Hungarian Film Magazine – The Cannes 2016 Issue

From the Beginning
Five years is a considerable amount of time in a person’s life. It ought to be
enough to fulfill a goal or to give up pursuing it. The Hungarian National Film
Fund is turning five this summer and, looking back, we can proudly say that
many of our goals were reached beyond expectations. Over these five years,
Hungary has strengthened its position in the major film festivals, of which
Cannes has been particularly generous to our talented and visionary cineastes.
Bringing home the main prize from the Certain Regard section (‘White God’ by
Kornél Mundruczó) and winning the Grand Jury Prize, the Golden Globe and
the Oscar (‘Son of Saul’ by László Nemes) we can safely say: what amazing five
years it has been!
According to psychologists, by the age of five a child is able to distinguish the
concept of past, present and future. We did not need five years to recognise
that the values of the past and the present are needed to drive the Hungarian
film industry towards a successful future. While the honoured members of a
legendary filmmaker generation (Márta Mészáros and Ildikó Enyedi) are back
behind the camera, we are always searching for fresh talents among ambitious
youngsters.
Amid these fresh voices, young Hungarian animation artists represent a
characteristic group that works and creates within the Animation Department
of the renowned Moholy-Nagy University (MOME). This year two students
made it to the Cinéfondation and to the Semaine de la Critique section (Nadja
Andrasev and Luca Tóth, respectively). The highly esteemed past is represented
this year by the magnificent and digitally remastered ‘Love’ by Károly Makk,
who debuted 45 years ago in Cannes.
This year we put a special focus on the economic impact of the film and
audiovisual industry. The Film Fund is conducting a study to research the
direct and indirect effects of the audiovisual sector and the role of our solid film
incentive system behind them. The first results reaffirm our commitment to
sustain the funding of this creative industry, which has a boosting impact
on the national economy.
Balázs Zachar
Head of Legal, Regulatory Affairs and EU Relations,
Hungarian National Film Fund
HUNGARIAN FILM MAGAZINE 1