Bobby from the series Dallas is visiting CineFest: Guests and Q&As of CineFest

Bobby from the series Dallas is visiting CineFest: Guests and Q&As of CineFest

2024.09.03. 09:30

From 6 to 14 September, CineFest is not only the place to see the greatest films, but also to meet the filmmakers. Among others, Patrick Duffy, best known as Bobby Ewing in the Dallas series, will be visiting the festival, this time as an actor in the film Rebound!

The crew of all Hungarian and Hungarian co-production films will be present at the Festival (2 January, Vulture’s Wake, Zenith, My Sweden – A Changing Wilderness, In the Footsteps of Bartók, István Nemere: I Will Write As Long As I Live), Alexandra Borbély will accompany the Slovak film that was a great success in Karlovy Vary (The Hungarian Dressmaker), and the directors of two Norwegian gems in the competition program (Arctic Convoy, Loveable) will visit Miskolc, as will the makers of the films in the China Focus and Turkish Days selection. The filmmakers present at CineFest, by day:

Friday, 6 September

The opening film of this year’s festival, which is also running in competition, will be a grandiose war film, Arctic Convoy. A huge hit in his homeland, Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken’s work is set in 1942 and evokes the time when a convoy of conventional transport ships tried to get to Murmansk with war raw materials without being hunted down by the Third Reich. The film, which will be screened in Hungary only as part of the festival, shows the madness and senselessness of war from the perspective of civilian sailors. Director Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken and actor Jon Ranes will attend at the opening gala.

The director of the Slovenian thriller Observing, Janez Burger, will attend the premiere of the film in the East of Europe section, starting at 20:00 in the Zukor room. In the film, a paramedic tries to find out why she is receiving devastating videos of a crime as it becomes increasingly clear that she is involved in the blood-curdling case.

The director has previously won prizes in Cottbus, Kiev, Sarajevo and Brussels for his film Idle Running(1999), and his latest film, Observing, has been selected for festivals including Sofia, Trieste and Tallinn, as well as CineFest.

Saturday, 7 September

A coming-of-age story is the latest work from Marian Crişan, one of the leading figures of the Romanian New Wave, in the East of Europe section. The protagonist of Warboy sets off to the frightening, wild landscapes of the Apuseni Mountains to rescue his family’s horses during the Second World War. Crişan, who previously won the Palme d’Or at Cannes for his short film Megatron (2008) and later received an award at Thessaloniki for his feature film Morgen, will attend the screening of Warboy in person at 6pm in the Zukor Room.

Already screened at the Sofia and Thessaloniki Film Festivals, Life screened as part of the Turkish Days program will provide a thrilling moment for Turkish film lovers. In the drama by veteran Turkish filmmaker Zeki Demirkubuz (Fate – 2001, Confession – 2001, Destiny – 2006), a girl runs away from home because her father would force her to marry. Her fiancé sets off through the bustling streets of Istanbul in search of her. The film is screened for one night only at CineFest , at 18.30 in the Uránia Hall. The screening will be attended by director Zeki Demirkubuz, who will be happy to answer questions from the audience after the film.

Sunday, 8 September

Gloria!, in competition at this year’s Berlinale and now also at CineFest, takes us back to Italy in the 1800s. It was not an easy time for women even if they were working on a new play for the newly elected Pope. The film, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Seattle International Film Festival, is accompanied by screenwriter Anita Rivaroli, who is also the creator of the Netflix series Summertime, which is much lighter in tone than Gloria!

The Hungarian Dressmaker, screened in the East of Europe section, is set in the turbulent years of the Second World War. The heroine of the film, which received a lot of attention at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, is Marika, who risks her own life. A widow living on the Slovak-Hungarian border, she hides a Jewish boy while a Slovak Hlinka Guard captain and a German Nazi officer also seek her favor. The screening and the audience meeting at 18.30 in the Zukor Hall will be attended by director-screenwriter Iveta Grofova, star Alexandra Borbély, producer Zuzana Mistríková, co-producers Marcell Gerő and Sára László.

In Emre Kavuk’s sci-fi film A Better Tomorrow, screened as part of the Turkish Days program, the protagonist, Ozan asks the state for permission to commit suicide because he can’t bear to see his lover leave him. His application is rejected because a girl named Ekin is in love with him. Ozan has to find Ekin to convince him that she should stop loving him. A Better Tomorrow will be screened at the Uránia Hall at 19:00 for a single screening, followed by an audience meeting with director Emre Kavuk.

Monday, 9 September

Zoltán Török has spent three years making his most spectacular, heart-warming film to date. In addition to showing the wildlife of the Scandinavian country, from seals to moose, My Sweden – A Changing Wilderness, part of the CineDocs competition program, raises awareness among children and parents about the love and protection of nature. The regular collaborator of Zoltán Török, creator of the highly successful Wild Horses – Hortobágy Fairy Tale and of Wild Hungary, László Hargittai, the editor, will answer questions from the audience after the screening, which starts at 17:00 in the Uránia hall.

In Zenith, part of the East of Europe program, prisoners in an underground prison make a successful escape, but the team’s spiritual leader is getting a taste of power. Director György Kristóf has previously toured Cannes with Out, and now he has dreamed up a much more monumental film. It’s not just for lovers of dystopian sci-fi, but also for lovers of dance and music. After the film, which starts at 18.30 in the Zukor Hall, there will be an audience meeting with the director.

A historic qualification of five Turkish gymnasts for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was followed by an unexpected turn of events: the COVID-19 epidemic caused the postponement of the Games. Chasing the Olympic dream all their lives, they remain determined to win the first Olympic gymnastics medal in Turkey’s history. This superhuman effort is accurately documented in the Turkish film Eclipse, part of the CineDocs program. The producer of the film, Aslihan Altug, will answer questions from the audience after the screening, which starts at 19:00 in the Uránia auditorium..

Tuesday, 10 September

Coming from the Sarajevo Film Festival to CineFest’s CineDocs section, Georgian Giorgi Parkosadze’s Requiem to the Hot Days of Summer stars Guri and his mother Sonata. They have spent their entire lives in a remote mountain gorge. Through the family’s daily life, we get to know this world, far from urban civilization, and with it the processes of traditional farming, beekeeping and cheese-making. The director Giorgi Parkosadze will take part in a public meeting to accompany the screening in the Uránia hall at 17:00.

Kálmán Kázsmér’s dramatized documentary In the Footsteps of Bartók follows Béla Bartók’s folksong collecting trip to Turkey in 1936. The journey takes us from Istanbul to Adana, and the similarities between Turkish and Hungarian folk music become clear. Kálmán Kázsmér, the director of the CineDocs competition film , will be present at the audience meeting accompanying the screening, which starts at 19:00 in the Uránia hall.

István Nemere has been in the profession for 50 years, during which time he has published nearly 800 books, making him a world record holder. Sándor Szalma’s biographical documentary István Nemere: I’ll Write As Long As I Live not only focuses on the author’s work, but also reveals the private life behind it, his relationship with nature and animals, his philosophy of life and his romantic side. The film, which is part of the CineDocs competition program, will be screened at 19:00 in the presence of director Sándor Szalma and István Nemere. The author will sign books on the spot.

Zsófia Szilágyi’s new film, January 2, will premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, and a few days later it will be screened at CineFest! The new film is a realistic story, similar to the previous one, One Day, which also competed in Miskolc, but this time it is about a separation from the point of view of the wife’s best friend. The Hungarian premiere of the film will take place in the Pressburger Hall at 21:00 and will be attended by the film’s creators, including director Zsófia Szilágyi.

Wednesday, 11 September

Péter Bacsó’s film, The Fatal Shot, shown at CineClassics thanks to the Cineversity program of the University of Miskolc, is based on a real-life case. The plot alone – two boys and a girl decide to commit suicide – explains why Péter Bacsó’s film, like The Witness, which was shot at around the same time, belonged more to the tolerated category. After the film, which starts at 17.30 in the Uránia Hall, Prof. Dr. Zita Horváth, Rector of the University of Miskolc, will have a discussion with the main characters Kati Kovács and Charlie Horváth.

Coming from the Shanghai Festival, Yishu Yang’s hauntingly intimate A Land Behind is set on a small island organic farm, where the fates of several generations intertwine and the contradictions of different perspectives and desires surface. China Focus features a screening of the film at 18:00 in the Béke Room, followed by an audience meeting with actress Zhang Dan.

Thursday, 12 September

Winner of the Audience Award at the Sofia International Film Festival, the moving Bulgarian romantic drama Because I Love Bad Weather is screened at CineFest East of Europe program. Irina flees her own life and returns to her native Bulgarian village, where she reunites with her former neighbor and childhood friend after 20 years. As she waits for her husband and he mourns his parents, they revisit their memories and discover a life-changing secret. The screening, which starts at 19:00 in the Zukor Hall, features director Yana Lekarska and cinematographer Mladen Minev.

The lives of a middle-class Chinese family are intertwined with the life of their son’s mysterious new friend. A storm of untold secrets, unfulfilled expectations and unresolved emotions in China is the Brief History of a Family. It had its world premiere at the Berlinale, and director Jianije Lin’s work is now touring international film festivals – recently winning the Best Director award in Beijing and being included in the competition program at CineFest. The screening, which starts at 21:00 in the Pressburger Hall, will feature director-screenwriter Lin Jianjie.

Friday, 13 September

Director Szabolcs Hajdu has previously won the Special Award of the City of Miskolc in 2007 for White Palms and the Audience Award at CineFest in 2016 for It’s Not the Time of My Life. The final piece in his trilogy of couples’ relationships, which begins with the latter film and continues with Kalman’s Day(2023), is Vulture’s Wake, which runs in the competition program in Miskolc, before hitting the cinemas in the fall. A death reunites three old friends. Over the years, their paths have diverged socially: one of them has a teaching job in Mexico, another lives the life of a lower-middle-class man, and the third is financially broke. The girlfriends who later join them put up with their remarks and wisecracks for a while, but after a time each of them has had enough of the other. The screening, which starts at 6pm in the Pressburger Hall, will be attended by Szabolcs Hajdu, the director-lead actor, Imre Gelányi, Erika Tankó, Domokos Szabó and Orsolya Tóth, the main characters, Csaba Bántó, the cinematographer, Dusan Kozak, the sound engineer and Zoltán Gálovits, the production manager.

Csaba Vékes, one of the directors of the highly successful Bye My Dad!, has a new Hungarian comedy, The Rebound, in the East of Europe program. Its protagonist, Kálmán (Péter Scherer), is preparing for the European Button Football Championship with his team. When it seems that the big tournament will be cancelled due to financial obstacles, a billionaire mistakenly transfers a small fortune to the team’s account. Director Csaba Vékes, actors Péter Scherer, Dezső Derzsi, Andrea Waskovics, László Katona, Gábor Ónodi, Zsolt Fekete-Lovas and the superstar of the film Patrick Duffy will be the guests of the festival! Duffy is well known to Hungarian audiences as Bobby Ewing from the hugely popular Dallas series. The actor later showed his comic side in series such as Step By Step, so he was happy to take on the role of the American running after his own money in The Rebound. In view of the star’s arrival, the film will be screened at 15.45 (Pressburger Hall), in addition to the originally announced time of 18.30 (Zukor Hall).

Norwegian Lovable recently won a record five awards – including Best Actress – at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Director Lilja Ingolfsdottir’s relationship drama tells the story of a marriage falling apart in a highly sensitive way, presenting both sides of the coin without any resolution. The film, which is included in the competition program , will be screened in the Pressburger Hall at 21h00 with director Lilja Ingolfsdottir and composer Lukas Alexanderson.

Saturday, 14 September

In 2024, the CineFest Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Sándor Kardos, one of the greatest experimentalists of Hungarian cinema, aged 80. He has previously won the Kossuth Prize and the Béla Balázs Prize, three Film Critics’ Awards, two Filmszemle Awards and was nominated for the European Film Prize for Eldorado in 1989. He has photographed more than thirty feature films. As a collaborator of András Jeles, Géza Bereményi, Béla Tarr, Péter Tímár and Frigyes Gödrös, he was the cinematographer of such films as Sound Eroticism, The Harum-Scarum Family, The Pregnant Papa, Miracle in Krakow, Almanac of Fall and Dream Brigade. As a director, he made the world’s first feature film with a photo-finish camera, The Gravedigger. Sándor Kardos will receive the CineFest Lifetime Achievement Award at the closing gala of the festival , starting at 17:00 in the Pressburger Hall.

Advance ticket sales for the 20th CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival are now available at https://jegy.cinefest.hu.

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