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INDUSTRY Hungary

Winds of change gather momentum

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Hungarian film can boast several success stories in recent times. Three films alone – Fresh Air [+see also:
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trailer
film profile
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by Ágnes Kocsis, Taxidermia [+see also:
trailer
film profile
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by György Pálfi and White Palms [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Szabolcs Hajdu
film profile
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by Szabolcs Hajdu – won 18 international awards among them last year. Industry people in Budapest say it is all down to “tidying up their backyard” after years of indifference.

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“The new law from 2004 has started paying dividends. Hungarian film is becoming important again, a new generation of talented filmmakers is emerging,” says Ferenc Grunwalsky, chairman of the Board of the Motion Picture Public Foundation of Hungary (MMK), the country’s public funds allocation body.

According to Grunwalsky, all MMK did was to simply create a system: “We have changed the conditions of application, accounting and supervision [and] worked out a producers” system and bank financing.”

Domestic films have been doing remarkably well at the home box office with admissions for Hungarian movies reaching a combined total of over 2m in 2006. The Foundation’s government financing will be down 30% for 2007 but a four-year contract guarantees minimum support that cannot be renegotiated. Furthermore, all public assets have now officially been transferred under the direct control of MPPFH, including the “dinosaurs” of MAFILM and the Hungarian Film Laboratory.

Grunwalsky believes that the secret to success lies in striking a fine balance between art and the business of film. “Film is an intellectual as well as professional product. You can’t just separate the two”, he argues.

He knows that the second part of the equation leaves room for improvement. There were over 100 festival awards for various types of Hungarian films in 2006 but very few distribution deals, even with television. “The next step is to reach theatres and televisions across Europe”, he says.

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