A Hunt For Hedgehogs

Year: 2025

About:

Through the events of a day filled with twists and turns, this story explores responsibility, parenting, and the challenges of balancing career, family, and children in the 21st century. Its heroine, Bogi (Dorottya Mari), moved to Budapest from a small town a few years ago to study classical singing at the Liszt Academy of Music. To make ends meet in the capital, Bogi spends her free time babysitting her cousin Tamás’s (Csaba Polgár) two children alongside her studies. Even on the day of her big end-of-year singing exam, Bogi must take on a few hours of childcare. However, under extraordinary pressure, she makes a fatal mistake.

Cast:

Dorottya Mari
Csaba Polgár
Juli Jakab
Andrea Fullajtár
Matild Schwechtje
Jónás Schwechtje

Hope you die next time 🙂

Year: 2018

Length: 1h 36m

About:

Eszter navigates the trials of adolescence by immersing herself in the world of manga. As an outsider, she observes her peers from a distance, finding more meaning in the special attention her English teacher gives her. However, when the teacher unexpectedly leaves the high school one day, Eszter’s world is turned upside down. She is forced to confront her teenage peers, their vanity, and her own tumultuous emotions.

*Hope You Die Next Time 🙂 * is the first Hungarian teen thriller, a gripping tale of a love story spiraling into online harassment.

Cast:

Szilvia Herr – Eszter
Kristóf Vajda – Péter
Csaba Polgár – Csababá
Dávid Rácz – Beni
Róbert Kardos – Róbert
Judit Lénárt – Adri
Olívia Csúcs – Szintia
Judit Schell – Krisztina
Judit Rezes – Gabriella
Pál Mácsai – István

Graduation Shoes

Year: 2020

Length: 7m

Cast:

Lilla Kizlinger
Róbert Kardos
Márk Nagy

About:

The only daughter of a working-class family is preparing for her high school graduation. She needs a new pair of shoes for the ceremony. Her father is willing to dig deep into his pockets to ensure the celebratory shoes are just right. The girl visits her father’s workplace to get the money, where she accidentally witnesses an incident that suddenly casts her carefree teenage life in a completely different light.

Ready or Not

Year: 2018

Lenght: 10m

Cast:

Abigél Dömötör
Ádám Káté
Marcell Miklós
György Czabán
Lajos Jónás
Katalin Szeles
Sándor Fehér
Melani Sárossy
Christopher Pászik
Melinda Megyes
Boglárka Berkes
Boglárka Komán
Virág Mohácsi

About:

A luxury car arrives in a poor Hungarian village. The children playing hide-and-seek in the street are fascinated by the car, and the driver kindly allows each of them to sit inside, letting them try out all the buttons to their great delight. The driver is friendly and approachable, and the game begins: the goal is to find all the hidden children and get them into the car. The car fills up as the children are found and seated. The driver then suggests taking a longer ride. The engine roars, and the car speeds out of the village. The children remain inside, completely unaware of what is happening to them.

The penguin contruction

Year: 2013

Cast:

Zoltán Csankó
Judit Rezes
László Józan
Gusztáv Molnár
Béla Gados
Balázs Lóth
Lajos Tóth

About:

The penguin construction was born out of the widespread sense of unease that gripped the country in the late 2000s and early 2010s. It serves as the prelude to a planned Crisis Trilogy.

Powdered sugar

Year: 2010

Cast:

Csaba Polgár
Diána Magdolna Kiss
Eszter Földes
Nóra Trokán

About:

The immense challenges of a long-distance relationship over Skype and the moment when someone, sitting in front of a webcam, says, „Just a moment, I’ll be right back,” but doesn’t return for an hour. Meanwhile, the webcam shows nothing but a pillow propped against the wall, a picture frame hanging in from above, and eventually, no sounds coming from the apartment. These were enough to inspire the story of the pet shop boy.

A graduation film, marking the end of university years.

Praline

Year: 2009

Length: 15m

Cast:

Roland Labán
Judit Rezes
Enikő Börcsök

About:

An adaptation of Pál Békés’s short story of the same title. The film was made at the request of the producers, who granted complete creative freedom to both the writer and the producers in interpreting and shaping the story. It follows the wandering lives of three lonely people: a mother, lonely despite her child, and a child, lonely because of their mother. Ultimately, a lie told out of fear opens a path for the child to reconnect with their mother.

Vortex

Year: 2008

Length: 27m

Cast:

Ödön Rubold
Gabriella Gubás
Judit Pogány
Diána Kiss

About:

A university exam project in literary adaptation. The short story was selected by the class teacher, Ferenc Grunwalsky, for his students. The original work is Happy Birthday to You by Szilárd Podmaniczky. Thanks to the generosity of both the author and the teacher, the story is open to complete reinterpretation.

The original narrative is set against the typical backdrop of the Hungarian Great Plain, evoking eerily familiar imagery from other Hungarian films. However, the plot and characters are reminiscent of the world of American film noir. A dream ultimately steers the story firmly into the realm of neo-noir: a man locks himself out of his own apartment. When he tries to return, there’s no way back. He doesn’t even know if he lives there anymore, as strangers speak to him as if they know him.

Cold Grove

Year: 2008

Length: 16m

Cast:

Roland Haraszti
Dávid Györgyfalvi
László Káldy

About:

On the stretch of the M3 motorway between Rákospalota and Zugló, a man often stood wearing a conductor’s cap and a railway worker’s coat. He sold hubcaps and abandoned car mirrors found along the roadside. He was frequently seen wandering the grassy areas beside the lanes, scavenging. In the early 2000s, street children began appearing at the Mexikói út terminal for the metro, buses, and trams. They begged and picked pockets. In the Újpalota forest and the Alagi Major on the border between Káposztásmegyer and Dunakeszi, homeless people started building small colonies of shacks made from wood and waste materials. They created small gardens, streams, and used bicycles. Around the same time, in the countryside, a drunk man who had fallen into a ditch with his bicycle was shredded by a city maintenance mower in the tall grass. These concurrent motifs of poverty came together to form the story of Cold Grove.

The apple

Year: 2007

Lenght: 23m

Cast:

Péter Scherer
János Koltai
Domokos Szabó
András Dömötör
Judit Pogány
László Farkas
Hermina Fátyol

About:

What happens when someone receives a sign from above, as often described in the Bible, but unlike biblical stories, this person succumbs to societal pressure and rejects the divine calling? They choose to believe those around them who deny the miracle. What happens if the Chosen One refuses to embrace the role of the savior? These thoughts sparked the story of The Apple, which then took many unexpected turns.

The last man

Year: 2006

Length: 7m

Cast:

Judit Bárdos
Hermina Fátyol
László Farkas

About:

Admission film for the Directing Program at the University of Theatre and Film Arts. It was shot in a single day with the following constraints: no dialogue allowed, a maximum length of 6 minutes, it had to be in black and white, and the director also had to serve as the cinematographer.

The inspiration came from the location—specifically, the wide shot showing the sledding hill in the housing estate, surrounded by white sand paths. This location, like the snack bar in Snack Bar with Two Windows, is situated along the route of the number 12 tram.

Buffet with Two Windows

Year: 2005

Lenght: 7m

Cast:

Enikő Börcsök
Béla Török
Tamás Kemény
Krisztina Alföldi
Julianna Tomori

About:

One of the stops on Tram 12 was the Maternity Hospital, where a buffet once stood in its garden, alongside a rain shelter. This location served as the source of inspiration—the garden, the buffet and the shelter in the stop. Once this image was discovered, the story emerged, and with it came the form of the narrative. However, it took years of riding that tram for this location to stand out.

The maternity hospital has since closed, the buffet has been demolished, but the shelter still remains.

Give Me Shelter

Year: 2020

Length: 89p

Cast:

Renát Toszeczky

About:

Renáta Toszecky, a social worker, runs one of the Baptist Aid’s safe houses in Hungary, a refuge for women who were previously forced into prostitution and became victims of human trafficking.
The staff at the safe house do everything they can to help these women and their children start a new life. The documentary follows Renáta’s daily work, shedding light on the constant challenges faced by both the residents and those working in the safe house.