Daazo.com, the short film sharing site supported by the Media Programme of the EU presents a collection of Kornél Mundruczó’s short films. The collection showcases Mundruczó’s early work, from his first school opus to his graduation film plus two special sketch episodes, introducing the audience to the foundation of a versatile feature oeuvre.
Kornél Mundruczó is one of the leading figures of the contemporary Hungarian film scene, a returning guest at Cannes: his consecutive features, Delta and The Frankenstein Project were both in competition at the festival. Daazo.com has brought together the director’s short films in this collection, ranging from his earliest work to more recent, award-winning pieces.
Mundruczó’s first school film, the surreal Haribó-Haribá (1999) takes the viewers to the mystical landscapes of a stomach made upset by too much liquorice. His small-town film Afta went on to win numerous international awards (Oberhausen, Krakow, Ludwigsburg, Imola and St. Petersburg). In 2003, Joan of Arc on the Night Bus was invited to Director’s Fortnight in Cannes. His diploma film LITTLE APOCRYPHA No. 2 was the first Hungarian participant of Cannes’ Cinéfondation. Kornél entered in the Cannes Résidence in 2003 with his project Delta. Another interesting short available now on Daazo.com is Short Lasting Silence, the Hungarian episode of the sketch film Lost and Found that made its debut in the Forum section of the 54th Berlinale.
Simultaneously with Daazo.com’s online premiere, Budapest Trafo House of Contemporary Art presents Kornél Mundruczó’s new theatre project: Solymosi Eszter – The Story of a Trial, based on Gyula Krúdy’s documentary novel on the Tiszaeszlár blood libel. In this adaptation, Mundruczó set out to observe mechanism – the process through which belief becomes reality. Sadism, arguments, agression, self-flagellation; a series of macabre, film-like images – the play premieres at Trafo 2011 October 10-11.
Hungary’s Kecskemét Animation Film Festival is celebrating its 10th edition this year. On this occasion we collected 15 animated shorts connected to KAFF and made them available in a dedicated channel for a broad audience.
A Little Bit of History
The decision to organise a festival to celebrate both Hungarian animation and the city of Kecskemét itself was made over forty years ago with the foundation of the Pannonia Film Studio at Kecskemét. The era is customarily defined as the golden age of Hungarian animation film production. In 1996 a separate competition programme was established for European animated feature films as well. Hence, KAFF is two in one: the Kecskemet Animation Film Festival presents the latest Hungarian animated films, the Festival of European Animated Feature Films and TV-Specials shows European-made animations. At first KAFF was heId every three years, then in 2005 KAFF became a biennial. In 2011 the most prominent Hungarian and European animation artists will gather for the tenth time between June 15 and June 19 to celebrate Hungarian and European animation films.
Previous Winners of KAFF
On the occasion of the jubilee of KAFF the finest award-winning films of the previous nine festivals are included in this special edition.
The oldest piece is Mária Horváth’s Door No. 8, which won the award for Best Short Film at the very first KAFF in 1985. It is about an old man who finds himself in a pretty disturbing situation and place.
In 1993 Béla Weisz won the most prestigious award, the Grand Prix of the festival for Sprinkling. In this funny animation a pretty little mouse wakes up excited, and goes to open her front door expecting the “Eastern sprinklers”, however she gets more than a bit of a surprise.
The winner of the Best Short Film Award at the last festival in 2009 was Attila Bertóti. His film Ariadne’s Thread claims itself to be the true story of Ariadne, Theseus and the Minotaur.
Why KAFF 2011 Is Special
KAFF 2011 celebrates among others the round birthdays of such acclaimed Hungarian animation directors as Marcell Jankovics and Zsolt Richly who turn seventy and Ferenc Cakó, István Orosz, Zoltán Szilágyi Varga who have their sixtieth birthday this year. In this online collection you can find a piece from each birthday director.
Marcell Jankovics world-famous animation director is celebrating his seventieth birthday this year. One of his masterpieces Fight is included in this collection. It was the winner of Palme d’Or for Best Short Film in 1977. Fight shows an unquestionable talent of anatomic drawing skill and animation competency. The way it uses perspectives, rhythm and dramaturgy makes this film a unique experience.
Another birthday director is Zsolt Richly who turns seventy this year. His ouvre is represented by Night in Transylvania, an episode from the sketch film Hungarian Pictures inspired by the work of Béla Bartók. The collection also includes the other episodes as well made by acclaimed Hungarian animation directors. You can watch Etude by Kinga Rofusz, Slightly Tipsy by Miklós Varga, Ballad by Éva Korda and Swineherd Dance by Tamás Patrovits.
Ferenc Cakó, one of the most well-known Hungarian animation film directors celebrates his sixtieth birthday this year. He gets a place in the collection with his Golden Bear-winning animation Ashes, which was created with his groundbreaking sand animation technique. It was made in the memory of her mother and talks about death and passing in a very touching way.
István Orosz also turns sixty in 2011. Private Nightmare, a truly representative short by him is included in the collection. Private Nightmare, an animated dreambook about a man’s eerie nightmare full of grotesque images and scenes that take place in the socialist countryside.
At last but definitely not least Culturhistorical Manoeuvre at Night can be watched by another celebrated director Zoltán Szilágyi Varga. The film is a parable about the aggressive political misinterpretation of the living and proud Trojan horse of culture.
Kecskemétfilm Studio’s 40th Jubilee
2011 is a double celebration for the residents of Kecskemét and for the fans of animation, as in addition to the 10th KAFF, Kecskemétfilm Studio is also celebrating another important anniversary: the 40th year of its foundation. In the spirit of the jubilee some of the most successful earlier creations of the studio are also included in the collection.
In Péter Szoboszlay’s How Did Ester Get On the Table? the fantastic and the prosaic-realistic aspects of the world are depicted from a little girl’s perspective who goes for a trip on her father’s table.
Gábor Homolya’s Western from the earlier creations of the Kecskemétfilm Studio is a bloody drama takes place in a far away western countryside.
Zoltán Szilágyi Varga is represented by another film in the collection, too. Court Record – In Memoriam Péter Mansfeld tells the story of the counterattacks that followed the suppression of the 1956 revolution and war of independence in Hungary. The short film focuses on Péter Mansfeld, who had just turned 18, when he was executed on March 21, 1959 in a solemnly premeditated political manoeuvre…
To learn more about KAFF 2011, visit their website: www.kaff.hu!
Check out the very best of KAFF and Hungarian animationhere at Daazo.com!
The premiere of this week is quite special for us. Tour is the first short film produced by Daazo. Besides it is also co-written and edited by Daazo-founder Zoltán Aprily. The film was realized with the contribution of Celluloid Workshop, which used to every year in Hungary, setting the technical and equipmental framework for the production. The shooting took place in Miskolc and Emőd in Hungary. Directed by Balázs Simonyi, who has uploaded many popular shorts to Daazo, photographed by Zoltán Lovasi, DOP of one of the most successful Hungarian feature director, Benedek Fliegauf. One of the most important parts of the project was to find the best actors for Tour: two top Hungarian actors Iván Fenyő and György Gazsó joined the production – and they did a brilliant job.
The 12 mins long comedy film “Tour” is a tale about a man who dared to dream, a tale about a surveyor and hobby-cyclist, who believes that one day he will be able to ride 183 kilometer, just as pro’s do at Tour de France.
The film successfully participated at several prestigious film festivals:
2010 – Huesca Film Festival
2010 – Munich International Short Film Festival
2010 – Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner
2010 – Zabok Tabor Film Festival2009 – Bristol Brief Encounters
2009 – International Short Film festival In Drama
2009 – Isztambul Kisa Film festival
2009 – Köln UNLIMITED
2009 – Krakow Film Festival
2009 – Lagów International Film Festival
2009 – Marosvásárhely AlterNative
2009 – European Film festival Palics
2009 – Teheran Intenational Film Festival
2009 – Tokió Short Shorts Film Festival
2009 – Trieszt Maremetraggio
László Nemes and Krisztina Esztergályos were recognized at international short film events in Soria and Bilbao, Spain.
Certamen Internacional de Cortos Ciudad de Soria, the international short film contest in North Spain ended Saturday evening.
The contest’s Main Prize in the foreign film category went to László Nemes for The Counterpart. The Hungarian director accepted the recognition in person.
The 14 minutes picture focusing on the “encounter after many years of two old friends separated by the world” was produced by Budapest Inforg Studio and won several awards including Bucharest DaKINO Best Short Award and Italian Fano fest Special Grand Prize earlier.
http://certamendecortossoria.org
The International Jury of the 51st Bilbao International Documentary and Short Film Festival, ZINEBI 51 recognized Kriszina Esztergályos for her diploma film Variations with the Special Mention.
The leading Spanish short film event presented in competition 84 works arriving from 38 countries. Krisztina Esztergalyos, whose Variations won the Locarno Silver Leopard this summer, attended the Bilbao closing ceremony in person.
Daazo.com is the online center of European short Films. Beside of our weekly film premieres it is also a collection of short films made by you. Visit Daazo now!
Daazo.com, the short film sharing site supported by the Media Programme of the EU presents a collection of Kornél Mundruczó’s short films. The collection showcases Mundruczó’s early work, from his first school opus to his graduation film plus two special sketch episodes, introducing the audience to the foundation of a versatile feature oeuvre.
