1989 'My Twentieth Century' Ildikó Enyedi, Golden Camera 1993 'Child Murders' Ildikó Szabó, FIPRESCI prize
1996 'To Speak the Unspeakable: The Message of Elie Wiesel' Judit Elek 2006 'The Vírus' Ágnes Kocsis, Cinefondation, 3rd prize
Auteurs of this wave work in various forms, from animation to full-length features and documentaries, but their independent, open spirit makes them somewhat connected with each other. The links among them are not only horizontal but also vertical, as it is not rare to see artists with great oeuvres meeting new talents at the same vibrant scene. Their interests and tones of expression may be different, but deep empathy towards human nature as well as critical thoughts flavoured with a bit of tasteful humour can be recognised as common ground. The direction that this artistic view takes characterises the stories they tell. The members of the more mature generations take great pride in throwing the audience back to the historical past. In 2015 Ibolya Fekete drew a bigger picture of Hungary’s history in her epic and lighthearted family tale entitled ‘Mom and Other Loonies in the Family’. And Olga, the successful lawyer in ‘Aurora Borealis’, discovers dark secrets from her family’s past; in her story the veteran director Márta Mészáros raises rarely touched questions of motherhood, body issues and rape as a war crime. The film encourages critical dialogue regarding sensitive social issues and bravely tells hidden but living stories from the post-Soviet region’s memory. Ildikó Enyedi’s ‘On Body and Soul’ also circles around the possibility and impossibility of communication, though keeps a more private and gentle tone. The movie, which was the Hungarian nomination for the Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film category, creates a universal atmosphere of love and understanding of the mystery of the human soul. The significant group of young female animators from the inspiring milieu of the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest cannot be disregarded either. Réka Bucsi examines the eternal complexity of relationships among creatures and events in her widely awarded works ‘Symphony No. 42’ and ‘Love’. Nadja Andrasev also applies strong symbols that are twisted with an erotic touch in her graduation film, ‘The Noise of Licking’. Luca Tóth goes even further by creating the sultry, surreal world of ‘Superbia’ in which the traditional characteristics of gender are mixed up in this wild, faraway land and where the inhabitants act uninhibitedly beyond all conventions. Gender issues and questions of female identity are concentrated in the coming-of-age shorts of
2006 'Fresh Air' Ágnes Kocsis
2014 'The Execution' Petra Szőcs
2010 'Adrienn Pál' Ágnes Kocsis, FIPRESCI prize
2016 'The Noise of Licking' Nadja Andrasev, Cinefondation 3rd prize 2016 'Superbia' Luca Tóth
a collection of promising female directors. Fanni Szilágyi introduces the charismatic redhead teenage sisters of ‘End of Puberty’ as they stand up against the world through a very personal way of rebellion. The film is an adaptation of the short story written by Réka Mán-Várhegyi, another unique female author, this time from the domain of literature. Hajni Kis charmed the public with ‘Beautiful Figure’, which followed a similar path. The gripping story of the hopeless desire of Elsie, a high school cleaning lady, for
the female voices from Cannes will be heard for a long time to come a female student is expressed in small gestures and slight changes of mood. Again empathy is the basic tone here, without any kind of prejudice or the smallest trace of preconceived ideas. Lili Horváth touches social issues in her critically acclaimed full-length feature ‘The Wednesday Child’ about a determined young mother fighting for her son. Father and son are the protagonists of ‘Afterlife’, in which Virág Zomborácz surprises viewers with her original voice and inimitable black humour. Two examples of the numerous documentaries directed by women and dealing with female roles are Bernadett TuzaRitter’s ‘A Woman Captured’ and Diana Groó’s ‘Regina’. While the first deals with the topic of contemporary slavery pictured in a dramatic portrait, the second introduces the life of the first female rabbi, a role model of independent, intelligent and dedicated female souls. The vital appearance of female artists has also welcomed a new interest in Hungary’s film history, strengthening the angle from a woman’s point of view. The restoration of the legendary motion picture ‘My Twentieth Century’ was one of the highlights of last year’s series of events of Hungarian film heritage connected to the recently set-up preservation programme. The evergreen legend of the film proves that the female voices from Cannes will be heard for a long time to come. HUNGARIAN FILM MAGAZINE
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