This year’s International Friss Hús programme is noteworthy
in many ways. First of all, the quality is stronger than ever and, for 2021, a
record number of films are being presented, one Oscar-nominated.
Also new is that organisers have grouped the films by theme: encounters, weird for it, it stays in the family, growing up and borderlines. The latter
group includes films made by Hungarians (or honorary) abroad who do not fit
into the domestic selection.
New films by award-winning international artists
Brand new films by multi award-winning artists such as Polish-Hungarian Tomek Ducki (Plantarium) and the UK’s Peter Strickland (Cold Meridian), the honorary Hungarian previously responsible for the Ballad of Katalin Varga and the Berberian Sound Studio. Slovenian-born Áron Botka Horváth's film Bits promises to be exciting because one of its main characters is the popular Zsolt Nagy.
This year’s Friss Hús will feature the Oscar-nominated animated short Genius Loci by Adrien Mérigeau and My Uncle Tudor, selected in the Best Short Film category at the Berlinale, produced within the framework of the DocNomads programme at the University of Theatre & Film Arts Budapest, and directed by Olga Lucovnicova.
Hungarian films
Exciting works also feature in the Hungarian line-up. A film by a
Hungarian director living in Berlin, Borbála Nagy, Land of Glory, won the German
Best Short Film award, and has been screened at several prestigious festivals.
In his new film (A Few Good Kids), Dániel Márton (frontman of alt-rock band Ricsárdgír in
real life) envisages teenage superheroes try who to save the world. In Rudolf
Olivér’s X-Kryptonit Project, the most acclaimed actress of 2020, Viktória
Széll, is the main character. Dorka Vermes is the only one to appear in the
competition programme with two films (Quarantine Set and A Hail Mary).
Animated flims
There are also many festival successes among this year’s animated films. Mostoha Marcell’s Avant (produced by MOME) and Adél Szegedi’s Password to the ***** (Illyés Academy of Arts) were selected for the diploma programme of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, the largest and most important such event in Europe.
Gábor Ulrich's film Dune was also presented at several A-category
festivals (Annecy, Ottawa and Hiroshima). The new animation, Matches by Géza M Tóth, who came within touching distance of an Oscar with Maestro, was created
on the basis of an interview with a seven-year-old child.
Being shown in
Hungary for the first time, Bagatelle is a mixed-technique experimental short
film about the vicissitudes of nasal blowing, by animated film director and
artist László Csáki, after a poem of the same name by György Petri.
There will also be no shortage of famous figures at Friss Hús. In Mihály Schwechtje’s film Graduation Shoes, Lilla Kizlinger is the main character, who won the Silver Bear Award for Best Supporting Actor at this year’s Berlinale. Known to Hungarian audiences are Eliza Sodró in András Vörös’ film Detto, Andrea Osvárt in Péter Fülöp’s Digicat while in Dániel Kőváry's Disco Dictator, Eszter Ónodi and musician Miklós Paizs (Sickratman) both appear.
For the first time in the history of Friss Hús, it also has an ambassador: rock singer Bori Péterfy. The festival presents her first works in short films and she also decides on the fate of the awards as a member of the jury.
The Hungarian competition programme will make awards for Best
Hungarian Live-Action Short Film, Best Hungarian Animated Short Film, Most
Promising Director Under 30, Best Actor and Best Actress, along with several
special prizes. The best film will be awarded in the international competition,
a special prize will be presented by the jury, and the audience favourite will
also receive recognition at the end of the one-week festival.
Detailed information about screenings can be found on the Friss
Hús website, and tickets for the screenings can be purchased in advance here (Hungarian-only).
