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- Banned for over a decade for its outspoken criticism of the post-WWII communist regime in Hungary, Péter Bacsó's 'The Witness' has since then achieved unparalleled cult status in its native land. Known as the best satire about communism, 'The Witness' has become a cult classic, which was also well received by critics and general audiences alike when it was finally released outside of Hungary. Its candid and realistic portrayal of the incompetent communist regime has earned great acclaim for both the director and the film itself when it was shown at Cannes Film Festival in 1981. 'The Witness' takes place during the height of the Rákosi Era, which was closely modeled after the ruthless and brutal Stalin regime. The film follows the life of an ordinary dike keeper, József Pelikán, who has been caught for illegally slaughtering his pig, Dezsõ. Instead of doing hard time for his "heinous" crime, Pelikán is elevated into an important position, generally reserved for the communist elite. Of course, Pelikán is utterly clueless about his newfound luck, not to mention his new job. Even his new benefactor, the mysterious Comrade Virág, is reluctant to reveal the real reason behind Pelikán's preferential treatment. Thus, begins Pelikán's hilarious adventure deep within the "sophisticated" communist society. One failure after another the incompetent Pelikán is elevated higher and higher on the communist echelon, all the while remaining completely clueless about his promotions. Until one day, when he gets called for to return the "favour" by falsely testifying against his long-time friend in a mock-up show trial.
- Obsessed with the idea of owning his first car so he can have sex in it, a young man takes any job he can find and ends up in an escalating series of crazy situations.
- This epic story takes place between 1820 and 1860 during the Habsburg Monarchy, and portrays the life one of the greatest Hungarian aristocrats - Count Széchenyi - who was born with extra-ordinary mental and spiritual talents. In the years following the fall of Napoleon the young count Széchenyi irresponsibly seduces his brother's wife, and the consequent scandal ruins his career as an army officer. After the sudden death of his humiliated lover Count Széchenyi drastically changes his character from that of a shallow young man into a responsible nobleman seeking to conquer his fate by creating great achievements in his remaining life. A great friendship and a special new love help the count to overcome all other obstacles. Széchenyi becomes one of the most famous politicians of his time. He is chosen as the leader of the opposition, and as such he becomes the enemy of the Habsburgs. However, Széchenyi has never intended to go against his aristocratic upbringing and to be part of a cause, which aims to destabilize the Habsburg Monarchy. Feeling responsible for the unleashed tensions within the Monarchy he strives to serve as the cause of reconciliation. He initiates the building of a grand bridge over the Danube, which is to become a symbolic link between the West and the East in Europe. However, his reputation and influence assume such proportions that when the Monarchy is shaken to its foundations by the revolutions of 1848 he is driven insane by his thoughts of self-incrimination. While mentally deranged and locked away in a private sanatorium near Vienna Széchenyi's nightmares become a reality. The Habsburgs exact cruel retribution for the 1848 rebellion in the Hungarian province. Széchenyi's friends are executed while his rebellious country sinks into an apathy equal to his own. Now an old man, Széchenyi miraculously regains his former self. With renewed energy the old count launches into a rejuvenating program for his beloved country initiating his last great gamble against the Habsburg Empire.
- Miklós Jancsó's Silence and Cry is set during a turbulent era of disquiet, fear, persecution and terror, which permeates every corner of post-WWI Hungarian society. In 1919, after just a few months of communist rule the Hungarian Republic of Councils falls victim to a nationalist counter-revolution. Admiral Horthy, leader of the nationalist far right movement, becomes the self-proclaimed regent of Hungary, and assumes power as the legal Head of State. Soldiers of the short-lived Hungarian Red Army are now on the run from relentless secret policemen and patrol units of the nationalist Royal Gendarme. If caught, ex-Red Army soldiers are executed without mercy or proper trial. István Cserzi, a former soldier of the Red Army has fled to the Great Hungarian Plains and has taken refuge on a farm, which is run by two sympathetic women. Due to the generosity of these women and a former childhood pal, who is now a commandant of the local Royal Gendarme outfit, István is safely hidden from the ever-prying eyes of the secret policemen, who relentlessly roam the countryside searching for ex-Red Army men and their sympathisers. However, upon discovering that the women are secretly poisoning the mother-in-law and the husband, the legal owners of the farm, István must make the most difficult decision of his life. As a personal war is waging within his own consciousness over morality and self-preservation, István must decide whether to remain silent about the women's devious secret and preserve his own life, or to report their heinous crime to the Royal Gendarme, which would also mean certain death for him.
- Jancsi Oláh is in the transitional phase between adolescence and adultness. He is born in 1938, and is now getting his first employment as an electronic engineer. On some TV-screens he happens to see a young lawyer, Éva Halk, who arrests his attention. In his imagination she is the most interesting woman he ever saw. Jansci is part of a closely knit gang of young engineers. They see the older engineers as mediocre, and have grand ideas about developing new inventions together. With changing living conditions the five friends start to grow apart. At a party Jancsi suddenly meets Éva Halk. They fall in love, and find common memories in the engagement in The Pioneer Railway at the age of 12. Both of them also chose to stay in Hungary in '56, when many of their friends fled the country. The sudden death of the gang member Laci in leukemia is a hard blow for them all. The fear of death grabs Éva and Jancsi. They start seeing each other as obstacles to their own development, and drift apart.
- Autumn 1944. Yellow star, ghettos, Arrow Cross terror. The inhabitants of Hungary's capital, Budapest, await the tragic fulfilment of their fate with helpless resignation. However, above one of the city's villas, once a week in the evening the stars of hope sparkle, if only for a few minutes. This short time gives fresh heart to those hiding here and kindles hope in their tortured souls to live for another day. This mysterious power is none other than a beautiful song that can be heard at such times from the villa's tower room. Géza Halász, the villa's always jovial caretaker, believes no Jew has reason to fear while the owner of the voice, Imre Rose, the world-famous opera singer and a Jew himself, remains in Budapest and does not flee from the country in spite of his American, British, Swiss, Swedish and Vatican connections. Halász visits the singer every Friday to dine with him. After a while the marvellous, hope-inspiring concert starts, which is listened to by the hiding inhabitants of the house with enraptured faces through the villa's open dumb waiter. Already in the "palmy years of peacetime" Rose had competed with Csortos, the famous actor, for the title of "Budapest's Greatest Misanthrope". Thus it does not surprise anybody that the eccentric singer never, not even once, tries to make contact with his fellow Jews who took refuge in his house. And when Halász recounts that the singer swore within an hour of the Arrow Cross's seizing power that he would not utter a single word nor cross the threshold of his tower room until "Andrássy Avenue has been purged of this Arrow Cross scum", even the slightest suspicion about Rose's "invisibility" vanishes. Only a fourteen-year-old boy, Tommy, the caretaker's son, listens to the weekly song with curiosity combined with suspicion, and tries to find out about the secret of the tower room. As a result of the adolescent's persistent and undaunted inquiries, the opera singer's mystery is unveiled. Meanwhile, however, almost unnoticed, the events of the calamitous days, filled with excitement and cheerfulness, turn the boy into a truly adult man. The story of THE SONGS OF RÓZSA is based on true events.
- Two old men enter the synagogue, look at the decay around them, and pray. We see the town, the synagogue and cemetery, and a train crosses in the middle distance.
- An exploration of a decaying synagogue.
- Five years after Word War II Hungarian people are secretly arrested and taken to a labour camp without any judicial sentence. During the early 1950's the very existence of the camp for political prisoners at Recsk was one of the Hungarian communist regime's deepest secrets. Escape From Recsk tells the story of the only person who ever managed to escape successfully from Recsk - Hungary's most notorious prison camp. He cherishes his hope by memorizing the names of fellow prisoners. The disclosure of the names of these prisoners in the West revealed the existence of the camp to the world and started the process that eventually led to dismantling the gulag camps in Central East Europe. Escape From Recsk captures the atmosphere of paranoia, humiliation and degradation that prevailed throughout the Stalinist gulag system. Even the guards do not trust each other in this nightmare world where betrayal is the only currency for purchasing small favours, and even life.
- Two rabbis show the ruins of an abandoned synagogue to a group of primary school-age Jewish children, and stand by as the children dip bread in honey, drink wine, pray, and sing.
- At 15 he and his family became victims of state terror. At 16 he became a freedom fighter to participate in the 1956 Revolution against Soviet oppression. At 17 he is betrayed and arrested by the dreaded Secret Police (AVH). Now he has to spend the remainder of his life in a political prison, called Hell's Hallway, to reach the legal age of 18 before his death penalty can be carried out. Peter Mansfeld was 18 when he was unjustly executed by the totalitarian regime of Hungary. Today he is remembered as one of the national heroes of Hungary.
- Irma Varró is 18 years old and leaves an orphanage. All she knows about her past is that she was a foundling. She knows only a few sure, hard facts about her life. She is pregnant. She has just got the first opportunity in her life: a job as a cleaning woman. And she has arranged the "best deal" of her life: she will get money for her child from a woman who is an intermediary for mothers-to-be like her. But who is she? Who was her mother? She begins searching for her mother she has never seen, because she wants to pay her back for the grievances she has suffered. During her investigation Irma finds out that nothing is true of what she knew. She is not who she believed herself to be. Mystery and secrets cover everything.
- Zoli and Miki are close friends, constantly together. Their fathers are forced into a relationship because of their children's friendship, but a young teacher arrives at the school, and this changes everything.
- In Pomáz a camera goes from one person to the next, recording things which we would rather keep a secret.
- The heroin addicted András got a last chance from his love Juli, to save his life.
- Our Stork is a unique story, which tells us about the distinctive relation between man and animal. This award-winning documentary tells the story of a stork that has stayed behind when its mates left for their long journey to Africa. The scene is set in a small Hungarian village, where the characters are the villagers themselves with their human weaknesses, their hopes and ambitions. Our stork becomes a matter of attention and concern for the villagers and eventually the bird becomes a villager herself. For one year we follow the life of this new inhabitant, who tries to learn the villagers' habits. As spring comes the other storks return. It is time for our stork to return to a real stork's life. She has to fall in love, mate and provide offsprings like any normal stork would. This award-winning, warm-hearted documentary film depicts, in a humorous and poetic way, the interaction between man and animal. Who helps whom? Who's in charge? Who teaches whom? You will get your answers by watching this unique film, which does not need words.
- This European Film Award winner documentary tells the story of Recsk, Hungary's most notorious political prison camp, which operated between 1950 and 1953. During the early 1950's the very existence of this camp for political prisoners at Recsk was one of the Hungarian communist regime's deepest secrets. Hundreds of people were taken there without ever actually being sentenced by any court, and had to suffer through the brutal treatment handed down by their sadistic captors. This documentary tells the story of Recsk from both the captors' and the prisoners' point of view, capturing the atmosphere of paranoia, humiliation and degradation that prevailed throughout the Stalinist gulag system.
- Canada's Helicon Ball and St. Stephen's Ball, the largest of their kind in all of North America, started forty-six years ago as a way for Canada's Hungarian community to hold onto an important tradition. They were inspired by Budapest's Opera Ball, which began in 1886. Hundreds of guests travel to Toronto and Montreal from the world over to relive the grandeur of the belle époque.
- The Helicon Ball - the largest of its kind in all of North America - is a debutante ball, organized and held annually under the auspices of the Hungarian Helicon Society and the Hungarian Helicon Foundation. Hungarian immigrants, freshly arrived to Canada, have started the Ball in 1958. The organizer's goal was to maintain the beautiful traditions of Europe in the multicultural atmosphere of their new home - Canada. The Helicon Ball is filled with elegance, excitement and ceremony. The evening begins with a champagne reception, followed by the Opening Ceremonies, which consist of the procession of distinguished guests, the Palotas dance - performed in traditional costume - followed by the most unique aspect of the Helicon Ball, the presentation of the debutantes. Hundreds of guests arrive each year from all over North America to relive the grandeur of this belle epoque.
- This short film recreates the last hours of a mafia man whose outstanding gambling debt is about to be settled permanently.
- 'Who Says Folklore Can't Be Fun!' documentary takes a fresh new look at the celebration of Hungarian folk music and dancing in North America. Filmed in Canada during the 2004 Pontozó competition, the documentary follows the participants during this three-day event as they explain how they got involved with Hungarian folklore and why they think it is such an important part of their lives. So, join these talented dancers as they go about their expert performances of the most unique and traditional dances and songs from various Hungarian and Transylvanian regions, and see why it does not matter whether you are four or sixty years old folklore can still be tremendous fun for any willing participants.
- A behind the scenes documentary about the trials of exotic male dancing in Canada.