Discoveries from Hungary World Cinema

Dust to dust. Meat to meat. An expecting couple’s date night takes a dark and horrific turn.

A man returns home from the big city to sell his dead father’s house, but finds that someone is constantly destroying the flowers the he put on his father’s grave.

Istvan Bors was adapted from the popular Hungarian stage play by Sandor Hunyady, with a few songs added to the mixture. The title character, played by Antal Pager, is an impoverished farmhand whose lot in life is radically altered when he inherits a fortune. Istvan Bors' benefactor was a fabulously wealthy business executive who happened to be our hero's real father. Baron Tulgody (Bela Mihalyffy), the decedent's nephew, is understandably put out when Istvan is declared the sole heir, but he fulfills the conditions of the will and permits the scruffy farmhand to move into the family's ancestral estate. Gradually, Istvan ingratiates himself with the rest of the household, even winning over the Baron after a last-act plot convolution. The whimsically inconclusive ending of the original play was altered a bit, but the results were so satisfying that no one had any cause for complaint.

Elderly patients are lying in a Budapest hospital. Most have no hope of recovery, even their families have given up on them. All day long they observe as the world goes by, or they simply turn inwards. And yet hope still burns within them: from time to time they gather strength and clench their fists, or even stand up again. Instead of a simple report, director Pál Zolnay and cinematographer Elemér Ragályi recompose images of despair, illness and death, inner fortitude, playfulness and hope into lyrical film poetry.

Panni becomes the wife of the landowner Komáromi and thus the first woman of the village. Marriage only brings her wealth, she does not love her lord, her new family despises her, and she does not even get a maid from her former girlfriends. His old lover, Miska, unexpectedly returns to the village and visits the woman. Panni receives him with a smile and, after mutual recriminations, expels him. She tells her husband everything, but Komáromi, unmanly, does not defend his wife himself, but throws Mishka out of the ball with others, and she hates him forever. When Panni meets Miska again, she refuses to let him go back to Pest alone. Another adaptation of Zsigmond Móricz's work.

What is the point of trolling? Can sport be replaced by humour? Was there life before mobile? Would women be better men or would men be better women? What good is a flag when the wind is not blowing? These questions are not answered in Hadházi's new solo show, but at least it's something to laugh about. We'll take László.

Two foley artists make sound effects for a cheap B-movie.

Objects collided or something had broken apart, rather than collided, and indeed, they were very homogeneous, approaching slowly, in a calculated manner. This signaled some kind of war, a threat of war. We should have been the ones to report on this war.

László Bölöni's exceptional sporting career made him a national hero on both sides of the Romanian- Hungarian border. This film journeys through time and space, featuring Valentin Ceaușescu and world stars telling the story of this BEK winner, 100-time national team player, and coach who discovered Cristiano Ronaldo.

Firma and Nero make a blood pact on the roof of a parking garage to make sure their love is real, thus putting their own relationship and the world at risk.

The Hungarian family make their best to entertain the German exchange-student with traditional Hungarian dishes. The rather insignificant head of the family tries to reach for the salt cellar but can't do it, while his family keeps on chatting and eating without noticing that someone has gone missing from the table.

Lidi, daughter of a wealthy family gets to Pest as a maid because she resisted the will of her mother and did not marry the chosen suitor. In Pest falls in love with the suitor of her mistress Pista Szeniczey . Pista returns her feelings, but due to a misunderstanding they are drifted away from each other.

Preparing for a date is an important matter: personal hygiene, choosing the right clothes, adding that accessory that can be decisive during a conversation... Once on the street, the protagonist walks confidently toward the meeting place.

Count Gedeon Boroghy would like to see his last two relatives, Peter and Eva, married, so that the family fortune can pass to their rightful heirs without dissipation. The Count would like to bring them together, so he announces his own death and stipulates in his will that the heirs must stay at the castle for a month, eat together and kiss each other goodbye. The young people, who have already fallen out during their journey, hatch a variety of plans to force the other to break the will and thus lose the inheritance. When it turns out that Uncle Gideon is alive and the will no longer stands between them, they reconcile and agree to comply with the old count's wishes even without an inheritance.

After a session of hypnosis reveals suppressed trauma, a young woman confronts memories of her past.

The film deals with the relation of a father and his son. They are carrying a huge mirror to the fifth floor. To achieve their goal they must work as a team. On the way, their family life is also revealed.

A dying old woman leaves her apartment to a young man on condition he marry her Romanian niece so that she can legally come to live in Hungary.

2030, Budapest. In an empty cinema, two strangers (a boy and a girl) sit next to each other and start chatting. They soon realise, their encounter is far beyond coincidence...

A man spawns in an endless place.

The documentary follows the life of a blind couple who, despite social prejudice, decided to have a child. Ferike has a dream: when he grows up, he will collect the money for his parents’ surgery so that they can regain their eyesight and be able to see just like him. For the time being, he accompanies them in their daily life. He assists them everywhere: in a shop, on the way to work, in a museum or the zoo. The parents do their best to have the son enjoy his childhood just like his peers and, at the same time, not move too far away from them.

The film applies an unconventional narrative. It presents a subjective world through 47 scenes. The small events, interlaced by associations, express the irrational coherence of our surroundings. The surreal situations are based on the interactions of humans and nature.

In a post office at Balatonföldvár, Pali, a spoiled young man, one who has good manners and knows the way of the world, falls in love on one lazy summer afternoon with Teri, a young post office clerk and an orphan.

A guy thought luck had found him, but he walked straight into his doom.

A playwright named Sandor Turai comes up with a plan to save the engagement between his nephew Adam and an actress named Annie after Adam overhears a flirtatious conversation between Annie and an obnoxious actor.

Anna, a mute teenager, takes a job as housekeeper to a wealthy but unhappy couple, who quickly install her as the heart of their fractured household. All three glimpse the possibility of redemption - but when Anna falls in love, the idyll is threatened, and tensions invade.

Four conversations that reveal what bedbugs, modern film, three lovers, and a failed proposal have in common. A short film, that offers insight into Hungarian pub culture.

In a country where men seem more interested in their electronic gadgets than in their peers, a group of lonely and disillusioned women take the Limbo Limbo bus. Off to a far exotic country, they hope to find happiness.

Buksi, the smuggler meet with Peter, the intellectual, who has been thought about the perfect crime, without any trace for such a long time. The smuggler forced Peter to work together: Peter's going to plan the action and Buksi's buddies implement it. No clues.

János Kovácsi's film is an ironic portrayal of a day in the life of a beautiful German woman in her prime who arrives at Lake Balaton to take charge of her inheritance, a small house with a garden full of childhood memories.

An animation.

Teenager Lena is preparing for her first ever sexual experience. She is overwhelmed by fears and expectations of the family legend of the Wonderpussy. Tonight Lena will find out whether she inherited the ability, which may change the way she sees her lover.

A few days from a daily life of a regular school in Hungary during fifties.

A nineteen-year-old boy, instead of going to his father's funeral, tries to find comfort in an erotic adventure.

A composer struggling to find inspiration takes on a job at an empty warehouse. But turns out, he wasn't the only one with this idea.

Based on real events, Isle of Good Hope is an inspiring story about the power of solitude, perseverance, dreams, getting out into nature, father-son relationships and letting go. During a pandemic, the protagonist decides to voluntarily quarantine himself on a tiny deserted island in Lake Tisza. On the island is a small hut that he built with his father years before, but their dream could not be completed because the father died in the meantime. The boy wants to get out of the squirrel wheel and face himself, so he returns to the island after seven years.

A tale of the king who promises his daughter to the one who climbs the glass mountain and brings down the crystal flower. King Filko tricks the prince into giving her a copy of the flower, but Martin the Little, who is in love with the princess, brings her the real treasure.

A gypsy apothecary-violinist befriends a Hapsburg prince after saving his life during the disastrous Hungarian War of Independence in 1849.

A young man in his 30s becomes addicted to illegal gambling, accumulates huge debts and is pursued by creditors. On the run, he buys a five-ball lottery ticket at a lottery shop and wins the jackpot, but before he can get his hands on it, he has an accident and develops amnesia. His pursuit continues, although he cannot remember why he has to flee. The lottery ticket, worth billions, which he has no idea about, accidentally falls into the hands of a stranger... His memories are slow and incomplete. He manages to escape the revenge of his creditors and his memory returns: he realises he has won the lottery! But he can't get the ticket back, and the ninety days are up and it's all over... Or is it?

A greedy man is taught a lesson by his three aunts who are tired of his demands for more money, forcing them to hire an actress to flirt with him and learn the truth about his actual inheritance.

The poetic short film observes an elderly man who lives in seclusion, vegetating. In his thoughts, he recalls the world he has irrevocably disconnected from. The film’s goal is to encourage viewers to appreciate life’s fundamental beauties.

How can we experience intimacy if we are unable to express love? Adél, a Generation Z teenager, pushes her boundaries in search of her own identity. Her boyfriend, a typical man-child, drives her into more self-destructive behaviour. Can she feel free without knowing what it means?

This film is constructed from the diary films of Zoltan Bartos, amateur filmmaker and composer of popular dance music. Shot from the 1920s through the middle of the 1950s, the film reflects both private and official history.

After serving a prison sentence for a street fight, Csaba returns home to find his wife, Éva, now living with another man, Miklós. With nowhere else to go, Csaba is forced to share their small apartment, leading to constant friction and escalating provocations.

Barnabás is a 22 years old boy who we can observe throughout the film within his own personal environments, in his comfort zone. During these 24 minutes, the viewer is offered a glimpse into someone’s everyday life who lives with a personality disorder. In this one and a half week into Barnabás’ life we can examine how he deteriorates as he helplessly drifts back-and-forth, until one day the external factors controlling his decisions make him over step a certain line, leading Barnabás to fight his life-or-death battle.

Tragedy strikes after a painter has an affair with the wife of a prince.

A romantic story from the time of King Matthias. Hungarian soldier Peter Agárdi falls in love with the beautiful Italian widow Zilia Duca. The virtuous lady accepts the stranger only through the persuasion of her friends and the wiles of the soldier's henchman, Beppo. The noble lady rejects Péter Agárdi's declaration of love. He then asks her to kiss him, invoking an old Piedmontese folk custom. Zilia demands three years of silence for her single kiss.