The 20th edition of the Hungarian Film Week is set to open on October 8 with a program featuring a selection of contemporary films presented at international festivals, documentaries, works by emerging filmmakers, and restored Hungarian classics.
The festival opens with Ground Floor (Földszint), a drama directed by Gábor Reisz that premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and subsequently received the Adolf Zukor Grand Prize at the CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival. Ádám Tompa, who plays the lead role, will be in Bucharest for the screening.
Another Bucharest premiere is Mommy Blue, the feature-film debut of director Bernadette Mayer, inspired by autobiographical experiences and produced with support from the National Film Institute of Hungary’s Inkubator program. The director will travel to Bucharest to present her film in person.
Another title in the selection is Blue Heron – A Summer’s Memory (Blue Heron – Egy nyár emléke), directed by Sophy Romvari, which won the Best First Feature Award at the 2025 Locarno International Film Festival. The story of a first-generation immigrant family stands out for its intimate perspective and distinctive narrative structure, exploring memory and the passage of time. Iringó Réti, one of the film’s lead actors, will attend its Bucharest premiere.
The contemporary cinema selection also includes the drama Earth and Iron (Föld és vas), directed by Tamás Buvári, which explores the experience of leaving one’s homeland in Central Europe through three separate episodes, and the thriller The Inheritance (Az örökség) by István Tasnádi. The latter is the result of an eight-year creative process in which the screenwriter and lead actors developed the story based on improvised situations.
Romanian audiences will also get to see the premiere of Testament (Testamentum), directed by András Surányi, which depicts the final, difficult years of composer Béla Bartók’s life in American exile. Following the screening, Richárd Kiss, the film’s assistant director, will share behind-the-scenes insights into the production.
Directed by Emília Goldberg, Pipás is based on a true story and follows a year in the life of Pipás Pista, a notorious figure in Hungarian rural society in the 1930s, known for committing murders for hire. After the screening, audiences will have the opportunity to meet actress Natasa Stork.
The festival will close with a comedy, One More Wish (Még egy kívánság), directed by Kata Dobó and Fanni Szilágyi and receiving its Bucharest premiere. The film brings together popular screen actors, including L. Gellért Kádár and Mariann Hermányi.
The documentary selection highlights lesser-known chapters of Hungarian history and culture. Hungarian Princesses – Jolanta (Magyar királylányok – Jolánta), directed by István Borsody, tells the story of Jolánta of Árpád, Queen of Aragon, and her role in the history of Catalonia and Aragon.
In the documentary portrait Who Cares About Pál Frenák? (Kit érdekel Frenák Pál), Glória Halász follows the journey of one of the leading figures in contemporary dance, from a traumatic childhood to international recognition. Meanwhile, Hungarian Masters of Italian Football (Az olasz futball magyar mesterei), directed by Gábor Zsigmond Papp, revisits the contribution of Hungarian coaches to the development of Italian football through the stories of two men whose lives ended tragically: Árpád Weisz and Ernő Erbstein. Director Gábor Zsigmond Papp will attend the screening.
To mark the 70th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, the festival will also screen Whooping Cough (Szamárköhögés), a 1986 film by Péter Gárdos. The story is told from an unusual perspective: rather than focusing on the heroes of the revolution, it follows a family sheltering in their apartment and ordinary people who experienced those historic days by listening to the radio and following events from a distance.
The program also highlights Hungary’s cinematic heritage. Thanks to the restoration program of the National Film Institute – Film Archive of Hungary, two productions are returning to the big screen in restored versions: Whooping Cough (Szamárköhögés) and the musical animated film Hugo the Hippopotamus (Hugó, a víziló), directed by József Gémes and restored in 4K.
The event also provides a platform for the new generation of filmmakers as the program includes three graduation films by students of Budapest Metropolitan University: Porcelain Angel (Porcelán angyal), directed by Marcell Horgász; xenolit, by Balázs Penczi; and With Pan (Pánnal), directed by Attila Mészáros. The latter will be in Bucharest to present his film.
The selection of short films from Transylvania includes three productions featured in the Filmgalopp section of the 2026 Filmtettfeszt festival. FILM, directed by Bernáth Pozsár; The Possibilities of Escape (A menekülés lehetőségei), by Lehel Fazakas; and Ottó, directed by Barna Zoltáni, showcase the diversity of perspectives among the region’s emerging filmmakers. The Possibilities of Escape won the Best Film Award in the Filmgalopp section, while Ottó was voted audience favorite at the recently concluded edition of Filmtettfeszt.
Younger audiences will be able to see Kippkopp and the Twelve Months (Kippkopp és a tizenkét hónap), directed by Mikori Tama, where the beloved chestnut characters created by Veronika Marék return to the screen in a new 2D digital animation adaptation, and to discover the restored version of the animated film Hugo the Hippopotamus (Hugó, a víziló).
The anniversary edition also puts the international legacy of Hungarian cinema in the spotlight. The festival’s first day will see the opening of the outdoor exhibition Hungarian Filmmakers in World Cinema, which showcases 20 prominent figures who began their careers in Hungary and went on to achieve success in international cinema.
The evening will continue with a piano recital by Krisztina Fejes, who will perform works for piano by Miklós Rózsa. The composer is best known internationally for his film scores, for which he received three Academy Awards.
The event takes place until November 15 at the Museum of the Romanian Peasant Cinema.
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