Work on Különös házasság (1951) has already started and Civil a pályán (1952) is up for restoration, said archives director Vera Gyürey. The two films might be ready within two years, if there is enough money to fund the project.
As well as restoring old Hungarian films, the National Film Archives is always expanding its collection. The archives recently acquired a print of Júdás fiai (1920) directed by Ödön Uher discovered in Belgrade. The film is the famous actor Jenő Törzs?s only silent film.
Prints of the silent film Pál utcai Fiúk (1924) and Oliver Twist (1920) have been discovered in Brussels, and a print of Alfréd Deésy?s Halál után (1920) has been brought to Hungary from Brussels.
Although some 600 silent films were made in Hungary between 1901 and 1930, just 41 are preserved in the National Film Archives.
The archives also makes classic Hungarian films available to a broader public by showing films on television and releasing them on DVD, as well as through the Örökmozgó Film Museum programme and its professional publication Film Annual. There are plans to release a film of the Hungarian tale Lúdas Matyi on DVD in December with the cooperation of the Hungarian Film Laboratories, and the next volume of Film Annual is due out in September.
In an interview with the Hungarian News Agency (MTI), Gyürey stressed that is important to understand that the National Film Archives is far more than just another state-funded institution at the sub-ministerial level, it is a national collection.
She declined to say whether her statement was related to a restructuring of Hungary?s state institutions as part of recently introduced government austerity measures.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
