14/03/2006

Hungarian productions and co-productions filmed on Hungarian soil in 2005 were supported by the state to the tune of €14.3m, thanks to €3.18m worth of direct aid and €11.14m in the form of tax breaks, taking the total aid to 16% of overall production spending (€88.7m). However, the attractive tax incentives package – instituted in 2004 and proving to be a powerful generator of international co-productions – will be reviewed in its entirety in April in order to conform with EU regulations as public aid (direct and indirect) will no longer be able to make up more than 50% of total production costs of a Hungarian film.

In 2005, the Hungarian film industry experienced paradoxical developments: a strong production sector that contrasted a decrease in admissions (10.8m as compared to 13.5m in 2004), a piracy boom (which represents 73% of retail film sales), and the closure of cinemas. However, the local market share was up 12%.

Last year, two Hungarian productions made it into the Top 10, which was dominated by Star Wars: Episode III and its 715,000 spectators: Lajos Koltai’s Fateless [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (which came in seventh with 450,000 spectators) and Barna Kabay’s One Skirt and a Pair of Trousers (eighth, with over 250,000 admissions).

Other noteworthy Hungarian successes of 2005 are Just Sex and Nothing Else (see article) by Krisztina Goda and Roland Vranik’s Black Brush (see interview), debut features from two more aces of the Hungarian new wave (which includes Benedek Fliegauf, György Pálfi, Nimrod Antal, Ferenc Török Szabolcs Hajdu, Kornél Mundruczó and Áron Gauder).

(Translated from French)