The captivating beauty of Budapest constantly inspires both amateur and professional movie makers to capture the breathtaking panorama, monumental sights, and bustling life of the city. During 2016, the city’s vibrant vibes gave rise to several video productions depicting wonderful life-changing moments, humorous and fun-filled frolicking, and breathtaking cityscape footage. Several fantastic short films were shot in the Magyar metropolis this year, and we compiled a list of our eight favorites.

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A lovely marriage proposal at the Basilica

One of Budapest’s truly spectacular and high-spirited locations, the cobblestoned Szent István Square outside St. Stephen’s Basilica, provided the perfect scene for a mushy and carefully-planned marriage proposal in the summer. The soon-to-be-bride stood in the center of a flashmob amid slowly pacing pigeons and the soothing tunes of a string duo, while the surrounding crowd – all wearing white – smothered her with flowers and smiles one by one. Afterwards, her sweetheart named Dario smoothly pulled a ring from his pocket, kneeled down, and popped the big question. And she said...

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A heartwarming social experiment in Budapest

On a bright summer day back in August, a group of Hungarian high-school kids carried out an intriguing social experiment that they filmed at Budapest’s central . Passing strollers volunteered to stand on a special spot and keep their eyes shut for an entire minute without having a clue as to what was about to happen. The effect is truly inspiring, as soon after the volunteers closed their eyes, the surrounding children started smothering them with compliments, and recorded this random act of kindness in a video, in order to encourage everyone to highlight positive human characteristics in each others’ everyday lives.

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A rotatable 360° video of Budapest

With the help of this 360° video, viewers can embark on a fascinating virtual journey in Budapest, admiring all major attractions, architectural wonders, and astonishing panoramas from different angles and perspectives by rotating the camera by dragging the image with their cursor. While watching the video, we can take a trip around Budapest on a sunshiny day, peer far below from the Citadel atop , look up at the stunning ceiling of the, sneak up on peaceful paddlers at , get aboard an open-topped double-decker, and admire both sides of Budapest from the Danube.

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Budapest seen from above in an amazing drone video

This amazing aerial footage encompasses a whole day in Budapest from twilight to starlight, capturing the city’s monumental sights from above, as well as the bustling life and vibrant vibes below. As the drone-mounted camera sweeps over the city in motion as though it was seen by a high-flying bird’s perspective, we can spot such splendid sights as the , the , and illuminated by the sun as it slowly sinks behind the Buda Hills, painting breathtaking colors on the evening sky. When night draws upon the city, the headlights of cars form long lines of light on narrow twisting lanes.

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Budapest’s stunning sights in a time-lapse video

Back in the summer, Hungarian photographer András Selmeczi turned a series of still images into a special time-lapse video, and enhanced it with pulsating background music reminiscent of peaceful heartbeats, taking viewers on an exciting virtual tour around town. The video presents the wonderful vistas of Budapest, featuring several postcard superstars, such as the , the , , , and .

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Close-up views of often overlooked details in Budapest

Whilst we admire the astonishing architecture of Budapest, we often overlook all the dazzling details that enhance the city’s edifices, making them truly complex and captivating. This three-minute film features close-up views of such amazing details as curvaceous lampposts, the intriguing sculptures mounted on building facades, high-rising rooftops, slender spires, and the city’s windows and balconies that span various architectural styles. Furthermore, some of Budapest’s most beautiful jewels also pop up in this mini-movie, such as the and its metro-tile decorations, and the ’s old wooden gateways.

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Dos and Don’ts for SPArties

On Saturday nights, Budapest’s stunning transforms from a wellness wonderland into a huge fun- and alcohol-fueled pool party. This humorous video by “Dr. Waterlove” and 'SPArty lifeguard' – a highly regarded Budapest-based British actor – lays down some guidelines for how to have endless fun at these SPArties without violating basic rules of safety and decency, addressing the issues of showering, swimwear, and even the proper procedure of pursuing a hookup partner.

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Macesz Bistro’s first cookbook video

This year, Budapest’s renowned Hungarian-Jewish restaurant launched an online video cookbook together with the Malackaraj gastro blog, introducing viewers to the wonderful world of the Jewish cuisine. In the first video, 98-year-old Grandma Lili shares her old family recipe of false fish, which is even made in the movie under her careful attention. A

further video features the creation of an all-time favorite of the Jewish cuisine, flódni, which is a sweet dessert made of a layered pastry enriched with apple, walnut, poppy seeds, and jam, while we can also learn about the characteristics of kosher pálinka in

another release.