János Vecsernyés, mostly known for his cinematographer work, will make a feature film of György Spiró's drama, Quartet. The story taking place a couple of years following the transition focuses on a family living in the outskirts. A sudden appearance of an emigrant of 1956 creates a great stirr in their lives. The main characters of this minimalist chamber story will be played by Piroska Molnár, Ágnes Bertalan, Andor Lukáts and Péter Blaskó.
Based on the script of Róbert Bán and Pál Békés, who adapted from Gyula Csák's novellette A tolvaj és a bírák, Miklós Szurdi is making a film titled Vademberek. The story full of tension takes place on an abandoned island of the Danube, where a group of four friends already fishing for ages on the island try to defend "their" territory from an intruder, the owner of a foundered Serb barge. The main roles of the adventure film are played by György Cserhalmi, Iván Kamarás, Judit Schell, Tibor Szakács, Győző Szabó and László Lippai. The film is to be a full night television production but should the makers get the financial support of the MMKA (Hungarian Motion Picture Public Foundation) Budapest Film would distribute it to cinemas.
A thirteen part television series is being made titled Black Rose. It is an adaptation for the screen of Antal Szerb's Pendragon legenda. The German-Hungarian coproduction's director is Barna Kabay, its protagonist will be played by Djoko Rosic. Even though the film places the story in the present, the book's mystic atmosphere will be reproduced. The special visual effects will be computer animated.
Dénes Bernáth is making film of Lajos Parti Nagy's Szende with the members of the Atlantis Theatre. The short film's story will be put on screen from the protagonists perspective using narrative method. Main character: Iván Valovics, cinematographer: Balázs Lóth and László Blau. First showing (hopefully): at the next Film Week.
The shootings of the film titled Neked Agditis will be finished in a couple of days. The production (which is hard to be classified in terms of genre - perhaps experimental) of the length of a feature film has Gábor Hajnal, Csaba Hernádi (Bárka Theatre, Studio K), Tamás Lerch as its directors and cinematographers. First showing will take place in the Miskolc Gallery in September.
Miklós Jancsó is shooting a new long feature film with the work title Utolsó vacsora az Arabs Szürkénél. Although the film is based on Krúdy's novellette of the same title, knowing the director's former works we can not expect a traditional adaptation. The main characters (just like in Jancsó's last two films) are played by Zoltán Mucsi and Péter Scherer, besides them Kornél Mundruczó, Roland Rába, Iván Kamarás, Lajos Horváth and Judit Schell will be in the cast. The screenplay was written by Jancsó and Hernádi again, the cinematographer is Ferenc Grunwalsky, just like in Jancsó films before.
Péter Rudolf and Iván Kapitány are directing Üvegtigris (Glass Tiger) together. Kapitány is also the cinematographer of the film. The shootings started in June, on the shores of Lake Garancsi. The head of the protagonist family is played by Tibor Szilágyi, his wife's character by Juli Básti, and their daughter's figure by Karina Kecskés. The producer of the film (in Filmpartner's production) is Ági Pataky.
So far, the American Shoah fund has recorded the statements in 31 languages of approximately 51 thousand Holocaust survivors living in 57 different countries around the world. This time the fund plans the production of a five-part documentary of the Holocaust in the Eastern European region. Each part of the film would put on the screen one country's Holocaust-stories. The producer of the series, Steven Spielberg, offered János Szász the job of directing the Hungarian part (Andy Vajna recommended János Szász to the world-famous director). The documentary film is planned to be 60 minutes long. Its shooting preparations began in early-June. The cinematographer of the film will be Zsolt Tóth.
Zoltán Kamondi will start the shooting of his new film, Mézparancs (Honey Order) this coming Summer. The story taking place in our era will have the theme of generation problems between young and elderly, but - just like former films of the director - will not lack mysterious and transcendent elements. Gábor Medvigy, the usual cinematographer of Kamondi, will be responsible for the picture of the film.
Besides the film to be made of Maria Sklodowska-Curie, the famous Polish chemist, Márta Mészáros has several films in the preparing phase. The director will make a film as one of the millenium films of Béla Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin. The Chinese-Hungarian co-production dance-film will star Yvette Bozsik. For long, Mészáros has been planning a film of Ilonka Tóth, a young doctor who was sentenced to death and executed following the uprising in 1956. The third film plan is one for children; it would be a famous Hungarian tale's - Mihály Fazekas' Ludas Matyi - adaptation.
At the International Film Festival in Socchi (June 12th through 16th), there will be a retrospective projection series of Bacsó's political films titled "Péter Bacsó vs. Mátyás Rákosi". The Witness, Summer on the Hill, The Day Before Yesterday, and the Oh, Bloody Life will be shown in the series. Can Togay's One Day Behind God's Back will represent Hungary in the competition program of the festival.
Andrea Makó earned the KODAK Award for her film titled The Jánó Brothers. The Documentary Film Festival took place in the Swiss town of Nyon.
Pál Schiffer's documentary film titled Mari - Chapters from the Life of a Transylvanian Family won the Grand Prize of the International Documentary, Popular Scientific and Educational Film Festival. The event was organised for the 35th time in the Czech city of Olomouc.
Béla Tarr's Werkmeister harmonics has been enrolled into a section two weeks ago, in Cannes. The film has been adapted from The Melancholy of Resistance, the novel of László Krasznahorkai. Photography has been made by Gábor Medvigy, the costume designer was János Breckl. The major parts are played by Lars Rudolf, Peter Fitz, Ildikó Pécsi, Kati Lázár, János Derzsi and Djoko Rosich. Producer: András B. Vágvölgyi. This German-Hungarian-French co-production - supported by EURIMAGES - will have its world premier in Cannes. Of the Cannes International Film Festival on the internet visit http://www.festival-cannes.fr
The 46th Oberhausen Short Film Festival is organised between May 4th and 9th. György Durst's and István Komár's film titled Freeport has made the qualifications for the competition program. One of the events on the festival is the short film collection titled Sex, Rock'n'Roll and History. Nine Hungarian works are included in the event; L. László Révész, János Sugár: Coin, József Gujdár: Studium, Miklós Erdély: Rest, Gábor Bódy: Psychocosmoses, András Baranyai: Self portrait with Jane Morris, János Szász: Funeral, Ildikó Enyedi: Winter Campaign, Putyi Horváth: Hannah and Tarzan, Péter Forgács: Wittgenstein, Tractatus. Get more information of the festival on the internet: http://www.uni-duisburg.de/HRZ/IKF/home_e.html
Julie Delarme has won the award for Best Actress at the Teheran International Film Festival for her performance in Ildikó Enyedi's Simon Magus. The film competing in the festival that took place in the Iranian capital in February.
The newest film of István Szabó, Sunshine, has won Genie Awards in three categories. The awards are given (twenty occasions so far) by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Sunshine has won the recognitions of best film, best sound and best sound editing.
An agreement has been concluded of the shooting of two Hungarian-Indian feature films. The Indian Ramesch Sharma will start the making of a film of Sándor K?rösi Csoma's life. Experiencing the world-wide interest in Tibet, the director hopes that the film will meet a favourable reception. He would like the leading part to be played by an internationally recognised film star. The other co-production will be directed by Sándor Sára of Amrita Sher-Gil, Ervin Baktay's cousin, a significant artist of 20th century modern Indian painting.
Péter Bacsó will begin the shooting of his new film work-titled You Gave Me This Great Love in the summer. It is the particular story of an eternal triangle in the last years of World War II. István Újszászy, the commander of Horthy's counter-intelligence, falls in love with Katalin Karády. The other end of the triangle is György G. Dénes or Zsüti, the lyrics writer of the singer. The actor selection is still in progress but the actors for the roles of Újszászy and Zsüti are already decided. The first will be played by György Cserhalmi, the latter by Péter Rudolf.
Ferenc András will make his next film of the Italian Enzo Laurett's novel titled Kippers of River St. Laurence. János Szász is planning to put Imre Kertész's Fatelessness on film. Róbert Bán will direct a psychologic crime film titled Hot Ice. Tamás Almási is this time thinking on a feature film plan; the work title tells a lot of its atmosphere: F...europe. Sándor Kardos is working on an extraordinary production: he is a making a film starring Antal Páger, using old Hungarian films. Géza Bereményi and Can Togay has finished the screenplay of a millenium production of István Széchényi's life. The shooting of Bridgeman is planned to begin in August with Károly Eperjes playing the leading part. János Dömölky will direct his new feature film, Thy Kingdom, based on the literature of Sándor Tar.
Dezs? Zsigmond had started the shooting of a particular film. It is based on a true story. The main character, a rural, demented boy, falls in love with an inflatable rubbergirl. The shooting is taking place in Eastern Europe's only rubbergirl factory in Börcs, Hungary. The film is entitled Vágyvörös szerelemkék (Red Loves). Its protagonist Pista, the 'lunatic of the village', lives on a farm in horrible circumstances with his alcoholic father and mother. The story gets rolling when people find out that a new factory is being built in the village. They don't know what is going on in the building, they don't even think that the factory produces inflatable rubbergirls. Pista, living off stealing, sneaks into the factory from where he rescues his love, the rubbergirl. The insane boy's story ends in a tragedy, murder. The leading part is played by József Szarvas, Pista's parents are played by Lajos Kovács and Edit Soós. The cinematographer of the film is Gábor Halász, the sreenplay has been written by Géza Balogh, József Dörner and Károly Veér.
Sándor Sára film director, president of Duna Television has signed an agreement with Moving Pictures Company India Ltd. of co-operation in film making. According to the agreement, there will be a film made of Sándor K?rösi Csoma and another of the life of the Indian painter, Amrita Sher Gil, who was born in Hungary. Film experts of both nations will work on the films.
The last film of Zsolt Meskó producer, The Morel Boy, has been successful for weeks in the M?vész cinema in Budapest. Meskó has started the shooting of his new short - this time as director not only producer. The maximum twenty minute long The White Underwear 's shooting place will be a shopping mall just like his last film's. The film will star Juli Básti, Iván Kamarás, Ferenc Hujber.
András Surányi is making a new film of the short novel of Miklós Mészöly entitled 'Film'. The story presents the last days of an old couple played by Hédi Temessy and Iván Darvas. Juli Básti, Tamás Végvári, Lili Monori, András Bálint, József Madaras and Péter Haumann got smaller parts. The film's cinematographer is István Bordás who has been living in Sweden for seventeen years. According to preliminary plans the film should be done by and presented in next year's Hungarian Film Week.
In early-November, Béla Tarr picked up the shooting preparations of his film, Werckmeister Harmonics, where he left off in the springtime. The German-Hungarian-French co-production is adapted from the novel of László Krasznahorkai, 'The Melancholy of Resistance'. The major parts are played by the German Lars Rudolph, Peter Fitz, and Ildikó Pécsi, Kati Lázár, János Dercsi and Djoko Rosich. The cinematographer is Gábor Medvigy. The production supported by Eurimages, among others, has a budget of HUF 350 million. The film is invited (based on what is done so far) to the international film festivals in Berlin, Venice and Cannes.
The preparations for the shooting of Árpád Sopsits' new film started in early November. Torsos (working title) is explicitly of autobiographic inspiration. The film is set in a reformatory school in Hungary in the 60's. The major roles are played by László Gálffi, Pál Mácsai, Enikő Eszenyi, Sándor Gáspár and Dóra Létay, the child roles were given to Tamás Mészáros, Szabolcs Csizmadia and Péter Müller. The cinematographer is Péter Szatmári. The film, a production of Budapest Filmstúdió has a budget of nearly HUF 100 million.
The shooting of Tamás Sas' new film, Rascals, was finished some weeks ago. The story set in a reformatory school is based on the book of Bernáth László Czető, an HBO screenplay award winner. Tamás Sas and Erika Ozsda edited the story for the screen. The cinematographer is Gergely Pohárnok, the major parts are played by Viktor Bodó, Zoltán Rajkai, András Stohl, Andrea Söptei, László Szacsvay, Gábor Máté and amateur actors. Ganxta Zolee (Hungarian rap musician) took care of the music suitable for the film's environment and theme. Rascals has been made as a coproduction of HBO and Magic Media.
György Palásthy has begun the shooting of his new film, The Revolt of the Jack-Straws. The story, based on the novel of Géza Páskándi, is about a jack-straw maker craftsman. He gets a selling order in 1951 from Austrich officials. But soon he comes to realise that his jack-straws are used for representative hangings of the Hungarian Revolution's leaders who fled abroad. The craftsman decides to destroy his workpieces. Reality blends with tale in this story of a family film. The cinematography is the work of László Seregi Jr., the major parts are played by Péter Haumann, Anna Götz, Ödön Rubold, Ildikó Bánsági, Imre Józsa. The Revolt of the Jack-Straws is the first actual production supported by the Cultural Bureau's Millenium program.
Károly Makk plans to start shooting his new film titled Victory at Waterloo next summer. The film, adapted from the novel 'Battle of Waterloo' by Menyhért Lengyel, will be set in the 1920s. The filmmakers want it to be a charming, ageless comedy. The cinematographer will be Vilmos Zsigmond but the cast of the feature film has not yet been confirmed by the director. István Sztankay has a good chance of getting the leading actor part, Dorka Gryllus is a possible winner of the female leading part. Makk has also talked with Iván Darvas, Dezső Garas, Róbert Koltai, Kata Dobó, Károly Eperjes.
After the success of their last film Nekem lámpást adott az Úr Pesten! (The Lord's Lantern in Budapest)Miklós Jancsó and Ferenc Grunwalsky are shooting together again. The new production's work title is Anyád! A szúnyogok…( Damn! The mosquitoes…) . The leading part will again be played by Zoltán Mucsi and Péter Scherer. Emese Vasvári and Miklós B. Székely also play major roles. The filmmakers skip the usual money-collecting tour (competitions, sponsors) and plan to do a low-budget film using their impetus and will shoot it in a couple of days. Therefore, the script changes day by day. Miklós Jancsó summerised the story of the film in an interview: "An old man returns home from America who is allegedly the father or grandfather of the figure played by Scherer. It can't be known for sure because the family relations are very perplexed. The rumor says the old man is a millionaire… The real story is about stealing. Who, how, and what.""
The 40 Labor workgroup - members: Igor and Ivan Buharov, László Horváth, István Nyolczas - is making a new, low budget, long feature film with the title "The Triumph of Solicitude for the Other". The leading part will be played by József Madaras who has not been acting in films for seven years. The creators, coming from the world of independent Hungarian films, have already tried out in their last work, Program, the technics and methods they are using for this surrealistic film. According to the plans, this production - supported by the Hungarian Moving Picture Foundation and Duna Workshop - will have its premier next February.
There is a new film being made of Hyppolit, the Butler (Hippolit, a lakáj). Mr. Scheider is played by Róbert Koltai, his daughter by Kata Huszárik, and the renowned butler by Károly Eperjes. The film is directed by Barna Kabay.
Márta Mészáros has started directing the film continuing - and also finishing - the Diary (Napló) filmtrilogy. The autobiographic work's title will be Kisvilma - Az utolsó napló (The Last Diary). The film adapts for the screen the years of childhood, the antecedents of the earlier episodes. The Polish-German-Hungarian coproduction is made in Kirgizistan, the story's original setting. The title role of Kisvilma is played by the director's eleven year old granddaughter Cleo Ladányi. Two other grandsons also act in the film. László Mészaros's - the father's - role is performed by Lukasz Nowicki (the 28 year old son of Jan Nowicki), but the older Nowicki also appears on screen. Barbara Hegyi plays the mother of Kisvilma, and Lili Monori acts as the older Kisvilma. The cinematographer is Nyika Jancsó. The international production's staff also has Kirgizian and Polish members.