THE BEST OF SZFE – UNIVERSITY OF THEATRE AND FILM ARTS BUDAPEST

Monday October 31st, 2016

The University of Theatre and Film Arts Budapest (SZFE) is the oldest higher education art institution in Hungary that educates theoretical and practical professionals in the field of theatre, film, and television.

The university celebrated the 150th anniversary of its foundation in 2015. The teachers of SZFE are active artists, creative professionals of art theory, and the most respected personalities in their professions. The most influential living representatives of theatre, film, and television all studied at the university, and they make the university a future-shaping, significant participant in Hungarian cultural identity. Oscar-winning artists such as Mihály Kertész, Vilmos ZsigmondIstván Szabó, as well as Béla Tarr, László Kovács and Mari Törőcsik, who won Best Actress at Cannes, are among those who studied at SZFE. In recent decades, the majority of Hungary’s most prestigious actors and directors received diplomas at this institution.

"The Best of SZFE" will bring you the latest and the best productions of this distinguished school.

Bloom of Youth, The

Karl falls asleep at school. He was studying history all night long. It is his fifth class of the day every Tuesday. He started sleeping during biology, which is the third class. But at least he is dreaming while he is asleep.

Original title: Sétagalopp
Director: Ádám Freund
Cinematographer: Ákos Nyoszoli
2014

Border, The

A small handcar transports two passengers: an arrogant guard and his young prisoner, Maydan. Following an accident, Maydan loses the guard, but escape and freedom are two entirely different things. He is still attached to the handcar by a thick chain, and travelling with so much dead weight arouses more attention than the fugitive is comfortable with. The decision, however, has been made, and now he must wait to see where the tracks take him – there is no way back. This inventive visual treatment suggestively emphasises the claustrophobia of captivity, which Maydan faces with courage, charm, and humour.

Original title: Határ
Director: Mátyás Szabó
Cinematographer: Kristóf Deák
2014

End of Puberty

On a beautiful summer’s day, two teenage twins meet a boy who introduces them to sexuality and jealousy, as well as to a real anger that ends up driving them apart. This moment marks the end of puberty.

Original title: A kamaszkor vége
Director: Fanni Szilágyi
Cinematographers: Nándor Gulyás, Kristóf Becsey

2015

Ischler

Budapest, 1944. Three Jewish sisters are hiding in the apartment of a well-known doctor during the Holocaust. Their days are filled with paranoia, and it turns out that evil might come from unexpected places.

Original title: Ischler
Director: Atilla Hartung
Cinematographer: István Kürti

2014

Junkyard

Karin, a young village girl desperate for a job, joins an aristocratic household as a French tutor. Gradually she notices that all over the house objects keep disappearing. It turns out every member of the family is a thief. Eventually Karin gives in to the temptation: she steals too, and so becomes a player in a long-running game of theft and suspicion, of control and rebellion as she tries to carve out a place for herself in the nonsensical world of lords and ladies.

Original title: Zsibvásár
Director: Lili Kemény
Cinematographer: Evelin Tóth

2014

Sound of Concrete, The

Dia is a young female kickboxer who lives in the suburbs of Budapest with her mom and younger brother. Her dream is to compete in Germany where she can earn good money. All she has to do is win her upcoming championship. Two weeks before it starts, Dia finds out that she is pregnant and that her lover, who also happens to be her coach, is the father. Now she must face not only her competition, but time and the thought of abortion as well.

Original title: Betonzaj
Director: István Kovács
Cinematographer: Zoltán Dévényi

2015

Switch

Béla and Pisti are 10-year-old knife-thrower twins in a touring circus.
Their father only loves one of them. When the favourite son dies in an accident, the mother has an idea.

Original title: Átváltozás
Director: Zoltán Nagy
Cinematographer: Nándor Gulyás

2015

White Wolf

Every single day Niki visits the white wolf, the lone prisoner of the city zoo. She would do anything to get into the dangerous animal’s cage. However, the young gypsy girl continuously faces the strict regulations put in place by the powerful male community of the zoo. Through her sexual exploitation we learn about the young outsider’s suppressed position in a wild, male-dominated world. The story, however, ends with a magical twist.

Original title: Fehér farkas
Director: Ádám Felszeghy
Cinematographer: Balázs Domokos

2015

Zoo

On the edge of the forest there is a costume party. The leopard breaks up with the vulture. On another day the vulture is found half dead. The film depicts the diversity of human games and the search for an alternative answer to the question, ‘What is the difference between humans and animals?’

Original title: Állatkert
Director: Attila Hartung
Cinematographer: István Balázs

2016