Dear Editor,
Reading Nóra Lakos’ article, entitled: “Hungarian films win big at festivals … but who sees them?” in the last issue, I was astonished to learn that the writer and interviewee, Szabolcs Hajdú, express admiration for the infrastructure of Romanian film industry. This is all the more surprising since the journalist should have heard – and did hear, as evidenced by the illustrations of the magazine – of one of the most discriminative atrocities committed in “friendly” Romania in the past months.

This time, the issue at hand is not the violation of the agreement on restoring the freedom statue in Arad, but the obstruction of filming the movie “Dallas,” a German/Hungarian/Austrian co-production. Transylvanian-born Róbert Pejó is the director of the film, using the script of gypsy writer-director, Géza Csemer, in portraying the daily lives of trash dump dwellers, grubbing for their livelihood while watching TV soaps.
Pejó wanted to film in his homeland, Transylvania, where the Hungarian population still numbers in the millions, and where most gypsies consider themselves to be Hungarian. The filming location was an abandoned quarry in Dubrova-Alsórákosi. The set of the shanty row had been built, including the authorized artificial trash dump, made of paper.
Even though the set was regularly disrupted during the first 10 days of shooting, Romanian authorities could not find any irregularities in the filming process. So the censors had no choice but to come down on the unread script. The Romanian prime minister believes that “the theme and location of the film worsens the country’s prospects as it prepares for European integration,” said an official statement.
The film set, working with a valid contract, was subsequently suspended as police took over. Confronted with pointed guns, members of the crew were ordered to leave the set, causing millions of euros in damage to German producers, not to mention the disappointment of actors and local extras. This coincided with the Transylvanian visit of the Hungarian prime minister. Fortunately, the uncivilized behavior of the Romanian authorities was captured on film, and Csemer intends to include the smuggled footage in the preview, promoting these kinds of “excellent filming opportunities.”
The question is whether omission of these facts – reported by international media – in your reputable journal is a result of negligence. I believe that in general terms, filming opportunities in Romania are not equal for everybody. Similarly, not everybody is entitled to equal rights.

Dr. Otto Schnöller
Wien-BP

Comment on the oversupply of cinemas in Hungary, a downfall in professional film standards and the general state of Hungary’s film business

Dear Editor,
Hungary’s film industry is haunted by its past. The controversial political regime change also had an effect on this field. The number of cinemas in the country decreased drastically while the craze to build multiplexes was disproportionate in comparison to other factors. This resulted in a situation today that there are hardly any screens and spectators left for Hungarian and European films and the halls of shopping malls are almost empty – all due to oversupply.
A fundamentally new set of requirements has been formed for the network of cinemas and distribution companies that “serve” them, which in many cases lacks the basic elements of professionalism and does not reflect the actual needs of society. Together, with the other forms of media, it is working intensely on creating a consumer society, setting lower and lower standards in terms of content. In the end, it is the audience that is lowered, by force, to the view mass- produced films and TV programs, focusing on questions which are negligible all-in-all for humankind. This of course results in a loss of values appearing in every segment of the film profession.

To put it simple, this is what led to the current state of the Hungarian film business. Award winning films are created on the infrastructural ruins of the film industry and only reach a small fragment of cinemagoers. It is enough to say that the film ‘Torzók,’ mentioned in Nóra Lakos’ article, was only shown in six counties in Hungary and only in the larger towns. There are also some films that have gained considerable success at renowned festivals, but because the owner of the rights did not see a chance for distribution, no money was put into making copies or advertising the film.
It is worth mentioning that lobbying in the profession has also been a major setback in the process of creating the fragile consensus that now exists. As a result of this consensus, the long desired film law is about to emerge from the numerous drafts and variations written on paper, each of them standing as a document of the distressing state of affairs. There is now a good chance to finalize the above-mentioned film law. But it can only live up to the expectations if the somewhat fossilized institutional system of filmmaking can renew itself. The HUF 500 million tender for the development of the art-cinema network is a promising sign, which – despite its deficiencies – has given a push to starting the renovation of traditional cinemas in towns, where local government finds money to pay part of the costs. There is a danger though, that conditions for the tender have become looser and some cinemas are labeled “Art,” even though there were no real art films in their program prior to the tenders being released.
It seems that the possibility for the renewal of the Hungarian film industry is a given, from the modernization of the studios to the formation of an art-cinema network which communicates real values. But to achieve this, the participants in creating reforms are required to show a good deal of moderation.
I myself am a member of the rotary movement, aside from being the manager of an art cinema and organizer of international film festivals. The basis of success in reaching set goals is in the system of rules characterizing the rotary, which have been in use for decades. Part of this system is that everyone takes part in work where they are competent. Rotation and the annual change of people in their positions helps to keep the human resources of the association powerful.
I do not think that the profession should function entirely according to these rules. Only those should be applied that help in its renewal.

István Demeter
Director
Szolnok International Film Festival and Market