Since 2018, Hungarian Film Day is celebrated on 30 April in memory of the first Hungarian film, ‘The Dance’ directed by Béla Zsitkovszky, which was released on this day in 1901.
The Liszt Institute Brussels paid tribute to the history and success of Hungarian filmmaking with a series of programmes entitled ’120 Years of Hungarian Film’. This included the opening of the exhibition ‘Wide Angle’, based on the Ludwig Museum’s art exhibition, and a two-week screening series of Hungarian film classics at the Royal Belgian Film Archive. The programme, which includes 11 movies started with the silent film ’The Exile’, by Mihály Kertész. The screenings will be accompanied by an exhibition of archive posters at the Film Archive.
‘Wide Angle’, art exhibition in Brussels
The Liszt Institute Warsaw presented the silent film ’Man of Gold’ by Sándor Korda on 28 April, with live music by the Polish Waldemar Rychły trio. This film is one of the greatest achievements of Hungarian silent filmmaking, made in the difficult circumstances of the last year of World War I. Long thought to be lost, the film was found in 1983 in the collection of the German Bundesarchiv in Koblenz. A full 4K restoration was carried out in 2018 in cooperation with the Hungarian National Film Fund.
In Dublin and Manchester, ’Those Who Remained’ (Barnabás Tóth) was screened on 28 April, while in Lisbon, The Whiskey Bandit’ (Nimród Antal) was screened at the Hungarian Film Club.
’Man of Gold’ by Sándor Korda (1918)
The Consulate General in Miercurea Ciuc organised Hungarian Film Days in Miercurea Ciuc, Targu Mures, Sfântu Gheorghe and Odorheiu Secuiesc. During the three-day event (28-30 April) four films were screened: ’FOMO: Fear of Missing Out’ (Attila Hartung), ’Valan: Valley of Angels’ (Béla Bagota), ’Comrade Draculich’ (Márk Bodzsár), and ’Budapest Heist’ (Balázs Lóth).
In Chongqing, on 26 April, Hungarian students and their teachers from the Sichuan International Studies University in Chongqing had the opportunity to watch the classic film ’Hyppolit, the butler’ (István Székely) at the Consulate General. After the screening, a quiz on the content of the film was held and the students were briefly introduced to the history of Hungarian film production. In Hong Kong, the film ’Bet on Revenge’ was screened at the Visual Art Centre on 29 April.
’Those Who Remained’ (Barnabás Tóth)
In Washington, Orsolya Gazsó's film ’Handmaidens’ was screened in the presence of the director. In Quito, ‘Mom and Other Loonies in the Family’ was shown in the main hall of the Ochoymedio Art Cinema. The programme ended with a Hungarian wine tasting.
In addition to the above, screenings were held in Munich, Dusseldorf, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Chicago, Bogota, Lima, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Algiers, Pretoria, Sofia and Doha to celebrate Hungarian film.