Newsletter of Magyar Filmunió May

Newsletter of Magyar Filmunió May. 2008. No. 14.

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3 MOVE ON THE PRODUCERS www.filmunio.hu • Városligeti fasor 38. 1068 Budapest, Hungary • HU ISSN 1785-4865 E-mail: [email protected] • • Printed by Gelbert Ltd. Fax: +36 1 352-6734 Published by Magyar Filmunió • • • CANNES FILM FESTIVAL CANNES FILM Hungarian Film Week st th Producers on the Move / EFP 61 8 Dániel Erdélyi: 411-Z 4 DELTA Kornél Mundruczó: 10 M. Tóth: ERGO Géza 13 WOMB Benedek Fliegauf: 13 Dalma Hidasi 14 and Hungary The MEDIA Program 15 39 16 in Production Final Cut – Films OKM MAGYAR FILMUNIÓ IS SUPPORTED BY: Contents FILMUNIÓ NEWSLETTER Phone: +36 1 351-7760 Layout by Arktisz Stúdió KORNÉL MUNDRUCZÓ

In the past twenty years he is the second Hungarian director whose film has been chosen for the Competition in the Cannes Film Festival. We talked to Kornél Mund- ruczó about the relationship between the never-realized first version of his film and his final Delta, about “existence films” and the director’s five-year-old relationship with Cannes.

What is Delta about? Love and the lack of tolerance.

Delta could easily be read as a product of your mourning process following the tragic death of Lajos Bertók, the protagonist of the first version of the film, and the loss of the film itself. Do you agree with this inter- pretation? The mourning process did not influence the story itself, but the way I see the world. As to the communication between the two films, that’s something I’m not interested in at all; they have nothing to do with each other. However, I have obviously changed as a result of Lajos’s death, it’s a life experience that will always lead my pen from now on. Having talked so much about the never-realized first version of the film, I am now reluctant to discuss any of my film projects, because they always turn out differently from what I plan. This experience has taught me that if I talk about my film, people will expect it to be exactly as I described it in spite of the fact that film is a living material and it changes during the course of production. If you treat film as a living material you can’t take the script too seriously, because if you hold on to the written words too tightly, your film will turn out dead in a way. However, in the films that I call “exis- Film is a living material tence films” the emphasis is on what develops between two people in front of the camera and not on whether the dialogue is witty or not. © Erdély Mátyás

Could you elaborate on the concept of “existence ﬁlms”? I’m interested in whatever develops between two people for real. I want to cap- ture the reality of what happens at that exact place and time. I’m fascinated by people’s instincts. If there is a girl and there is a boy and they fall in love and there is a camera which captures it on ﬁlm, then that’s

KORNÉL MUNDRUCZÓ 2005: Lost and Found – Short Lasting Silence (sketch ﬁlm) Born in 1975 in Gödöllô, Hungary. 1994–1998. Hungarian University of Drama, Film and Television, 2004: Little Apocrypha No.2 (short) Budapest – actor Huesca 2005: Youth Jury’s Special Mention, Belo Horizonte 1999–2004. Hungarian University of Drama, Film and Television, 2004: Best Sound: Gábor Balázs Budapest – director 2003. Scriptwriting scholarship at Cannes Film Festival’s 2003: Joan of Arc on the Night Bus (short) Cinéfondation, Paris Houston 2004: Bronze Remi Award 2004. Balázs Béla Award 2005. Nipkow Programm, Berlin 2002: PLEASANT DAYS 2005. Gold Cross of Merit of the Republic of Hungary Angers 2004: Best Actress: Orsi Tóth, Best Actor: Tamás Polgár, CINESSONNE 2004: Best Actress: Orsi Tóth, Kata Wéber, 2008: DELTA Brussels 2003: Main Prize – Iris Award for Best First Film, RTBF Hungarian Film Week 2008: Golden Reel – Main Prize, Best TV Award for Best Film, Soﬁa 2003: Main Prize, Hungarian Film Original Music: Félix Lajkó, Gene Moskowitz Prize awarded by Week 2002: Gene Moskowitz Prize, Special Prize of the Jury, the foreign critics Best Supporting Actress: Orsi Tóth, Locarno 2002: Silver Leopard

2005: JOHANNA 2001: Day after Day (short) Aubagne 2006: Special Prize of the Jury, Hungarian Film Week Hungarian Film Week 2001: Best Short Film, Cottbus 2001: 2006: Best Cinematography: András Nagy, Best Actress: Orsi Tóth, Main Prize, Imola 2001: First Prize, Cracow 2001: Silver Dragon, Best Original Music: Zsófia Tallér, FANTASPORTO 2006: Special Ludwigsburg 2001: Second Prize, Oberhausen 2001: Prize of Prize of the Jury, Best Actress: Orsi Tóth, Brussels 2005: L’Age d’Or ARTE, Diploma of the Ecumenical Jury, Stuttgart–Ludwigsburg Prize, Cottbus 2005: Special Mention, Puchon PiFan 2005: Best 2001: Second Prize, Saint-Petersburg 2001: Diploma of the Jury Actress: Orsi Tóth, Seville 2005: Special Prize of the Jury 5 6 Then how do you communicate it? aren’t stuckin their roles,butareliving, communicate you There arenoroles.Ilookfor actors who do how Then them? with this It’s somethingtheyachieveinthemselves. achieve you do How they reallydoenterthatroom. not like“I,theactor,enterthisroom”,but their acting.Whentheyenteraroomit’s who arewillingtobemodelsandnotuse with work Iusethemasmodels.workwithactors you – way the affect this does How conceived. be differentfromwhatyouhaveoriginally each otherandtheyformastory.Whichcan Then youplacetheseslicesofrealitynextto only whathappensinfrontofyourcamera. same istrueforfilm,whatimportant fantastic tensionbetweenthecolours.The what youpaint,isimportantonlythe example: Matissesaidthatitdoesn’tmatter turns ofthestory.Icanillustratethiswithan left simplywiththedramaturgictwistsand girl doesn’tfallinlovewiththeboy,you’re an eternalmoment.Ontheotherhandif your actors? your last year and now now and year last only have there years twenty past the In about them. everybody willgettoknoweverything era. Andthisisnosmallthing,because the sacrificeofstandinginfrontmycam- breathing beings,whoarewillingtomake Hungarian films have been present almost present been have films Hungarian been two Hungarian films in competition in competition in films Hungarian two been every year in the various selections of the of selections various the in year every Cannes, Béla Tarr’s Tarr’s Béla Cannes, festival, and you have a relatively long his- long relatively a have you and festival, tory with the festival. the with tory The ManfromLondon Delta. However, of thisIwasabletoworkonthe A Bus Came… Bus A with myshortfilm, The firsttimeIwenttoCanneswasin2003 short, of theOfficialSelection.Thenextyearmy important partsoftheselectionastheyare innovation thatshortfilmsshouldbeas ‘Quinzaine desRéalisateurs’anditwashis when FrançoisDaSilvatookoverthe made Yes, Ihadwonthescholarshipbefore with And European andproudofit.Friendshipswere ty whichmademerealizethatIamEastern- example Iwentthroughasearchforidenti- was usefulformeinanumberofways, freed myselffromBudapest.TheRésidance could workthereveryeffectivelybecauseI that weweregoingtowritetogether.I time Ispentthereitbecameevidenttous Yvette Bíró,wholivesinParisandduringthe in Parisforsixmonths.Myconsultantwas the ‘UnCertainRegard’selection. feature, in theCinéfondation,and2005mythird Night Bus, Night ent as early as the development of the first the of development the as early as ent version of the script, as you have been cho- been have you as script, the of version sen to take part in the Cinéfondation the in part take to sen Résidence program, haven’t you? haven’t program, Résidence Little Apocrypha No. 2 No. Apocrypha Little Little Apocrypha No. 2 No. Apocrypha Little Johanna Delta, which wasoriginallypartofthe sketch film.Itwastheyear the festival has been pres- been has festival the was selectedtobepartof Joan of Arc on the on Arc of Joan and asaresult was screened Delta script DELTA

(2008, feature ﬁlm, 35mm, colour, 93 min., DolbySR)

Director: Kornél Mundruczó Screenplay: Yvette Bíró, Kornél Mundruczó Photography: Mátyás Erdély Editor: Dávid Jancsó Story editor: Viktória Petrányi Costumes: János Breckl Sound: Gábor Balázs, Tamás Zányi Music: Félix Lajkó Production company: Proton Cinema, Essential Filmproduktion (DE), Filmpartners Production manager: Judit Sós Co-producer: Susanne Marian, Ági Pataki, Gábor Kovács Producer: Viktória Petrányi Cast: Félix Lajkó, Orsi Tóth, Lili Monori, Sándor Gáspár

A taciturn young man returns to the wild, isolated landscape of the Delta. born and I also have to mention the not posed to be. And the gap that is formed in It is a labyrinth of waterways, small insignificant fact that I could go to the cin- this meaningless discourse does disservice to islands and over-grown vegetation, ema every day because I received a free pass us all: festival films are bad, films made for where the villagers are cut off from the to attend the screenings of the Ciné- the market are good – one can hear and outside world. The young man, who matheque, which was great. read this everywhere. This is totally meaning- has been away since early childhood, is less and this kind of critical reaction further introduced to a sister he never knew he Ever so often someone in the press refers to confuses an already shaky value system. had. She is frail and timid, but resolute you as a “festival director”? What do you when she decides to join him in his run- think about this? What do you expect from Cannes? down hut on the shore. Together they This is awfully silly and the fact that the term When I was in Cannes with Johanna, I spent “festival film” is a derogatory one in four days there and I was constantly rush- build a house on stilts in the middle of Hungary is silly too. Festivals are a market ing around, talking to investors and the the river, far away from everyone else. form. Similarly to paintings being sold at press from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. But I do One day, they invite the villagers over auctions, festivals help define the value of hope I will get to see some films too. to share a meal together, but the these films. For some reason the meaning of coarse locals do not accept their this got really distorted in Hungary and BORI BUJDOSÓ “unnatural” relationship. became the total opposite of what it’s sup- www.origo.hu 7 DÁNIEL ERDÉLYI L’Atalante by Jean Vigo 411-Z is my great favourite

Dániel Erdélyi appeared on the scene in 2002 with his diploma ﬁlm, Forward! At the 39th Hungarian Film Week 411-Z, his short feature about a barge was screened, in which not everything is done according to the shipping regulations still it made an impression on the represen- tative of the Cannes Film Festival. Thus Dániel Erdélyi with his 411-Z will be there in competition for the Palme d’Or in the short feature category.

Judging by your filmography you don’t appear to be a typical short filmmaker. Since Champion you haven’t made any. Right after film school I managed to make my diploma film called Forward! and I was fully convinced that from then on I was going to make only full-length features. I mainly wrote screenplays and when I got bored with one I started another. In the meantime I worked fro television, made commer-

411-Z A barge on the Danube. A carefree sum- (2008, short film, 35mm, colour, 7 min., mer day. Stew in the pot, and a little DolbySRD) wine and soda to wash it off. Other than that, everything is strictly according to Director, Screenplay: Dániel Erdélyi the shipping regulations, of course. But Photography: Gergely Pohárnok something might have gone wrong… Editor: Zoltán Kovács Costumes: Sosa Juristovszky DÁNIEL ERDÉLYI Sound: János Kôporossy Born in 1973 in Budapest, Hungary. Music: Ádám Szekfû 1995–2000. Hungarian University of Production company: Katapult Film, Drama, Film and Television, Budapest – Duna Workshop director, Sándor Simó’s legendary class Production manager: Andrea Taschler Producer: Iván Angelusz, György Durst 1998: Knock Knock – The Soldier / Valaki Cast: Zoltán Bezerédi, József Kelemen, kopog – A katona (short) Kata Gellén, Péter Horkay 1999: Champion / Sampion (short) 2002: Forward! / Elôre! (diploma film) 2008: 411-Z (short) 8 cials and waited for my chance. I’ve just grown fed 35mm was the result of a funny acci- national coproduction, the other is a up with all that recently. dent. I was looking for a bottle of drama set in Hungary with a bald water in the fridge at Katapult Film headed security guard as its main If you are so much set for full-length features, when, to my great astonishment I character. There is no other country didn’t you find it difficult to think in such a com- saw a lot of unused stock. It turned in the world where you can find so pact genre? out that it was the leftover from the many security guards! It is a With short films you must concentrate in a differ- shooting of Overnight so it gave me Kafkaesque situation as they are the ent way. In those few minutes there is no room a chance to use it. We had about five captives of the building they guard. for anything superfluous. Every image has a million HUF of 411-Z but we man- I also have a plan for a new short much stronger emphasis. We thought out the aged to boost it up to 11. We got a very good feature. Unfortunately the fridge is now empty so takes exactly in advance and although everything price for postproduction, too, because the DoP, it is very lucky that the Motion Picture Public was against us during the shooting (the river, the Gergely Pohárnok was asked to allow some new Foundation of Hungary has decided to support flood, the showers) we managed to shoot every- method to be tested on his work, which hap- short features, too, because that makes it possi- thing that DoP Gergely Pohárnok and myself had pened to be 411-Z. The music and editing didn’t ble for me to start the next one. drawn. What is more, instead of three days as we take much time, either. Luckily, it cannot be seen had planned, we managed to finish shooting in on the end product. Since we had no time to tin- You hang out a lot with Katapult Film, but also two, which was really lucky, because on the third ker with it, we had not chance to spoil it. with the guys in Madzag Filmegylet (String Film day the riverbank where our camp base had been Union). was washed away by the flood. The scenes on How much depends on film diplomacy if you Madzag Filmegylet was established by the mem- the river were very dangerous anyway especially want to get into competition in Cannes? bers of my one time class at the film school with for the actors, József Kelemen and Kata Gellén At the Film Week in Budapest Magyar Filmunió the aim to maintain our workshop activities. because they had to float in the cold river Danube showed the film to representatives of several fes- Katapult Film represents our production back- at the end of October. tivals and the advisor from Cannes took the DVD. ground. I happen to be the executive director, I was very glad and surprised that the film got which is a responsible job, as the members of The protagonist of your film is a barge called into competition at the most prestigious festival Madzag have asked me to help producer Iván 411-Z. because I only meant this short film to be a Angelusz. We are currently working on several Barges are a long-standing obsession with me. finger-exercise, or a visual “witticism”. As regards projects. One is the Katapult European Film An early film I made in film school had already film diplomacy, I don’t think you can influence Centre, which is a screenplay-writing workshop. been set on a boat, although that was a story Cannes or Berlin in any way. Or if you try to do Another one is Madzag Film Days where first about Lake Balaton. L’Atalante by Jean Vigo is so, you’ll achieve the contrary. The film made its films will be screened. We also have an educa- also a great favourite of mine. Walking by the own way, luckily. tional mission. Every year we go to Targu-Mures river Danube it often occurred to me how great 411-Z is a film with a classical line, a compact to teach film acting at the Hungarian Department it would be to describe in a film what is happen- structure, no dialogues but powerful imagery, of the Theatre and Film Academy there. Our lat- ing – or as the case may be not happening on a which festivals tend to like. est side-project is Madzag TV because we have barge. I pondered over the story of 411-Z for a In the past few years I have been on the jury had a great number of invisible short films we long time but the final twist occurred to me very of a number of international festivals. Therefore wanted to show to an audience. For the time suddenly. The barge floats on its way. It is a huge, I have seen tons of short films and unconscious- being it operates as a digital archives where our untouched bulk, which people can hardly control. ly I have learnt what makes this form work. From works can be seen. Unfortunately films become A tragedy happens on board but they don’t even this point of view 411-Z was an important pro- unwatchable after a time. Now, however, that notice. This has a more far-reaching message: we fessional practice for me, to tell a story by using you can watch motion pictures on the internet, don’t even notice the most important things that film language. the shorter one are becoming more and more happen to us popular, they reach more and more people and What about your plans that have been left in the achieve more and more success. It occurs to every short filmmaker using 35 mm drawer so far? stock that this opens up the way towards A cat- I have several finished screenplays awaiting their ANITA LIBOR egory festivals, right? destiny. One is a thriller to be made as an inter- www.magyar.film.hu 9 GÉZA M. TÓTH

Animation film director Géza M. Tóth is the leader of the Kedd Animation Studios. Besides television series, logos and commercials, he also directs individual animation films. His works have been extremely well received at international film festivals. His five minutes long Maestro (2005) participated at over seventy festivals and it was nominated for the OSCAR© by the American

ERGO Founder and managing director of the 2006: Best Short from Europe, (2008, animation, 35mm, colour, 12 min., Kedd Animation Studios. In the past years St. Petersburg 2006: First Prize, Naoussa 1:1,85, DolbySRD) has created approx. 120 animation sig- 2006: Jury’s Special Mention, Reggio nals, commercials and short animation Emilia 2006: Shortvillage Prize, Audience Director, Screenplay, Visual design, films. His works were successfully Prize, Campobasso 2006: Animation First Producer: Géza M. Tóth screened at different international festi- Prize, Audience Prize, Smiths Falls 2006: Photography: Zoltán Bogdán vals all over the world. In 2007 his Best Animated Short, Weimar 2006: Editor: Judit Czakó Maestro was nominated to the Academy Audience Prize, Las Palmas de Gran Sound: Imre Madácsi Award in the Best Animated Short Film Canaria 2005: Animation Prize-ex-aequo, Animaton: Árpád Koós, Zoltán Bogdán, category. Volgograd 2006: Special Prize, Stuttgart Béla Klingl, Gergely Kozma 2006: Audience Prize, Aubagne 2005: Music: Attila Pacsay 2008. Ergo Animation Prize (ex aequo), Public Prize, Production company: 2007. Bluebeard’s Castle Bègles 2005: Special Prize, Belgrade 2005: Kedd Animation Studios (concert animation) Special Prize, Belo Horizonte 2005: Best Production manager: Niki Kárász 2005. Maestro Screenplay: Géza M. Tóth, Bucharest American Film Academy 2007: Nominated 2005: Special Prize, Changzhou 2005: A story about the music in us. The film is for Best Short Animation Film’s OSCAR©, Best Short Film, Córdoba 2005: Second the encounter of two, one is leaving child- Evora 2007: Audience Award, Kawasaki Prize, Espinho 2005: Audience Prize, Izmir hood. It is the monotony of freedom and 2007: Main Prize, Lucania 2007: Best 2005: Golden Cat Award, Nagoya 2005: the freedom of monotony. Director, Medina del Campo 2007: Special Nagoya Chamber of Commerce and Prize, Neum 2007: Grand Prize, Sassari Industry Chairman’s Prize, Trencianske GÉZA M. TÓTH 2007: Shortest Category Grand Prize, Teplice Art Film Festival 2005: Special Born in 1970 in Budapest. Hungarian artist, Bratislava PRIX Danube 2007: Animation Mention, London 2005: Best Animated animation filmmaker, has been working First Prize, Student Jury Award, Fano Short Film, Montreal 2005: Special Prize, also as a tutor at several animation film 2007: Second Prize, Gifu 2006: Semi Berlin 2005: Special Mention institutes such as the Animation Grand Prize, Huesca 2006: Special 2005. The Miraculous Mandarin Department of the Moholy-Nagy University Mention, La Bourboule 2006: Children (concert animation) of Art and Design, Budapest, the Royal Jury’s Prize, Leeds 2006: Special Mention, 1996. Icaros College of Art, London, the National Patras 2006: Best Animation, Trieste 2006: Kiev 1997: Special Prize, Augsburg 1997: Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (India) and CEI Award, Würzburg 2006: Short Film Special Prize, Dresden 1998: Diploma Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Prize, Zlín 2006: Hermína Ty´rlová Award, 1994. Wall-walkers Ludwigsburg (Germany). Granada 2006: Special Mention, Rome 1992. The Pied Piper 10 The form the film feels most comfortable in must be found

Film Academy as well. Ergo, his latest pro- No. I haven’t cast my vote for any technol- duction has been invited to the competition ogy. I wouldn’t like to, either. Right now, of Cannes International Critics’ Week. The for example, I am working on a television artist who is in his thirties has also adapted series of 22 minute episodes in which we The Miraculous Mandarin and Bluebeard’s move puppets of simple construction. But I Castle by Béla Bartók. He has a degree in also make traditional animation films, 2D arts and pedagogy, he teaches at the computer animation, and I also use differ- Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design ent experimental technologies. My convic- Budapest and often travels abroad to lec- tion is that each piece of work, each film ture at the universities of Great Britain has an optimal form. A form the film feels Germany, Estonia and India. most comfortable in. If you are patient and tactful enough you may find that form. This is the first time you have been invited Maestro, for example, would not have to Cannes. What are your expectations of found its right place in drawing or sand ani- the number one film festival of the world? mation. 3D technology, however, was able First of all, the invitation signifies a profes- to contribute quite significantly to the film sional recognition. When making Ergo, just visually as well as dramaturgically. It is not like with all my previous films, I tried to give true for films in general, but always for the the maximum of my artistic and profession- concrete one. I am convinced that if you pay al knowledge. When we finish a film, the attention close enough, the film will reveal question always arises how others will see the form it desires. My film Icaros invited to the effort concentrated in the end product. Berlinale in 1997, was about the eternal The invitation to Cannes is first of all a message that the quality represented by our film is not far from the highest professional stan- dard. It is also a great honour that I can par- ticipate with my film in the most important professional meeting in Europe as Cannes is considered the “festival of festivals” in professional circles.

Is the OSCAR© nomination an equally important reaction? After each new film it is extremely important for us to know what we have achieved. The OSCAR© nomination confirmed my knowledge that what I have achieved with Maestro is approximately at the same level as the films of the best in the profession. Ergo, just like Maestro, was made with 3D animation technology. Does that mean that Maestro, 2005 you have cast your vote for 3D technology? 11 music inside us. It tries to create a 10–12 movement infinite freedom, an infinite minutes tense suspense, which gets relieved number of possibilities are hidden. When by some kind of solemn silence. Computer the two figures meet, the builder stops technology was the program I used to cre- building and in a dance which ends with its ate the film visually. destruction, it makes its music audible. Faced with this new possibility, the other We can follow the movements of two very one who used to move about freely, peculiar creatures to whom strange things renounces the freedom of movement as a happen in a strange space of infinite height necessary decision and also starts con- and no ground. structing its own music. With the appearance of the two figures, two lifestyles meet in the film. One small You have mated computer and music in your creature is completely free, it can walk famous concert animations. Are you planning wherever it wants to, beneath every step it to continue in that direction as well? takes a pillar as big as a footprint grows Yes, I am planning to adapt some of Liszt’s up which holds it up. As soon as the small piano works in animation form. The one walks on, however, the pillar tumbles Miraculous Mandarin and Bluebeard’s down. It is unable, nor does it want to, Castle by Béla Bartók are regularly invited. leave a trace after itself. Its infinite liberty is They will soon be screened in Great Britain. infinitely monotonous: it recreates the same Just like an instrumentalist, I sit in an monotonously tapping sound with every orchestra on the stage, except my part step it takes. The other character does not appears visually. I make music with images. seem to be free at all. Builds sounds around Icaros, 1996 itself out of palm-sized pillars, – the possi- ÉVA BÁRSONY bility of music. Thus in its monotonous Népszava desire to fly and the fear of falling. After long experiments I decided to use dust animation and a series of stone reliefs. Playing NISI MASA AND THE CRITICS’ WEEK with the different materials, the dust always ready to fly and the heavy stone the film managed to express ideas. This would have Tangerine / Mandarin been impossible to render with any other a short film by means of film language. In the honesty of BALÁZS SIMONYI in the material the film found its optimal form. the Nisi Masa special selection by the How did Ergo choose 3D as its form? Critics’ Week. This is a musical film. It reflects on music as something abstract and not as something A journalist arrives in a Turkish town to make an article about the local community. He’s inves- that mimes or imitates something else. tigating things, whilst he is also noticed by a secret agent. Who is following who? Therefore it was paramount that the visual- Produced in the framework of the ‘Snow Workshop’ Kars 2007 ity should not mime some material or Nisi Masa, a European network of young cinema, aims to facilitate exchanges between new tal- form, or suggest some kind of realistic basis. ents by breaking down the barriers between amateurs and professionals. For the young European Although the film is figurative, it depicts generation, widening the field of possibilities means considering cinema not only as an artistic easily identifiable gestures and relationships, form of expression, but also as a tool for understanding the world around us, and a passion to its visual world of ideas is closer to the be shared – a true conveyor of European citizenship. abstract. This film is about the sounds and 12 Producers on the Move

European Film Promotion introduces 22 of Europe’s most outstanding young producers to the industry in Cannes

HIDASI DALMA from Hungary PRODUCERS Dalma Hidasi studied at the Budapest ON THE University of Economics and the producer MOVE department of the Academy of Theatre and Film. In 1996, she WOMB founded Extreme Film with Tamás Keményffy and initially worked A PROJECT BY BENEDEK FLIEGAUF as a freelance production manager on several international commercials, music videos and short films shot in Hungary. The first Hungarian participant of the Cannes In 1999, Dalma worked as a trainee at the Warner Bros. London Atelier of Cinéfondation office, but has subsequently worked exclusively as a producer for Extreme Film on numerous commercials and such award-winning SYNOPSIS shorts as Sleeper by István Szotyori, Lucky Man by Tamás Keményffy Somewhere in Northern Europe in the near future: Rebecca and and Now You See Me, Now You Don’t (by Attila Szász). Moreover, Thomas fall in love as children. Unfortunately their ways part but she started managing the talents and projects of the Extreme by chance they meet again as students. Their love for each other Screenwriting Workshop which has borne the international award- remains unbroken and they spend one happy month together winning screenplay Showtime. until Thomas suddenly dies in a car accident. Unable to forget Dalma recently finished work on Keményffy’s feature film Fluke and Thomas, Rebecca cannot get over this loss. She decides to make is now focussing on the development and pre-production of Zoé him the biggest gift of them all: giving him back his life. and Loop, feature projects by the company’s two other directors, Attila Szász and István Madarász. INTENTION Womb is a film about symbiosis and it tells the story of a rela- SELECTED FILMS tionship trying to overcome death at any cost whatsoever. Fluke / Mázli Location: (2008) by Tamás Keményffy The location is not connected to any actual country or city. The Now You See Me, Now You Don’t / film takes place in northern Europe, in and around a seaside Most látszom, most nem látszom town. (2005) by Attila Szász (short) Production Design: Lucky Man / Szerencsés ember The world of the film is stylized, trim, and compact, a fairy-tale (2005) by Tamás Keményffy (short) place. Our concept of the future includes recycling, wind power, bicycles, etc. CONTACT An intelligent, holistic, ecologically conscious world opens Extreme Film before us – still old values and prejudices prevail and are chal- hidasi@extremefilm.com Fluke, 2008 lenged by new technological possibilities. www.extremefilm.com 13 HUNGARIAN FILMS ABROAD WITH MEDIA SUPPORT MEDIA APPLICATION DEADLINES 04/2007 Selective distribution (2007): White Palms (Dir.: Szabolcs Hajdu): Bulgaria, Spain, France, Poland, Slovenia Taxidermia (Dir.: György Pálfi): Greece

12/2005 Selective distribution (2006): Johanna (Dir.: Kornél Mundruczó): 19/2007 TV broadcast Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Bulgaria, SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Poland, Portugal, Sweden, United 1st deadline: 22 February 2008 Kingdom 2nd deadline: 13 June 2008 Fateless (Dir.: Lajos Koltai): United Kingdom Dallas Pashamende (Dir.: Róbert Pejó): 28/2007 Distribution Selective France Scheme Taxidermia (Dir.: György Pálﬁ): Spain, SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Austria, Belgium, France, The 1st deadline: 1 April 2008 Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, 2nd deadline: 1 July 2008 United Kingdom www.mediadesk.hu Denmark, Finland, France, 01/2005 Selective distribution The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal (2005): 29/2007 i2i Audiovisual Kontroll (Dir.: Nimród Antal): France 92/2003 Selective distribution SUBMISSION DEADLINE: The District! (Dir.: Áron Gauder): Austria, (2004): 1st deadline: 14 January 2008 Belgium, The Czech Republic, Spain, Kontroll (Dir.: Nimród Antal): Austria, (For projects starting between 1 July 2007 France, The Netherlands, Poland, United Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland and 31 December 2007) Kingdom, Bulgaria, Germany, Slovakia Pleasant Days (Dir.: Kornél Mundruczó): 2nd deadline: 7 July 2008 Dallas Pashamende (Dir.: Róbert Pejó): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, (For projects starting between 1 January Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Iceland, The Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Slovakia, 2008 and 30 June 2008) Netherlands United Kingdom Fateless (Dir.: Lajos Koltai): Belgium, 04/2008 Training Submission deadline: 13 May 2008

Preparatory Action – MEDIA International SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 13 June 2008 14 39th HUNGARIAN FILM WEEK

La 39e Semaine du cinéma hongrois a per- Comme chaque année, Budapest a fêté mis de faire le point sur une production son cinéma. Le 39e festival du cinéma hon- encore capable de donner des ouvres sin- grois(…) a permis au public de découvrir guliers.… Aujourd’hui le cinéma hongrois la nouvelle génération des réalisateurs est encore riche. Il l’est d’abord par la var- magyars… Très soutenu par l’Etat, la ciné- iété des modes opératoires de sa création. matographie hongroise témoigne d’une L’HUMANITÉ, JEAN ROY belle vitalité. FRANCE INFO, FLORENCE LABRUYÉRE

Kornél Mundruczó’s highly anticipated new The festival of the best of current Hungarian film, Delta, received top honours at the 39th cinema, Hungarian Film Week, has unveiled Hungarian Film Week, taking the Golden the selection for its 39th edition, which will Reel for best film and the foreign critics screen 104 films in competition. prize. The other big winner of the festival CINEUROPA, FABIEN LEMERCIER was The Investigator… SCREEN INTERNATIONAL, Hungary’s premier showcase for local pics THEODORE SCHWINKE opened its doors with around 400 titles to screen. The fest has 18 features, 36 shorts and experimental films, 33 docus, 13 scien- tific pics and three experimental docus vying for kudos. … le grand film contemplative de cette VARIETY, JOHN NADLER semaine hongroise aura été Delta, de Kornél Mundruczó, histoire éternelle et The annual showcase of Hungarian film is allégorique de deux jeunes amoureux, en popular among international festival pro- recherche d’une vie autarcique qui les met- grammers who will be looking carefully at trait a l’abri d’une communauté archaïque the world premieres, meeting with filmmak- et hostile. ers, and taking an early measure of a new POSITIF, ERIC DEROBERT crop of Hungarian talent. Eleven local films make their world premiere at this week’s Das alljährlich stattfindende Festival des Hungarian Film Week, and look set to make ungarischen Films in Budapest gibt einen their mark on the festival circuit this year. guten Überblick über den Stand der SCREEN INTERNATIONAL, Produktion im Land. Rund zwanzig neue THEODORE SCHWINKE Spielfilme versammelte die 39. Ausgabe. NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG, SUSI KOLTAI For the foreigners at least, the undoubted … closing a year of emerging new talents star of the Film Week was the Magyar Die Leichtigkeit und Eleganz, mit der sich and opening one for new possibilities. Let’s Filmunió, responsible for promoting Hun- das ungarische Kino sowohl im Genre- als hope that more and more gifted Hungarian garian films abroad and a mine of informa- auch im Autorenfilm bewährt, ist somit der directors receive their spindles to shake tion for anyone curious about Hungarian wichtigste Eindruck, den die 39. Filmwoche them up and enrich Hungarian cinema in film. in Budapest hinterlassen hat. the future! DIPLOMACY & TRADE, ESTHER RONAY SCHNITT, EKATERINA VASSILIEVA FILMFESTIVALS.COM, BRIGITTA BOKOR 15 A group of middle-aged friends attracted to spir- FINAL CUT Films in Production itualism install a web camera at a place which is The following information was provided by the production companies. said to be haunted. However, instead of spotting ghosts, they witness a kidnap, and decide to get The Ant (working title) drama the ransom and at the same time, free the hostage. The plan doesn’t go through.

Pinprick (working title) family thriller Main cast: László Sinkó, Zoltán Mucsi, Pál Mácsay, Vica Kerekes Expected completion: May, 2008 …at some point in the 21st century, somewhere Sales: Hunnia Filmstudio, Pál Sándor, in Eastern-Europe the whole stock of a book- hunnia@hunniafilm.hu store, famous for selling rare books, has been Director: Árpád Sopsits, Producer: Pál Sándor, transformed to copies of a book titled ‘1’ which Production company: Hunnia Filmstudio does not seem to have a publisher or an author. Main cast: Zsolt Trill, Benett Vilmányi, Tamás The almanac-style book describes what happens Erôss, Anna Vicsotka, László Krikkai to mankind as the time of 1 minute goes by. This film is about the despair, the aggression hid- According to the law, until the crime is resolved ing deep in children’s psyche, and about the ever those involved herein can be segregated by a English language film more unconceivable and massive mutual and self- paranormality research office called RDI (Reality First feature • Expected completion: Oct, 2008 destructions. We have increasingly got accustomed Defence Institute). As the investigation goes on Budget: 0,46 M € to the fact and tend to believe that our children are and the case becomes more complicated the con- Sales: Skyfilm, Ágnes Havas, havas@skyfilm.com innocent, yet the evil is somewhere there in their fused protagonist has to realise that reality exists Director: Daniel Young, Producer: Gábor soul too. Because of their existing at the mercy of exclusively in each man’s imagination. Herendi, Ágnes Havas, Production company: others and their manipulability they might even Skyfilm (HU), Co-producer: Kontrapoduktion become victims. The film is based on the motifs of Para thriller-comedy romance (CH), RTL Hungary two unconceivable and tragic events that hap- Main cast: Rachael Blake, Laura Greenwood, pened in Hungary in the past years. The film would Ervin Nagy, Zoltán Rátóti, Tibor Szervét like to present first of all the atmosphere in which A teenage girl is hiding a man in her bedroom these things happened and could happen at all, closet. She lives alone with her mother who has and to deliver a kind of diagnosis of our time’s con- just separated from the father and is ignorant to fused psyche. The story is about teenagers, their the man’s presence. At first the man enjoys the odd way of experiencing life and death at the situation with the girl, they play games, make up stage when both sexual and mortal desires awak- rules and flirt with each other. The girl starts to en simultaneously in children’s soul. discover her own body, but slowly the man gets bored with her girly ways and starts to move his focus to the mother. 1 – One Human Minute sci-fi First feature • Expected completion: June, 2008 Budget: 0,5 M € First feature • Expected completion: June, 2008 Sales: Szupermodern Filmstudio, Tamás Lajos Prima Primavera fairy tale Sales: Honeymood Films, Kata Bölöni, Tel: +36 1 2380200 [email protected] Director: Péter Fazakas, Producer: Tamás Lajos, First feature • Expected completion: Nov, 2008 Director: Peter Sparrow, Producer: Zoltán Production company: Szupermodern Filmstudio Budget: 1 M € Kamondi, Production company: Honeymood Main cast: Imre Csuja, Tibor Szervét, Ildikó Sales: EastWest Film Distribution, Sasha Wieser, Films, Co-producer: Cameofilm Bánsági, Anikó Für [email protected] 16 Gábor is an office cleaner. Wearing overalls and strange world seeming the stand outside civiliza- a baseball hat, he seems insignificant. hardly con- tion and law criminals condemned but they are tacts his employers, yet he learns everything also hid from the police and no one is ready to about them by thoroughly analyzing their rub- talk about their crimes. bish. Being almost invisible, nobody suspects that Gábor is in fact a con man who carefully choos- es his victims by the trash they leave behind. His Kolorádó Kid noir targets are mostly disillusioned and lonely women with whom Gábor gets involved with. In a few months he takes all their romantic illusions away by doing them out of all their savings. Having an unusually high IQ, a great sense of humor and an Director: János Edelényi, Producer: Péter ability to put on various personalities, Gábor is an Miskolczi, Production company: Eurofilm artist in manipulation. When he gets a cleaning Studio, Vita Nova Films (GB), Geopoly Film job at a psychologist’s office, Gábor meets (GB), Riba Film International (NL) Hanna, a thirty-year-old injured dancer who hap- Main cast: Andor Lukáts, Vessela Kazakova, pens to be the daughter of a millionaire. Hanna Antonie Kamerling, Djoko Rossich is the perfect victim for Gábor. He pretends to be Mother and Gabor, her 55 year old retarded son, a doctor who can cure her body and soul, an irre- have lived for each other for the past 40 years. sistible offer for the desperate woman. Everything She is dreading the thought of what would hap- goes according to plan until Gábor for the first pen to her helpless son, when she too “travels to time in his life falls in love. He has to make a hard Grandma’s house”. decision between Hanna and the money, but is First feature • Expected completion: Jan, 2009 This happens sooner than expected, when Mother he really capable of any true emotions or has he Budget: 1,2 M € falls victim to a botched bank robbery, and Gabor already gone too far? Sales contact: Cameofilm, Attila Csáky, becomes the only witness to identify the info@cameofilm.hu “Englishman” the mastermind behind the crime, Director: András B. Vágvölgyi, Producer: who now wants him dead. Wild Girl drama Attila Csáky, András B. Vágvölgyi, Production company: Cameofilm Expected completion: Dec, 2008 Main cast: Zsolt Nagy, Michael Kelly, Andrea Chameleon Budget: 0, 28 M € Fullajtár, Tibor Gáspár Sales contact: Quality Pictures Gábor Sarudi, In the summer of 1959 Béla Kreuzer – stevedore Expected completion: [email protected] and player – is fettered. He became pre-arrested, Dec, 2008 Director: Dezsô Zsigmond, Producer: Gábor first he thinks, because of his mischief on the Budget: 2 M € Sarudi, Production company: Quality Pictures racecourse, but as it turned out, the reason was Sales contact: Main cast: Éva Kerekes, János Kurkó, Zsolt Trill, that he participated in the 1956 revolution.

© EFP / Eric Vernazobres Hungaricom, Klára Tompa During the inquiry he was left severely alone, nei- Zsuzsanna Kálomista, This drama of freedom ‘at any cost’ in a ballad- ther his old friend nor his common-law wife care zsuzsa@hungari- like environment, in the closed community of for him. He has only one person, who can trust, com.hu Csángó people of Gyimes, in the world of his cell-fellow. In the meantime the counsel Director: Krisztina esztenas, huts and streams. This is the story of wants his undoing, and the Svejk-like police Goda, real police investigation, where the officer con- detective wants to have off his hands. The coun- Production company: ducting the investigation is suddenly faced with sel asks for death penalty, the judge decides 15 Megafilm the reality of the self-determing and tightly closed years prison, and Béla Kreuzer does his time Main cast: Gabriella Hámori, Ervin Nagy, Csángó society where even crime looked upon exactly. When he comes out it’s 1974 and he Zsolt Trill, Sándor Csányi differently then in our modern world. In this finds a totally other world. 17 18 Kamerling Hámori, GiovannaAntonelli,Antonie Main cast:LeonardoMedeiros,Gabriella Video, StoplineFilms pany: EurofilmStudio,NexusCinemaé Miskolczi, GáborVáradi,Productioncom- Buzzar, Co-producer:LeonelVieira,Péter Director: Miskolczi, eurofilm@eurofilm.hu Sales contact:EurofilmStudio,Péter Budget: 2,25M Expected completion:Nov,2008 Coproductions withHungarianParticipation Budapest Walter Carvalho, € Producer: Rita drama his. Orisit?Andtolivealoveandhappi- fated tobetheauthorofastorythatisn’t a gameofmirrorsanddoubles,Costais In thetraditionofBorgesandGogol,in and Budapest. back andforthbetweenRiodeJaneiro narrator ofthisthrillingstorythatfilts and loveroflanguagewriting,isthe a successfulalbeltneuroticghost-writer an ironic“nothing”.Thirty-yearoldCosta, character of Miguel Unamuno,JoséCosta,thecentral answer tothisquestionbyphilosopher a deed,phrase?”Withoutdoubt,in “What wouldyouwishtobeinacry, Budapest , wouldreplywith

© Szabó Adrienn magical world. Maria setsouttobringpeace to this derful charactersandmagical beasts, destruction. Aidedbyastable ofwon- ancient curseandsaveMoonacre from only untilthenextfullmoonto undothe ing MoonacreValleyandthat shehas behind thefeudthathasbeendestroy- uncovers adarkandmysterioustruth rious MoonacreManor.ItisthereMaria with heruncleSirBenjamininthemyste- Merryweather whoissentawaytolive the questof13-year-oldorphanMaria tale ofmagicandadventure,following The Juliet Stevenson Gruffudd, TimCurry,NataschaMcElhone, Main cast:DakotaBlueRichards,Ioan Smith Entertainment,SpiceFactoryUK) Production company:LWHFilms(Forgan- / EuroﬁlmStudio(HU),Metropolitan(F), Co-producer: GáborVáradi,PéterMiskolczi Monica Penders,MeredithGarlick, Piette, MichaelL.Cowan,SamuelHadida, Director: [email protected] Sales: VelvetOctopus,SimonCrowe, Budget:16.9 M Expected completion:June,2008 out forthemselves. to readers(andnow-cinemagoers)ﬁnd ness thatarenothis.Orthey?Isitup (aka TheMoonPrincess) The SecretofMoonacre Secret ofMoonacre Gábor Csupó, €

Producer: Jason is anenchanting adventure fantasy family

© LWH Films those she encounters. Her searches do not In Pre-Production Lost Times drama take her where she wanted to go, yet still her life will never be the same as a result. First feature • Expected completion: Feb, 2009 Adrienn Pál is a film about the relativity of Bibliotheque Pascal drama Budget: 0.6 M € memory, the uncertainty of the past, and Sales: Unio Film, Edit Hudák, above all our self-discovery. Expected completion: Feb, 2009 uniofilm@uniofilm.hu Sales: H2O Motion Pictures (NL), Director: Áron Mátyássy, Producer: István Crash (TV) tragicomedy [email protected] Bodzsár, Production company: Unio Film Director: Szabolcs Hajdu, Producer: Gábor Main cast: Milán Schruff, Teréz Vass, Expected completion: May, 2009 Kovács, Iván Angelusz, András Hámori, Marianna Szalay, Attila Géza László, Zoltán Budget: 0.4 M € Production company: Filmpartners, Géczi, Zoltán Újvári, József Gyabronka Sales contact: Unio Film, Edit Hudák, Katapult Film 1997. Eastern Hungary. This is where Ivan uniofilm@uniofilm.hu Main cast: Orsolya Török-Illyés, Oana Pellea, the car mechanic lives with his impaired sis- Director: Ferenc Török, Producer: István Razvan Vasilescu ter, Eszter. Ivan earns some extra money by Bodzsár, Production company: Unio Film Scenes about dreams, freedom and home smuggling diesel oil through the border. Bleak crossing somewhere in Hungary, coming. One day Eszter got rapped by a stranger in Eastern Europe, or anywhere around the the near woods… world. The usual noisy, huge morning Hunky Blues (1892–1945) traffic, but suddenly a big bang and clashing documentary The Hope drama and everyone stops. Somewhere two cars crashed, and other cars suffered serial Expected completion: Jan, 2009 Expected completion: Feb, 2009 bumps in both ways… Budget: 0.2 M € Sales: Hunnia Filmstúdió, Pál Sándor, hun- Sales: Filmpartners, Gábor Kovács, nia@hunniafilm.hu Team Building drama filmpartners@filmpartners.hu Director: Márta Mészáros, Producer: Pál Director: Péter Forgács, Producer: Gábor Sándor, Production company: Hunnia Filmstudio First feature • Expected completion: 2009 Kovács, Péter Forgács, Production company: Main cast: Enikô Eszenyi, Iván Kamarás, Idit Budget: 0.64 M Filmpartners, For-Creation Teperson Sales: KMH Film, Ferenc Pusztai, Full-length documentary about the The protagonists of the film are heroes of pusztai@kmhfilm.hu Hungarian emigration until the end of the the last century, the first female politicians: Director: Réka Szabó, Producer: Ferenc World War II. the Hungarian Anna Kéthly and the Israeli Pusztai, Production company: KMH Film Golda Meir. Main cast: Gerry MacCann, Tamás Szabó Transmission drama Kimmel, Enikô Szilágyi, Marianna Szalay Adrienn Pál drama To what extent does the nowadays so popu- Expected completion: Feb, 2009 lar brainwashing referred to as team build- Budget: 1 M € Expected completion: May, 2009 ing help us find our way in everyday life? Sales: Filmpartners, Gábor Kovács, Budget: 1.5 M € filmpartners@filmpartners.hu Sales: The Match Factory, Tobias Pausinger, Werk action Director: Roland Vranik, Producer: Gábor [email protected] Kovács / Filmpartners, Co-producer: Judit Director: Ágnes Kocsis, Producer: Ferenc Expected completion: 2009 Stalter / Laokoonfilm Pusztai, Production company: KMH Film Budget: 0.24 M € Main cast: Károly Hajduk, Zsolt Bándi, An alienated nurse whose life is surrounded Sales: Filmpartners, Gábor Kovács, Sándor Terhes by death sets off to find her long-lost child- filmpartners@filmpartners.hu In a dystopian world crippled without TVs hood friend. While tracing her recollections, Director: Krisztián Károly Köves, Producer: and monitors, three brothers struggle with she embarks on a paradox-filled voyage Gábor Kovács, Ági Pataki, Production com- their collapsing destinies. within her own memory and the memory of pany: Filmpartners 19 MARKET SCREENINGS IN CANNES 2008 9 and 1/2 Dates 15/05/2008 17:30 Palais D HungariCom

CATcher – Cat City 2 20/05/2008 13:30 Palais H HungariCom

20/05/2008 20:00 Riviera 4 Delta 22/05/2008 15:30 Riviera 4 The Coproduction Office

Fluke 18/05/2008 11:30 Gray 2 HungariCom

18/05/2008 13:30 Gray 2 Immigrants HungariCom 19/05/2008 14:00 Palais K

The Investigator 16/05/2008 14:00 Star 2 Trustnordisk private screening, by invitation only 20/05/2008 14:00 Star 1

Panic 22/05/2008 13:30 Palais B HungariCom

The Sun Street Boys 17/05/2008 13:30 Palais H HungariCom

Tranquility 16/05/2008 14:00 Palais C Bunyik Enterprises

Train Keeps a Rollin’ 20/05/2008 16:00 Palais G Bunyik Enterprises

Virtually A Virgin 21/05/2008 13:30 Palais H HungariCom