PROMOTIONAL FEATURE
TALENT SPOTTING FOUR OF THE HOTTEST FILM-MAKERS WORKING OUT OF HUNGARY
Balint Kenyeres After studying philosophy, fi lm history and fi lm theory, Balint Kenyeres graduated as a fi lm director at the Budapest Film and Theatre Academy in 2006. His short Closing Time (Zaras) premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1999, while his most recent short The History Of Aviation premiered at Cannes in 2009. Kenyeres is now in pre- production on his fi rst feature, Hier, which is among the initial crop of movies supported by the new fund.
Balint Kenyeres’ Hier
government for the fi lm fund to receive 80% of the tax revenue from the No6 National Lottery. The fund has a budget of around $25m (HUF5.5bn) for 2012, with a similar level expected in 2013.
International co-productions At the same time as nurturing new Hungarian talent, Vajna is also keen to encourage co- production. That way, he argues, Hungarian fi lms have a better chance of travelling. Hungary’s 20% tax rebate continues to attract
international production to the country, such as Bruce Willis’ latest Die Hard movie, A Good Day To Die Hard, which started shooting in late April, and the second season of Neil Jordan’s historical TV drama series The Borgias. Vajna anticipates up to eight international movies will be shooting in Hungary this year. “I am now trying to make that [the 20% rebate] more accessible to producers,” he says. “I am trying to have the government provide a guarantee at the end of the day.” Vajna and his team are also in the process of
setting up a fi lm offi ce that will act as a one- stop shop, handling requests from producers for everything from locations to police and fi re services permissions. They have sent their proposals to the government, which “has looked on it very favourably”, with the aim being to implement it in the next 30-60 days.
Stepping up sales The fund has a sales arm that handles new fi lms as well as library titles. Its Cannes slate includes Aron Gauder’s 3D remake of his Annecy Cristal-winning satirical animation The District, period spy thriller The Exam by Peter Bergendy, and animated TV series European Folk Tales by Emese Szabo. It will also be handling pre-sales on Zsombor
Dyga’s comedy Couch Surf, Dora Szucs’ thriller Barrel Of A Gun and animated TV series In The
Round Four-Cornered Forest from Kecskemetfi lm. On the library front, the fund will be representing
50 features including 2012 Berlinale Jury Grand Prix winner Bence Fliegauf’s early works Forest, Dealer and Milky Way. “We have put together a distribution
organisation. Obviously a lot of producers have relationships with sales companies and foreign producers but, if they don’t, we provide that service for them,” Vajna explains. “So that the fi lms don’t end up sitting there on somebody’s lap, we take it out there. We are going to be at every major market with these movies.”
Future of the fund Earlier this year the Hungarian Filmmakers’ Association organised the 43rd Hungarian Film Week, but conspicuously chose to bypass Vajna and the fund. In the longer term, Vajna is open to the idea of a national festival. “We clearly want to have a place where we can showcase our movies.” But fi rst, he notes, Hungary needs to make enough fi lms to justify such an event. Despite some initial criticism that too much
power was being vested in a single fi gure, 16 months on from his appointment Vajna feels the industry is behind him. “I believe so, based on the number of scripts that are being submitted. It looks as if the industry has consolidated.” As for his own plans, Vajna says he will be
sticking around for a little while yet. “The long- term vision for me is to get this on track, make sure it runs smoothly and make sure the operation has enough management so they can eventually run it without me. That’s the goal. I will not give up until I get to the point where this can comfortably go forward on its own.” “Our goal is to bring back viewers to the cinema and [to get them] to respect Hungarian fi lm again,” adds Havas.
s May 19, 2012 Screen International at Cannes 17 ■
Gyorgy Palfi Budapest-born Gyorgy Palfi established an international reputation with his 2002 debut feature Hukkle, which screened at more than 100 festivals worldwide. His second feature, 2005 horror fi lm Taxidermia, was also a big international success. Palfi is currently working on Toldi, billed as “Raging Bull set in 14th century Europe”. His montage fi lm Final Cut closes Cannes Classics.
Reka Lemhenyi Reka Lemhenyi is one of Hungary’s leading editors with credits ranging from Jerzy Skolimowski’s Essential Killing to Gyorgy Palfi ’s Taxidermia and Final Cut to Istvan Szabo’s The Door. “It is an exciting and very serious game. You can play over and over with the same material. With the editing and the rhythm, you can change the emotional impact and even the sense,” says Lemhenyi who is currently editing the Hungarian remake of HBO series In Treatment.
Attila Csaky With more than 20 years’ experience in the production of independent art fi lms, it is no surprise that Attila Csaky was named producer of the year at the 40th Hungarian Film Week. His most recent productions are Kolorado Kid by Andras B Vagvolgyi and Ticket by Ferenc Rofusz, who won the Academy Award in 1981 for his short animation The Fly. Csaky’s latest project, Hier by Balint Kenyeres, was part of the L’Atelier in Cannes 2011 where it won the Prix ARTE des Relations Internationales.
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