Once Upon a Time in Hungarian Comics (2021)

Le Petit Vingtième : le siècle de Tintin

From the beginning, Hergé's work, Tintin's creator, was conditioned by the ideology of his publisher, the weekly child supplement of a Belgian Catholic newspaper. An exciting analysis of the political meaning of the adventures of Tintin.

Balaton retró

Scenes from holiday life at Lake Balaton in Hungary during the communism.

Negative history of Hungarian cinema

Reconstructions of unrealized Hungarian films in cooperation with the greatest Hungarian film directors.

The European Dream: Serbia

“The European Dream: Serbia” is an investigative documentary by journalist Jaime Alekos about the tortures of Hungarian police to the refugees and migrants they catch trying to cross their border and the harsh living conditions in which they survive in Serbia awaiting an opportunity to enter the EU.

Rise of the Superheroes

This is the story of how superheroes from Tim Burton's prototype blockbuster Batman, Blade, X-Men, Spiderman to Iron Man and the Black Panther brought to life from the pages of comic books, first took over Hollywood and then conquered the world through action films with larger-than-life characters.

Narrow Path to Happiness

A young gay Romani couple from a remote village in Hungary has a dream so absurd that it seems impossible: making a musical film based on their lives.

Illusion

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Hergé: In the Shadow of Tintin

Georges Remi, known as Hergé, a complex and complicated artist, created Tintin, one of the most famous characters in the world. With exceptional access to the archives of Studios Hergé and Moulinsart, this documentary looks at Remi's life and the way he changed the art of comic.

René Goscinny, Our Uncle From Armorica

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Històries de Bruguera

The history of Bruguera, the most important comic publisher in Spain between the 1940s and the 1980s. How the characters created by great writers and pencilers became Spanish archetypes and how their strips persist nowadays as a portrait of Spain and its people. The daily life of the creators and the founding family, the Brugueras. The world in which hundreds of vivid colorful paper beings lived and still live, in the memory of millions, in the smile of everyone.

Christmas on the Danube

This documentary visits cities and towns and captures stunning landscapes along Europe's majestic Danube at Christmastime. Locations covered include Passau, Germany; Salzburg, Oberndorf, the Wachau Valley, and Vienna in Austria; Bratislava, Slovakia; and Budapest, Hungary. Along the way the viewer learns relevant history.

Geek, and You Shall Find

After attending a local comic book convention, three filmmakers are so moved by the stories shared with them by cosplayers that they decide to investigate geek culture even further. Attending other conventions across the country and speaking with legendary creators such as Kevin Eastman, Stan Lee and George R.R. Martin, the trio not only begins to find answers to why people gravitate towards superheroes and stories about superheroes, but how being a geek could help them live deeper, richer lives. Geek, and You Shall Find tells the stories behind the creation of several popular stories including Superman, Star Wars, Game of Thrones and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In sharing how these characters and their worlds came to be, creators reveal how often they have been inspired by real-life social ills. Most importantly, by continuing to speak with fans who have been inspired by these creations, this film reveals how superheroes have the potential to combat these social issues as well.

The Hungarian Playbook

A group of young journalists takes on the state propaganda.

Rendszerhiba - A magyar film el nem mondott története

Thirty years, three eras: they have been trying to save the Hungarian film industry again and again over the decades. Among these attempts were highs, lows, countless deals and compromises. And now some say that we are living in the saddest period of Hungarian filmmaking.

Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters

As one of the most successful independent comic book creators, Mignola has inspired generations of writers and artists. This feature-length documentary explores the legacy of the legendary comic book creator behind Hellboy. The film delves into Mignola's career, from his early days at Marvel to his success with Hellboy, featuring insights from Neil Gaiman on the Mignolaverse and Rebecca Sugar on Mignola’s influence on Steven Universe.

Liquid Gold: In Quest of the Aszu of Tokaj

The Aszú of Tokaj, a sweet wine of Hungary, was once cherished by King Louis XIV, Queen Victoria, Peter the Great, Goethe and Beethoven. But the world has since forgotten the noble Aszú, two world wars, the enforced collectivisation of the Communist regime and the deadly filoxera epidemic had all wreaked havoc on the vines. Three dedicated heroes, one passion: to create The Great Wine that can return to the most refined tables of the world.

Moleman 4: Longplay

It is the year 2546. Corporations rule the world, and an agent is on a secret mission to explore the untold stories of the past. His journey leads him into a secret virtual reality where one corporation has recreated the 1980s, an era that witnessed the birth of video game development, an event in which a politically and economically restricted small European country, Hungary, had a significant role. He discovers a strange but exciting world, where computers were smuggled through the Iron Curtain and serious engineers started developing games. This small country was still under Soviet pressure when a group of people managed to set up one of the first game development studios in the world, and western computer stores started clearing room on their shelves for Hungarian products.

Étienne Robial, un spécimen de caractère(s)

Documentary on the French graphic and visual artist and designer, editor, artistic director, and teacher who is known for his widely-used fonts.

I Was Your Kid

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The Final Adventure of Kaktus Kid

Aleksandar Zograf, a renowned cartoonist discovers an unusual comic book from World War II. The comic’s hero is Kaktus Kid – a small cactus trapped in his pot. Intrigued, Zograf investigates into the life of Kaktus Kid’s creator – little known artist Veljko Kockar. He soon discovers that Kockar was arrested just after the liberation of Belgrade in 1944. He was charged for being a Gestapo agent and executed. Zograf’s investigation reveals a far more complex story: Kockar’s identity and artistic works were stolen, he possibly has an affair with the girlfriend of a guerilla soldier and he drew anti-communist propaganda for the Nazis. As he explores the story and pieces together the scraps of evidence 70 years after it happened Zograf is faced with his own personal and artistic dilemmas: why do these little drawings have such power to give consolation but also lead to violence?

King of Comics

You may not recognize the name Ralf König, but you probably recognize his art. One of the most commercially successful German comic book creators, he is best known for books like “SchwulComix (GayComix)” that offer a twisted take on queer culture. Equal parts Tom of Finland and R. Crumb, König’s comics are sexually charged and often politically incorrect, portraying daily routines of gay life alongside serious subjects like AIDS. King of Comics is a touching portrait of a cutting-edge artist with a wicked sense of humor. All hail the king! —Jimmy Radosta

Ah, Amerika!

Documentary with animated sequences about that massive Hungarian exodus to the US which went on from the end of 19th century till the outbreak of WW1. The history of the nameless crowds presented in the film submerged under the surface of official history.

Queen: Hungarian Rhapsody - Live in Budapest '86

On 27th July 1986, British stadium rock band Queen broke new ground by playing for the first time in Hungary, a country which was still under a communist dictatorship behind the Iron Curtain.

Spirou, l'aventure humoristique

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In memoriam Hajnóczy Péter

The footage was shot in the writer's room a few days after his death. Everything in the room was untouched. The poet György Petri reads from one of Péter Hajnóczy's works, Miss Embolia. A sacred image of the Eastern European "beaten generation."

Perifaquadro

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Dirty Sexy Comics

Dirty Sexy Comics explores gay erotic comics, past and present, tracing the roots of the medium and shining a spotlight on the giants of the industry. It’s a story about people who have been marginalized and an art form that’s been ignored. The history of gay erotic comics is the history of the gay rights movement. It’s a story of people who risked everything to express themselves. It’s a story of rebellion, of artists refusing to conform and doing it with style and beauty.

Wild Hungary – A Water Wonderland

The recurring protagonists of the movie is an osprey family and a young otter. Through their story, the animals living in the wetlands of the Carpathian Basin and their rarely seen behaviour are presented. Deers, Hungarian grey cattle, asps, catfish, bee-eaters, hooded crows appear in the movie, as well as places like the backwaters of the Tisza River, the Danube and its tributaries, the Hortobágy, the Balaton and the Gemenc Forest. The movie presents one year of the animals living the wetlands and floodplain forests, from winter to next summer. A nature documentary about the lands, fauna and nature-related traditions of Hungary.

No Country for the Poor

What if democracy fails citizens by not serving them all equally? What if inequality becomes the norm and the most vulnerable citizens are left behind with no money, no home, no rights, and no country of their own? In Hungary, the government has slashed social benefits and criminalized homelessness, but a group of activists, homeless and middle class, is confronting authorities to defend social justice and their right to be citizens. After the tragic death of two of its founding members, the group feels that Hungary is growing more hostile and their struggle is more important than ever. Despite all odds, their own community keeps them going—a mini-society with democracy and solidarity at its heart, an island of hope, belonging and dignity in a society gradually shifting the other way.

Carson Coma - A koncertfilm

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Superhéroes made in Spain

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Cha-Cha-Cha

Gruber is a normal 16-year-old growing up in Budapest in 1962, but he has a problem -- how does he get to know the opposite sex? At the Sunday afternoon dance classes the young "ladies and gentlemen" hold each other while dancing, and that makes the lessons worth something. Otherwise, the pianist's attention wanders and the orchestra does not exactly play with a single-minded dedication. In fact, everybody seems to have other things on their minds, except for the enthusiastic dance instructor and his ever-smiling assistant.

I Often Think of Piroschka

Andreas, a young German student comes to Hungary on an exchange programme. In the Hungarian village he falls in love with the stationmaster's daughter Piroschka and spends much of his time with her. They have an enchanting summer until Andreas gets an invitation to join another young woman at a nearby resort. Piroschka is jealous and follows him there, causing trouble. It takes a long time for Andreas and Piroschka to even talk to each other again. When Andreas has to leave Hungary at the end of his holiday, he is determined to return some day.

Land of Storms

Szabolcs plays in a German football team, as does Bernard. They are roommates, best friends, inseparable. A lost match makes him reconsider his life and he goes back to Hungary in hope for more simplicity. Yet his solitude does not last long. Soon after his arrival he meets Áron and a mutual attraction between the two boys develops when suddenly Szabolcs receives an unexpected phone call from Bernard: he has arrived to Hungary...

Judgment & Grace

The story takes place at the time of the defeat of the Hungarian War of Independence, when Csákberény came under the terror of the imperial soldiers. Two priests from the village are arrested overnight for reading the Hungarian Declaration of Independence. Although the Austrian soldiers enjoy their power, they are unable to identify with the repression. The purpose of the trial of a military imprisonment court is to obtain a confession, to prove that a violation of sovereignty has been committed.

Children of Glory

Children of Glory will commemorate Hungary's heroic Revolution of 1956, and takes place in Budapest and at the Melbourne Olympic Games in October and November of that year. While Soviet tanks were destroying Hungary, the Hungarian water polo team was winning over the Soviets in the Olympic pool in Melbourne, in what has been described as the bloodiest water polo match in history.

Metamorphosis

In the Seventeenth Century, while Hungary is fighting the Turks, the population of a small village in...

Sing

Quiet 10-year-old Zsofi has just changed schools. Feeling out of place at first, she is quickly admitted to the school’s famous choir and befriends her popular classmate Liza. Soon, they have to stand up united against their choir master, who isn’t quite the friendly and inspirational teacher they first thought she was.

8MM 2

Entering a seamy underground world of peep shows, nude clubs, and live Internet sex is David Huxley, an aspiring politician who has everything to lose. Secretly filmed in a steamy three-way with his fiancée Tish and a gorgeous young model, David is desperate to find the extortionist who's demanding an exorbitant amount of money for the negatives. But when the blackmail trail ends in murder and David is kidnapped, Tish must come up with $5 million ransom or her fiancé's once-promising career, and life, may come to a dead end.

Forward!

The story setup in the late Communist era. Two school boys are best friends. One's Father is a mighty communist party secretary, the other is an anti-communist rebel.

The Toth Family

The Toth family resides in Northern Hungary. The couple has a daughter and a son, the latter a member of the armed forces. When his weary major is ordered to take a vacation, the son talks him into a visit to his family home. Comedy ensues when the Toths go overboard trying to make things pleasant for the visiting major in hopes of an easier life for their son the soldier.

The Vicious Circle

In Hungary, a rich baron discovers that there are extensive oil deposits underneath nearby properties owned by villagers. He manages to convince all the property owners to sell to him, except for a few properties owned by Jewish families. Infuriated at their refusal to sell to him, he attempts, with the help of some corrupt local police, to have the men charged with the murder of a local woman, who in reality actually committed suicide.

Dumaszínház: Nekünk áll a László - Hadházi László önálló estje

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Il toro

After being fired from his bull breeding job without proper compensation, Franco steals a world-class bull from his former employer and smuggles it to Hungary, planning to sell it for a large sum of money.