Those Who Remained is the Official Hungarian Entry for the Academy Awards

2019.09.05. 10:27

In accordance with the regulations of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences each country may enter one film to be considered for nomination in the Best International Film category for the 92nd Academy Award. Entries shall be released between 1 October 2018 and 30 September 2019. In April the Film Academy has changed the name of the category from Best Foreign Language Film to Best International Film. Feature films that has been made outside of the US and their original language is not English are eligible to enter.

The Hungarian Oscar Selection Committee included Ibolya Fekete film director, Ágnes Havas Film Fund CEO, András Kálmán film distribution expert, András Bálint Kovács university lecturer, István Kovács Student Oscar winner film director, Pál Sándor producer-director and Ferenc Török film director.

Barnabás Tóth’s Those Who Remained had its world premiere in Colorado at the legendary Telluride Festival that has previously screened Son of Saul as well. In its review the prestigious American Variety magazine calls the film an “exquisite, poignantly performed tale” that taps into a deep well of honestly earned emotion as it tells the story of two traumatized survivors in Budapest after the end of World War II.

The film starring Mari Jászai Award holder Károly Hajduk and the promising talent Abigél Szőke, premieres in Hungary at the CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival’s competition program on the 19th of September. It’s theatrical release is on the 26th of September. The film is distributed by Budapest Film. Those Who Remained is a very cinematic adaptation of Zsuzsa F. Várkonyi’s novel “Férfiidők lányregénye”. The script was written by Barnabás Tóth and Klára Muhi. Gábor Marosi cinematographer, Ágnes Mógor editor and Mónika Mécs and Ernő Mesterházy are also part of the crew.

The new film by the director of Chuchotage and the producer of On Body and Soul was supported by the Hungarian Media Patronage Programme of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) and produced by Inforg-M&M Films. Films made by the support of the Media Council should, as a rule, be made for television but in this case, in order to promote international success, the owner of the premiere rights, Duna Media Services specifically agreed to the theatrical release.

Aldo (Károly Hajduk) is a lonely gynecologist. One of his young patients, Klara is a stubborn teenager who holds on to hope that her father and mother will return from the concentration camp after the end of World War II. As they grow closer and closer the stubborn and impulsive Klara becomes a young lady under the loving protection of the man and the doctor’s life finds a new meaning of his life.

In the process of nomination for the most famous American motion picture award the representatives of the Academy choose five feature films to compete for the Oscar for the best international film. The list of the nominees will be made public on the 13th of January 2020. The Academy Award gala will be held in Los Angeles on the 9th of February.