Hungarian Conservative

‘I agree with those who think that historical authenticity should not be scrutinized in a historical adventure movie, because it should primarily work with exciting characters and a story that simply draws from historical events but does not aspire to document them. I still wonder where the vision of the course of history and its essential moments, mentioned by the producer, are to be found in the movie?’

The objective of the initiative is to promote Hungarian films, foster audience engagement, and enhance the cultural and community life of rural settlements, as announced by the institute on Wednesday.

The First World War is known as the first dreadful and devastating armed conflict that engulfed almost the entire world. However, a chain of events during the December of 1914, known as the ‘Christmas truce’, showed that humanity and brotherly love could prevail over the senseless killing, if only for a brief time.

The best-known Hungarian language youth novel, The Paul Street Boys, written by Ferenc Molnár, was first publish in 1907 and it has enjoyed unbroken popularity ever since.

The opening film of the festival is Kim Hee-jung’s 2023 work titled Where Would You Like to Go? which, like the director’s previous films, deals with a profound life event and, more specifically, the altered perception of reality resulting from it.

The international celebrity last visited Hungary in 2010 when she directed her first film, In the Land of Blood and Honey. After 13 years, she is returning to Budapest to shoot a film about the world-renowned opera singer Maria Callas.

Despite the Hungarian fervour and the crime plot introduced and dropped in the story, the film was no success. Hungarian viewers could not relate to the characters in a film portraying an overseas world.