23.LFF
Opatija
26.-30.08.2025.

Film

Hungary 2018

LFF18, Out of competition, State of readiness

ABOUT THE MOVIE

Twenty-eight years after the fall of communism and on the eve of new presidential elections, Hungary arrives at a political crossroads. Is the country about to embark on another four years of right-wing populism, with Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party remaining in power, or will former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány and his pro-European left-wing party prevail? Filmmaker Eszter Hajdú followed both campaigns, but also gained access to Gyurcsány’s personal life. Unique and sometimes moving scenes reveal the exhaustive efforts made by the candidate and his wife to get Hungary to shift to the left.

Eszter Hajdú

Eszter Hajdú is a film director and sociologist born in Hungary. She has a PHD in film directing and she regularly holds lectures at universities and does workshops and masterclasses for film students and human rights activists. Her films mainly deal with social-political taboos. Her film The Fidesz Jew was the most provocative and most viewed documentary film in 2008–2009 in Hungary. Judgment in Hungary (2014), about the neo-nazi trial of serial killing of Roma people in Hungary, won 19 international awards. Her latest film Hungary 2018 premiered in the 2018 IDFA feature length competition.

Title: Hungary 2018
Year of production: 2018
Duration: 82
Director: Eszter Hajdú
Screenplay: Eszter Hajdú
Sound design: Peter Almassy
Production: Sandor Mester
Production company: Miradouro Media LDA