Budapest - Cultural agenda

Happy Easter!

Csacsillus — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 08:10:00 +01:00

Easter – a moveable feast which follows
the cycle of the full moon, situated between 22nd March and 25th April – is one of the most important religious feasts when we celebrate the ressurection of Jesus.

At the first part of the passion week women usually clean the house, on Thursday evening girls get water from the stream for next morning (called rosewater). On Friday the worshippers represent their mourning.
On Saturday they celebrate the ressurection: have the procession and hallow the fire and the food. In connection with the fire there are many beliefs, for instance to put live coals into the water of domestic animals cause health. And Sunday is the end of Lent.

The most popular habits are related to Easter Monday. Many non-religious cultural elements have become part of this holiday, and those aspects are often celebrated by many Christians and non-Christians alike. We decorate eggs which is the symbol of fertility. Then in the early morning men spanke women because a legend says that women should be spanked in order to keep their health and beauty during whole next year.
Furthermore men douse us with cold water.

It has more gracious way with parfumes but sometimes we think (and smell) water would be better. Easter has a commercial aspect: just think how much we spend on gifts, greeting cards, sweets or buying rabbits for children.

Our favourites from the Film Week

jj — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +01:00

As we have already reported Hungary's main film festival has already been started and lasts till the 5th of February. But what films are nominated and which has chance to get the Golden Reel?
Here comes the selection of our favourites

The 39th Film Week has been opened by Béla Tarr's film, The Man from London that has started its career at the 60th Cannes Film Festival as cafebabel.com has been reported in a brunch with the director. The film itself is an adaptation of a Georges Simenon crime story and tells the story of a switchman at a seaside station, Maloin. Answering cafebabel.com's question on his adherence to poorer, socially disadvantaged characters Tarr explains: 'I always had this social sensitivity. People living on the moral and existential edge interest me more than anything else. Their conflicts are much more real. They can be better expressed in this segment of society than in the bourgeois, well-off world, where it's usually swept under the carpet. Of course, that is also an interesting universe, but not for me.'
Kornél Mundruczó – Delta
The new film of Kornél Mundruczó, author of several award winning shorts and documentaries, has been come a long way till it has been finally completed in 2007. Since Lajos Bertók, actor shaping the main charatcter died before recording the final scenes, Mundruczó had nothing else to do but find another person for the leading role and reshot the whole film again. The story of the film is based on Shakespeare's Hamlet and Euripides' Electra and describes...
"The man of nature.
The nature of man.
The battle of wind and water.
The power of nature.
The nature of power. Benedek Fliegauf - Milky Way
Benedek Fliegauf’s meditative ambient film won the Golden Leopard in Locarno last summer. It is reputed to be rather a series of installations than a film. The director admits as well that this is not a typical film. In an interview given for origo.hu, a Hungaraian portal he sums up the story in one sentence: “Everything is the same differently and at the same time different in the same way." Róbert Alföldi - A nyugalom (Tranquillity)
Tranquillity is an adaptation of the highly successfull novel of Attila Bartis with the title Calmness/Resting|http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-02-27-rakusa-en.html|en] (Die Ruhe in German). It is the first feature of the director, Róbert Alföldi who has been known so far for his theatrical acting and directing.

Gábor Dettre: The tableau The film originally titled Roma cop and Ant burning is based on Ákos Kertész’ novel, The Price of Hatred. The screening of the film was cancelled in the last minute before the 38th Film Week, thus it could be among the nominees only this year. The film is a grotesque social cyclorama shown through a thrilling crime story. Attila Till - Panic
Attila Till’s first feature film tells a story of woman, Zsuzsi being in her thirties. She has everything: good job, own car, a life of her own, even a lover...but one day when having a heart attack, everything changes. Tough being a first film of the director it is of a high standard owing to the professional team working behind Till.

Our favourite from last year:''
György Pálfi - Taxidermia
Following the great success of Hukkle (2002), Pálfi has come out with a big film again. The film based on Lajos Parti Nagy's short novels tells a story of three generations through the life of a grandfather, father and a son.
This film has won prices in Chicago, Brussels, Mexico, Porto, Tallinn and has been nominated by Hungary for the 80th Oscar in the category 'Best Foreign Language Film'. Unfortuately finally it did not managed to get on to the final list of nominated ones, though it should have done to do so.
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5 February 2008

And the Golden Reel goes to:

Kornél Mundruczó: Delta

Well done, we should have bet for his win! Congratulations!

Hungary's main film festival (January 29-February 5)

Linda — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:57:00 +01:00

January 28, 2008

Some 103 productions will be featured at the annual 39th Hungarian Film Festival opening in Budapest on Tuesday. The week-long festival which ends on February 5, 18 features, 33 documentaries, 3 documentary-style features, 36 experimental and short films and 13 science and education films will be competing in their own categories.

The main competition this year will be for the festival's main feature film prize, the newly renamed Golden Reel.

The international jury of the festival will be chaired by Klaus Eder, General Secretary of the International Federation of Film Critics.

On the sidelines of the festival, several film-related events will take place, including a roundtable discussion of filmmaking, public meetings and an exhibition entitled "100 Years of Hungarian Film" at the Budapest KOGART museum.

Outside the capital five other cities and towns will host screenings of titles selected from this year's festival programme.

Kodaly-year to conclude

Linda — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:27:00 +01:00

December 11, 2007

Concerts, a conference, a competition and several other events will be held across Hungary during the closing week of a year-long commemoration of Hungarian composer and music teacher Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) from Wednesday.

The Kodaly-year programmes began in February to mark the 125th anniversary of the composer's birth and the 40th anniversary of his death.

On Wednesday a 12-hour "music-marathon" will be held from 1000 hours local time at Budapest's Franz Liszt Music Academy, where Kodaly studied from 1900. During the day renowned Hungarian musicians orchestras and choirs will perform a cross-section of Kodaly works in the academy's two music halls.

On Sunday the Budapest Palace of Arts will host performances by young Hungarian musicians and a competition on Kodaly's works.

The Kodaly season will be concluded with a gala concert on December 17 in Kecskemet (C Hungary), Kodaly's hometown.

First EU Shorts film festival to start in Budapest on Thursday

Linda — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:20:00 +01:00

The five-day event on November 8-12 will feature 40 films selected from the best shorts shot in Europe over the past few years. The films will be classified into five thematically blocs: one for Hungarian films, two for animations and two for fictions.

Foreign films to be screened include British director John Williams' "Hibernation", about two children experimenting to revive a bee, and Spanish director Borja Cobeaga's "One Too Many", about a man who exploits his mother-in-law.

A number of award-winning Hungarian shorts will also be shown.

Venue: Szinbád Art Mozi 1137 Budapest, Szent István krt. 16.

Link: http://eushorts.hu/