The Hungarian Film Festival of Los Angeles has been a constant presence in bringing an array of diverse films, features, documentaries and shorts each year to a city that holds a unique place in the movie industry, a city renowned for its film events.
This year, the Hungarian Film Festival of Los Angeles is celebrating the 100 birthday of the Hungarian Animation. Festival is presenting the diversity of the art of animation film making, children, adult, short and feature film length movies.
The Festival is an invitation to those who believe in the power of Hungarian cinema and its quest to be heard though their films, and has always been met with a great deal of enthusiasm and appreciation because of its ability to present unforgettable cinematic and artistic films through the years.
Festival Program for November 14 & 15:
November 14
7:15pm COMING OUT
(Director: Denes Orosz, Actor: Sandor Csanyi will attend)
Director: Dénes Orosz – Screenplay: Dénes Orosz – Director of photography: Ádám Fillenz – Editor: Zoltán Kovács – Producer: Gábor Kálomista – Production company: Megafilm
Cast: Sándor Csányi, Kátya Tompos, Gábor Karalyos, Anikó Für, József Gyabronka, Zoltán Mucsi, Kati Takács
What do you do when you find you’re not the man you thought you were?. This is the story of Hungary’s most famous gay celebrity who openly admits his homosexuality and fights for gay rights in a society where so many alternative values are denied. But then something happens and he is shocked to discover his growing interest in the female of the species. Coming Out is a daring romantic comedy that examines the question of otherness in a unique way.
The #1 Hungarain Box-Office Hit in 2013
(Rabbit and Deer-short, Director Peter Racz will attend)
9:30pm BLACK SOUP
Director: Erik Novak – Screenplay: Erik Novak, Viktor Nagy, Zoltan Perjes, Gyula Barath, Luca Bercovici – Cinematography: Balazs Doboczi Tamas Simon – Producer: Daniel Kresmery, Csanad Darvas
Cast: Zoltan Perjes, Zsolt Nagy, Nora Parti, Gabor Mate 
The son of a mafia boss takes up a big job with a misfit gang to repay his gambling debts. Following a devastating poker loss, DJ Freaky D finds himself in a bad need of money to repay his debt. The prodigal son of a powerful mafia boss, he gets a scoop about a money van journeying through the countryside. His only chance is to recruit an amateur team for the big job – and so he joins forces with a group of mental patients, led by his long-lost friend Erik. The unlikely company manages to ambush the van and get the cash, but soon they have to face the vengeance of the mob.
Director-actor Erik Novak’s second feature is a bold undertaking to redefine the dark comedy genre. With a loose story structure and improvised dialogs, absurdity and spontaneous humour play a definitive role in his film. Everything is at stake, yet everything is haphazard – the rising tensions are visually emphasised by quick cuts, close-ups and dissonant angles. The production has been dubbed as the national gangster film of Hungary and lives up to the title with its vigorous pace, cynical tone, and enterprising spirit. (2014 * color * 93 min)
(The Bellybutton of my Grandma – short)
November 15
1:00pm CHILDREN ANIMATION
3:00pm REGINA
Director: Diana Groó – Screenplay: Diana Groó – Director of photography: Sándor Kardos – Editor: Ági Mógor – Music: Dániel Kardos – Producer: George Weisz, Diana Groó, Iván Angelusz, Michael Truckenbrodt – Production company: Malcah Production / UK, Katapult Film,Timeprints Media / DE
The Story of the World’s First Female Rabbi
Inspired by the book Regina Jonas: Die weltweit erste Rabbinerin by Elisa Klapheck
Although there is only one photo remained about Regina Jonas, the first female rabbi, Diana Groó attempted to recover and tell the touching life story of her protagonist with archive footages and amateur films reflecting also the history of the 20th century, This is the first film that commemorates the first female rabbi of the world who lived in Berlin.regina_300
The director recalls the first steps of her creative documentary this way: “The story of Regina Jonas found me. My first feature film premiered at the Jewish Film Festival in Amsterdam in 2006 with opening remarks by Rabbi Eliza Klapechk. She came up to me after the screening and asked if I was interested in making a film about the world’s first woman rabbi. The topic didn’t appear to interest me at the time and it was only years later that I remembered Regina Jonas’ name and decided to find out who she actually was. That’s when I learned that she lived in Berlin in the 1930s and her greatest dream was to become a rabbi. She felt that she was born to be a rabbi and had known it from the time she was a little girl. But a woman wasn’t able to be a rabbi according to the laws of Jewish religion. I was deeply impressed by her short life story full of so much struggle and decided that the time had come to make a documentary film about her. But how could I tell her story with only a few letters and one surviving photo? That was the challenge…”
Festivals:
2013 – Cracow Film Festival
2013 – Jerusalem International Film Festival (in competition)
2013 – Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival (in competition)
2013 – Lagów International Film Festival
2013 – Luxembourg CinÉast
2013 – Sarajevo Film Festival (in competition)
4:15pm SPY MASTER
The Spymaster (A tartótiszt)
(2013, documentary, digital, colour, 63 min.)
Director: Ágota Varga – Screenplay: Ágota Varga – Director of photography: Károly Markert – Editor: Károly Szalai – Music: Ábel Varga – Sound: Sándor Faludi
Producer: Ágota Varga – Production company: FILMIRa Ltd.
The documentary film shows a slice of the state security operations of the Kádár-regime from a completely new aspect. It is the first time that a one-time liaison officer speaks openly, moreover about spying on the Catholic Church. On the other hand, it is set in a new light by the method of confrontation, as an unvarnished dialogue and gives a more authentic picture about the objectives of the state security forces at that time, as well as the recruitment of informers and the methods of implementation.
The protagonist is an earlier police officer, “the spymaster”, who recruited and kept contact with innumerable secret network agents. His main specialty was the “fight against the reactionary church”.
Cast: XY retired lieutenant-colonel, head of subdivision III/III-1-b at the Ministry for Home Affairs Béla Balás, diocesan of Kaposvár – Péter Pál Reisz, church director, Budapest-Downtown Franciscan Church – József Vincze, parson of Pér
Festivals: 2014 – Zagreb ZagrebDox
(Director, Agota Varga will attend)
5:15pm HEAVENLY SHIFT
(Director, Mark Bodzsar will attend)
Director: Márk Bodzsár – Screenplay: Márk Bodzsár – Director of photography: Dániel Reich – Editor: Zoltán Kovács – Music: Gábor Keresztes – Sound: Tamás Dévényi – Visual design: Gábor Valcz – Costumes: János Breckl – Producer: István Bodzsár – Co-producer: Sparks – Production company: Unio Film
Cast: András Ötvös, Roland Rába, Tamás Keresztes, Sándor Zsótér,Natasa Stork
Death does not select, man does. – Set in Budapest, Heavenly Shift offers an eerie insight into the everyday lives of a rather extraordinary ambulance crew.
The film’s main character is Milan, a young refugee from the Balkan War, who joins a team of paramedics but inadvertently ends up involved in the funeral business in order to finance his fiancée’s rescue from the hostilities.
MILÁN (András Ötvös) the half Serbian, half Hungarian guy deserts from the Croatian army in 1992, the second year of the Yugoslav war and escapes from Yugoslavia to Hungary. As a former medical student he gets a job for himself at the Hungarian paramedics. He has two unalterable, steady collegues on the emergency ambulance: KISTAMÁS (Tamás Keresztes), the driver of the ambulance and DOCTOR FÉK (Roland Rába), the chief of the paramedic crew. It is a cold shower for the young enthusiastic and conscientious EMS assistant when he realizes that his companions make a selection from the patients. While they are saving lives, sometimes they allow old people or mortally ill to die, or indeed it occurs that their death is hurried by them. MILÁN soon finds out that there is a business side to the illegal euthanasy events taken place at the back of their ambulance. In order to finance his fiancée’s rescue from the war, MILÁN needs money, so he makes a deal with his companions. He gradually becomes involved in the horrors and sin. While he is turning into a skilled paramedic, and lives through the euphoric moments of lifesaving, he recognises innumerable faces of Death.
Festivals:
2014 – Brussels BIFFF (in competition)
2014 – Cluj-Napoca Transilvania
2014 – Ljutomer Grossmann Fantastic Film & Wine Festival (in competition)
2014 – Palic International Film Festival
2014 – Porto Alegre Fantaspoa
2014 – Porto FANTASPORTO (in competition)
2014 – Vilnius International Film Festival
2013 – Luxembourg CinÉast (in competition)
2013 – Valladolid International Film Festival (in competition)
2013 – Warsaw International Film Festival (in competition)
7:15pm VIKTORIA
(Actress, Franciszka Farkas will attend)
Directed by Men Lareida – Written By Men Lareida & Anna Maros
Cast: Franciska Farkas, Angela Stefanovics, Zsolt Nagy, Erika Poloskey
Viktoria’s daily life consists of eking out a living by any means possible, including the illegal sale of no-longer fresh vegetables. It is a life without a daily routine or plan as to how or where to make a living.
When one day her friends come back from abroad with lots of money in their pockets, decorated with plastic jewellery and cheap clothing, Viktoria realises that the district offers neither her nor her family any future. In silence and alone, she decides to go and work in the West.
In Zurich she hopes to find big money. Night after night she walks Zurich’s wan red light district, waiting for customers who she’s to service packed up on some lot. She counteracts her repulsion with anaestheti¬sing narcotics and the thought of a better future. Despite her ever-more precarious position, she finds in the world of fast sex and violence also love, friendship and herself’.
(The Wall short)
9:30pm WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO TIMI
Director: Attila Herczeg – Screenplay: Csaba Csurgó – Director of photography: Máté Widamon Tóth – Editor: Csaba Somogyi – Music: Róbert Gulya – Producer: Gábor Ferenczy, Attila TÅ‘zsér – Production – company: Focusfox Studio
Cast: Andrea Osvárt, Kornél Simon, Simon Szabó, Tamás Lengyel, Adél Jordán,Iván Kamarás, Anna Szandtner, István Hirtling, Itala Békés
It all starts at a high school reunion. Dani was always the good guy at school, and he’s about to get married. He bumps into Tímea Hajnal, who is now a top model, but she’s on the rebound and trying to forget a humiliating break-up. It only takes a couple of glasses of wine and they fall into each other’s arms. No big deal, it could happen to anyone. But there’s one slight problem – Bögöcs, the class bad boy, has recorded the whole unfortunate incident on his mobile phone. The hideous Bögöcs now thinks he has what he needs to achieve his teenage dream of scoring with Tímea Hajnal. He threatens to show the video to Dani’s fiancée if Dani doesn’t fix it for him to get the girl.
The pressure soon has an impact on Dani’s relationship with his bride-to-be, who swiftly transforms into something of a she-devil. The wedding day’s approaching, and Dani has to act…
Festivals: 2014 – Palic International Film Festival
(YES-Short)