17th Hungarian Film Festival Los Angeles will run from November 2 to November 16 screening the latest Hungarian films. After watching a few films of the festival, we strongly recommend attending this amazing festival to all the international film fans.
For screening venues and dates please click or touch here.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIEREA
Kincsem
Record-breaking film about a record-breaking horse, Kincsem, has already been seen by more than 600,000 people in Hungary and is still going strong in cinemas. This means that it has become the 10th most widely seen Hungarian movie in Hungary since the regime change in 1989. There is a shift in the attitude of Hungarian moviegoers towards the country’s current cinema. People seem to be more interested in domestic movies, and the number of viewers is finally on the rise.- Erno Blaskovich lost everything after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Kincsem, a magnificent horse, gives purpose to his meaningless, self-destructing life and gives him a chance to gain everything back. This film is a true story and serves as the backdrop to a fictionalized romantic romp set at the peak of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A wonderful cast with spectacular cinematography and outstanding costumes. A must see.Director: Gabor Herendi Cast: Ervin Nagy, Andrea Petrik, Tibor Gaspar, Jozsef Gyabronka, Tamas Keresztes, Fekete Tibor
ON BODY AND SOUL
Offbeat and artsy romantic dramedyAfter 35 years Hungary…Won the Golden Bear at the 2017 67th Berlin International Film Festival NORTH AMERICAN PREMIEREOn Body and Soul is a great piece of filmmaking. With exquisite direction, impeccable performances and visuals that are consistently striking, this profoundly sensitive and unconventional love story uses a lot of humor to depict in a most irresistible way the discovery of two damaged, solitary souls trying to make contact in a harsh world. It is one of the oldest stories of life but is handled with delicate psychological insight and two affecting performances by Alexandra Borbély and Géza Morcsányi. Directed, written by Ildikó Enyedi.Cast: Alexandra Borbély, Géza Morcsányi, Réka Tenki, Zoltán Schneider, Ervin Nagy, Itala Békés, Éva Bata, Pál Mácsai, Zsuzsa Járó, Nóra Rainer-Micsinyei.116 mins, color, drama/comedyWatch trailer (film has subtitles, trailer does not)
BUDAPEST NOIR Festival Closing Film
Attending Eva Gardos, Director
Based off the award-winning 2008 novel of the same name, “Budapest Noir” is a period thriller set in 1936 Budapest during the politically charged era of pre-Nazi Hungary, wherein a weary, beat down, but incessantly inquisitive reporter, Zsigmond Gordon, cannot let go of an unsolved murder of a prostitute, going to long lengths to discover the truth about the seemingly insignificant tragedy. Driven to sleazy brothels, smoky lounges and other parts of the Hungarian criminal underworld, Gordon is led down a path that will make him question the morality, goals and hubris of the right-leaning Hungarian government.
Director: Eva GardosCast: Kata Dobo as Voros Margo, Szolt Anger as Gellert Vladimir, Janos Kulka as Vitez Szollosy Andras, Adel Kovats as Szollosyne Irma, Krisztian Kolovratnik as Gordon Zsigmond Color.
Brazils (Brazilok) NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Franciska Farkas attendingEthno-tale with humor and tears. *Information on her live show will followThe surprise hit of the year! Moviegoers in Hungary Loved the film… audiences spread the word and let friends know how FUNNY and entertaining the film was and for the first time a Hungarian film had a larger attendance the second week than the first.Chaos bursts out among the gypsy minority in the town of Acsa when the mayor, urged by the new young priest of the village, announces that this year the gypsy football team called Brazilians can also take part in the football championship of the village; and this year, thanks to a Brazilian millionaire originally from Acsa, the winning team will be invited to Rio de Janeiro. The championship starts. Events, emotions and anger take unpredictable directions. Those who win in the end were not supposed to win, and those who find love, were not supposed to fall in love.Directed by: Csaba M. Kiss and Gabor Rohonyi Cast: Erik Lakatos, Bergendi Bamabas, Nagy Daniel Viktor, Bela Dora, Csaba Lakatos, Renato Lakatos, Krisztofer Paszik, Karkas Farkas Franciska, Norbert Nagy, Dobo Kata 95 minutes, color.
PAPPA PIA NORTH AMERICAN PREMIEREA
Hilarious and thoroughly entertaining musical comedy with an excellent cast.You will love singing along with the most popular songs of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Papi is the world’s most unreliable and dishonest pensioner. The only thing he has to offer anyone is his winning smile. Papi lives in a boathouse on the banks of the Danube and his neighbor Wizy, who owns a flashy disco wants to turn Papi’s boathouse into a stunning nightspot. Papi asks his charming but unreliable grandson, Tomi to take on Wizy. With the help of his friends, Tomi transforms the boathouse into a bar. Their hopes are big but their chances are small.Directed by: Gabor CsupoStarring: Tamas Szabo Kimmel, Bernadett Ostorhazi, Fero NagyColor, comedy, music, romanceWatch trailer: Film has subtitles.
Soul Exodus WINNER OF THE ALEX FRIEDMAN HUMANITARIAN AWARD
A Modern story about our strange world we live in.A deeply emotional story told through Klezmer music about identity, emigration, religion, faith and family.
Once upon a time in the beginning of the 20th century, there lived a Klezmer musician and storyteller Prince Nazaroff. Most people don’t believe he ever existed, except for five 21st century young (and not so young) men. They call themselves “the Brothers Nazaroff.” They can’t accept that someone could disappear forever. They have imagined him, and sometimes imagination can be stronger than reality. To this day, Nazaroff lives in them.
Directed and Screenplay by: Csaba BereczkiStarring: The Brothers Nazaroff: Daniel Kahn, Bob Cohen, Michael Alpert, Jake Shulman Ment, Psoi Korolenko92 min – Color – music – documentary
WELL / KUTAt
a Gas Station in the middle of nowhere, a young man arrives to meet his father he hasn’t seen for 30 years. On the same day a van with four prostitutes on the way to Switzerland breaks down at the very same gas station. The three days they spend together in the station change their lives forever.Directed by: Attila GigorCast: Ferenc Pusztai, Dorottya Udvaros, Zsolt Laszlo95 min, color, action/adventure/drama Rating: Not recommended below the age of 16
THE PERFECT KILLER / A Tokeletes Gyilkos
A depressed homicide detective works on a strange case. He sets out to catch his daughter’s killer, who also happens to be her former best friend. Meanwhile, a fugitive- a pretty girl in her early twenties, knocks on his door and asks him to hide her… It only takes a little while for them to realize that they are both part of a much larger gameDirected by: Jozsef Pacskovszky Cast: Zsolt Laszlo, Nora Horich, Tamas Szabo Kimmel, Gyozo Szabo, Tibor Szervet99 min, color, crime, No rating
COYOTE / Kojot
Muggy heat, small-town bleakness, unspoken social problems, hierarchy fights. This is Tuzko town, somewhere in Hungary. Misi, who inherits his grandfather’s house and his property is a disillusioned, frustrated, wandering young man. He can’t find his role in his life, job or relationship. He begins to renovate the house with some men from the town, but it violates the local oligarch’s interests. So his fight begins for the property, his love and his life.
Directed by: Mark Kostyal Cast: Andras Meszaros, Maria Dobra, Laszlo Matray126 min, color, action/drama Rating: Not recommended below the age of 16
JUST DROP DEAD Hungarian Film Critics Awards – Best Supporting Actor – Janos Kulka
After a mysterious engine driver in his sixties suddenly dies, his wife, his lover, her illegitimate daughter, and an increasing number of shady characters from his sordid past want to know the true identity of the man they loved. They long to know which of them he truly loved and where he has hidden the fantastic fruit of his double life. In their deadly struggle, our heroes find themselves in the center of a satirical crime comedy that’s roots stretch back to the eighties-the end of the socialist era.
Directed by: Zoltan Kamondi Cast: Adel Kovats, Eszter Onodi, Virag Alma Pajer, Eszter Csakanyi, Geza Hegedus D., Gyorgy Cserhalmi, Mari Torocsik105 min, Color, Comedy / Drama Rating: Not recommended below the age of 16
STRANGLED / Martfui RemHungarian Film Critics AwardsBest Cinematographer – Gabor SzaboBest Supporting Actress – Zsofia Szamosi
Based on real-life events, this psycho-thriller is set in 1960’s Hungary when a series of atrocious murders shock the small town of Martfü. A psychotic killer is on the prowl, who continues to slaughter young women while an innocent man is wrongly accused and sentenced for crimes he could never have committed. A determined detective arrives on the scene and soon becomes obsessed with the case while under pressure from the prosecutor to see a man hang. Stuck in the suffocating social, political and psychological world of socialist Hungary, we soon find ourselves entangled in a web of intricate conspiracy and disturbing drama.Directed by: Arpad Sopsits Cast: Karoly Hajduk, Zsolt Anger, Zsofia Szamosi, Monika Balsai118 min, color, crime/thriller Rating: For adults only
THE CITIZEN
A black man in his late fifties, has been living as a refugee in Hungary for years. He works as a security guard in Budapest and his main desire is to acquire Hungarian citizenship, but he keeps failing the exams that are required for his application. In preparing for the next exam, he is helped by Mari, a Hungarian woman of roughly the same age who is a history teacher. Unexpectedly, the teacher and her pupil begin to develop deep affection towards each other.Directed by: Roland Vranik Cast: Tibor Gaspar, Agnes Mahr, Dr. Cake-Baly Marcelo 109 min, color, drama Rating: Not recommended below the age of 12
