Hungarian Film Magazine – The Cannes 2016 Issue

them based on the industry’s feedback. Thanks to
discussions such as the industry roundtable at the
Friss Hús International Short Film Festival, we were
able to raise the amount that can be awarded for
short and experimental films by more than 100%.
We just recently introduced our completely
electronic application system, which makes
access a lot easier and creates equal
opportunities: now it is the same process for
everyone, no matter where they live.
There were some concerns about the afterlife of
these movies – any update on that?
We are trying to help each film’s afterlife. We have
a good working relationship with the international
festivals division of the Hungarian National Film
Fund and of the MTVA (Media Service Support
and Asset Management Fund, the Hungarian
public media), as they are representing and
selling some of the films. We ourselves are
tracking every single project that comes out of
the Patronage programme. We also created a
website to present each film. We have an annual
bilingual catalogue that we send to international
film festivals as well as to Hungarian cultural
institutes abroad to help spread these.
What do you consider to be the biggest success
of the past 5 years?
Hungary particularly supports the audiovisual
industry, and there are an increasing amount of
quality feature films thanks to the Hungarian
National Film Fund - we hope there will be more
success stories like ‘Son of Saul’. Because of the
tax rebate system, the talented human resources
and the helpful regulatory environment, there
is a very high number of foreign productions
coming to Hungary. And of course we are also
very proud of the movies that come out of our
programme. These films have won more than 150
international awards. We had a short animation
in the Berlinale Shorts and we have another at
the Cannes Semaine de la Critique this year.
Each week there is something new to celebrate.
Just these past few days the made-for-TV movie
‘Demimonde’ won five awards in Tiburon and
two at Nashville, where it competed against
theatrical features.
2015 by the Numbers
at the Media Council’s Hungarian
Media Patronage programme
Nr. of Amount granted
films
Educational Documentaries 32 804 300 EUR
Documentaries 47 1 057 300 EUR
Animated Shorts 19 564 800 EUR
Animated Series or Special 14 792 700 EUR
Short Fiction 15 239 100 EUR
TV-Movie Development 12 40 300 EUR
TV-Movie Production 6 1 894 000 EUR
Historical Documentaries 10 599 650 EUR
sold to foreign TV-channels, which in the process
puts Hungary in the cultural spotlight. Another
interesting way to reach audiences is what
‘Virtual Castle Tours’ did when they organised
screenings in museums and registered more than
140 000 admissions. In addition, an increasing
number of projects get a second life online.
We were and still are formulating our application
system according to discussions within the
film industry, and it is an entirely transparent
system. Filmmakers can see all of our conditions
and budgets. At the end of each year we decide
on the following year’s application calendar so
that our applicants can plan ahead of time.
We are honoured that our support has helped
make more than 700 film projects, with an
amount nearing EUR 22.8 million.
by Gábor Osváth
Besides the international success, though, it
is also very important to screen these movies
for the domestic television audience. We have
supported 28 made-for-TV movies so far. Luckily
we can say that Hungarians like Hungarian
movies because they vote with their remote
controls, and our films receive good ratings.
There are often hundreds of thousands of people
watching them at home. Some projects even
get theatrical distribution, like the highly
successful nature movies ‘Wild Szigetköz’
and ‘Wild Kunság’. Many of the films get
photo by Gábor Valuska
HUNGARIAN FILM MAGAZINE 13