On 20 April 2022, the Liszt Institute Brussels opened the exhibition ‘Wide Angle- 120 years of Hungarian cinema’, which offers an insight into the history of Hungarian cinema through photographs, posters, objects, costumes, prizes, screenings and related items.
The exhibition was opened by Márton Schőberl, Deputy State Secretary for Cultural Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Csaba Káel, Government Commissioner for the Development of the Hungarian National Film Industry, Tomas Leyers, Director of the Royal Belgian Film Archive, and György Ráduly, Director of the National Film Institute - Film Archive.
In his speech, Deputy State Secretary Márton Schőberl said that the Brussels exhibition is the first stop of the international tour of the exhibition, which presents 120 years of Hungarian film history. The exhibition, which introduces the background, history and relevance of an industry worth hundreds of billions of euros, is also proof that film is a powerful tool for diplomacy.
This exhibition, which was presented last year under the same title at the Ludwig Museum in Budapest, provides a comprehensive overview of the past and present of Hungarian cinema and the film industry, from the birth of film, through the silent era and the invention of sound film, to the present day. The exhibition features the Hungarian masters of film and their works of great importance to the history of cinema. It also gives an insight into the lives of Hungarian or Hungarian-born filmmakers who have gone on to international careers and made their mark on the international film industry.
After the opening ceremony, a series of screenings of the most significant works of 120 years of Hungarian filmmaking began at the Royal Belgian Film Archive. The opening movie was the silent film ‘The Undesirable‘ directed by Mihály Kertész, accompanied by Péter Mekis on live piano.
The programme was organised by the National Film Institute - Film Archive in cooperation with CINEMATEK, the Royal Belgian Film Archive, as part of the centenary programme of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Hungary and Belgium.