high-stakes Kabul rescue mission carried out by Hungarian soldiers.
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