During the four days of the Blue Danube Film Festival viewers can watch Oscar and Palm d’Or winning movies with the original sound and English subtitles from almost 20 countries. The screenings of the international film festival will be held in Lurdy-ház between 21 and 24 November.
The festival, which was launched three years ago, has developed into a two-times four-day event out of personal motivation. With a background in filmmaking and currently living in Vienna, festival director Géza Bodor wanted to show films to cinephile audiences that they only have limited access to.
International film festival hosted by Hungary
The launch of the festival almost instantaneously revealed there was definitely demand. Entries to the competition came from all over the world: 300 in the first year, 800 last year, and 1000 this year. Initially a small-scale festival, it has now grown into a four-day event held at two venues. The festival will be held from 17 to 20 November in Vienna, and from 21 to 24 November in Budapest, where 59 films will be screened.
5 categories, 59 films, 4 days
The programme includes short and experimental films, documentaries, animations and super short films. Among others, the festival will feature All These Creatures from Charles Williams, a Palm d’Or winner last year in Cannes, and Skin, an Oscar-winning piece by Guy Nattiv. Both films have been shown at more than 150 festivals.
You will also find three short films which were nominated for the European Film Awards. Watermelon Juice by Spanish filmmaker Irene Moray, Oslo from Israeli filmmaker Shady Srour, and Patision Avenue by Thananis Neofotistos from Greece all line up at the event.
Naturally, there will be no shortage of Hungarian films either: among others, Norbert Molvay’s Next Wednesday /Jövő szerdán/, which won Best Hungarian Short Film at the Friss Hús Film Festival in Budapest, or Entropia from Flóra Buda created at MOME (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest) and which received an award at the Berlinale Film Festival.
Kubrick, Playboy, dark humour and Italian film specialities
The diversity of Blue Danube does not stem from its international selection alone, but from the variety of genres and themes represented. Among many others, interested audiences can sit in on Oscar-winning director Stanley Kubrick’s Playboy Interview adaptation from 50 years ago.
Those who like to laugh will also find gems at the festival. Four films in the competition are worthy representatives of this genre, including Why so Sirius?, a dark comedy with a playful title from the Czech Republic.
On 23 November, the organisers will cater for fans of Italian cinema too with an eighty-minute block including 9 short films. These films were chosen from those screened at the Firenze FilmCorti Festival. Among others, this will feature Luca Cioci’s Medium Rare and Daniele Pauletto’s Kaleidoscape, both animations, as well as Carlo Damasco’s short film entitled Spossesione.
Catharsis in five minutes
“The special impact of short films lies in the fact that they can tell an entire story within a short time, and still trigger catharsis in the viewer. With Super Shorts it is just an idea, a punch line and it is all over in a few minutes” – says Ferenc Hegedűs, festival manager of the Blue Danube. “With experimental films, filmmakers try out special visual tools for the length of a short film, which can later be adapted by other filmmakers in their own works.”
For more information on screening times and the programme please visit:
Images: Blue Danube Film Festival