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Attila Gigor's film The Investigator |
Film programmes - held in Berlin, Delhi, London, Bucharest, Helsinki, Paris, Prague Tel Aviv and Shanghai - accounted for 18pc of all planned events at the institutes, Takács said.
András Ecsedi-Derdák, who heads the Hungarian Institute in Paris, said the task of the 20 Hungarian cultural institutes in 19 countries around the world as well as of the cultural attachés in seven countries is not only to popularise Hungarian films. The seriousness of the matter is demonstrated by the fact that the only event that all of the institutes' directors are required to return to Hungary for is Film Week.
Last year the institutes and cultural attachés put on film programmes at 24 venues. Just HUF 80 million in state support was available for the programmes, making the search for other sponsors very important, Ecsedi-Derdák said. Hungarian culture institutes earlier focused on establishing film clubs, but now greater efforts are being made to draw bigger crowds, he added.
János Togay Can, who heads Berlin's Collegium Hungaricum, organised a programme dubbed Cinema Total that drew 200 guests - among them István Szabó, Udo Kier and Ulrich Gregor - and was a great success.
The Hungarian Culture Centre London celebrated the 100 anniversary of Hungarian film with a festival called Check The Gate. In the framework of the four-day programme, a selection of Hungarian New Wave films was shown, an exhibition of Korda film posters opened and a professional forum took place.
In Paris, the Hungarian Institute set up an outdoor cinema on its rooftop. In order not to disturb the neighbours, filmgoers at the "Silent Cinema" watched the print projected onto a wall while listening through headphones.
Films will also play a big role for Extremely Hungary, the Hungarian cultural season in New York and Washington. The organisers will show a series of screenings of films by Béla Tarr as well as of the newest generation of Hungarian directors. Péter Forgács's documentaries Hunky Blues and Dunai Exodus will also be shown.
Source: Hungarian News Agency
Photo: Filmszemle
