Hungarian Conservative

The 110th anniversary of Hungarian animation is the featured theme of this year’s Budapest Classic Film Marathon, taking place from 17 September to 2 October for the seventh time. Besides animated works, the marathon will feature over a hundred restored classics and long-unseen film treasures across ten programme blocks.

A film drama about taxi hyenas; a documentary about one of the greatest masters of Hungarian animation, Attila Dargay; a feature film about a doctor working in an intensive care unit; and an experimental short film titled Flódni have received production support from the television committee of the National Film Institute (NFI).

The preparatory work lasted three years, while the filming took one year. Director Orsi Nagypál mentioned that reading the foundational novels written by Hungarian contemporary author Mór Bán on the 15th century military leader John Hunyadi, known as the Turk-buster, allowed her to work more authentically and portray the characters’ living conditions and customs more vividly.

The festival will feature productions made for cinema, television, and streaming platforms in various genres; overall, around a hundred Hungarian films will be screened in Veszprém, Balatonfüred, and Balatonalmádi at a total of twelve venues.

The documentary will be premiered to the public on 14 June at the MOZ.GO Hungarian Film Festival, and is also expected to be available on streaming platforms.

More than a hundred Hungarian films will be available on nineteen television channels, rarely seen Hungarian films will be screened in cinemas, and almost all streaming platforms available in Hungary will join the celebration of Hungarian film starting on 29 April, the National Film Institute announced.

The film is a valuable contribution to keeping the spirit and memory of the 1848 revolution and freedom fight alive by transforming distant historical figures into flesh and blood people in a credible and compelling way. It deserves merit also because, in a brave move, it attributes a prominent role in the events to Júlia Szendrey, Petőfi’s wife, paying tribute to this tragic-fated woman who became a renowned poet, writer and translator in her later life.

The production supported by the National Film Institute also include a series titled The Nation’s Golden Boys is in the making, focusing on the Hungarian men’s water polo team that won three consecutive Olympic gold medals between 2000 and 2008, and a documentary film that depicts the life of Ferenc Xavér Éder, a Jesuit missionary who was one of the first Hungarian travellers to set foot in Peru and who served as a missionary among the Moxos Indians for twenty years in the 18th century.

Throughout the years, Hungary has produced a cornucopia of iconic, memorable cartoons, for both film and television, such as Marcell Jankovics’s TV series Magyar Népmesék (Hungarian Folk Tales, 1980–2012), or Béla Ternovszky’s animated feature comedy Macskafogó (Cat City, 1986).

The fifteen-minute documentary focuses on the early challenges of Hungarian cinema history, including the flammability of nitro celluloid film reels, which resulted in numerous tragic fires during the silent film era.

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 NFI’s decision-making committee voted to support the production of six different television works.

At a press conference in Budapest, producer Tamás Lajos disclosed that there are ongoing negotiations with international streaming services, expressing optimism regarding the film’s success abroad.

National Film Institute Director Csaba Káel emphasized in his remarks before the screening that in recent years, Hungary has hosted landmark productions that have established Budapest as the second biggest film hub in Europe after London. The list of international blockbusters and critically acclaimed films shot in Hungary continues to grow and Hungary has shown itself as a versatile, captivating background for cinematic storytelling.

Lajos Koltai’s film, produced by the Szupermodern Film Studio with the support of the Hungarian National Film Institute (NFI), portrays the life and work of Ignác Semmelweis, the world-famous Hungarian obstetrician who challenged traditional theories and sought to combat one of the most devastating diseases of the 19th century, puerperal fever.

The documentary is narrated by Hollywood actress Ema Horvath, who also worked on the prequel series to ‘The Lord of The Rings’.

Blokád was not only popular on Netflix, but was also successful in cinemas and became the most watched Hungarian drama film of the year in 2022, earning nearly 99 million forints in cinemas. Some 58,000 people bought tickets for it, and it was shown in cinemas for 22 weeks.