Elk.rtuk: 2006 HUF was transferred to Megafilm's account

As a filmmaker, his only tool is the camera, through which he shows reality, but many people want to take that away from him, says producer Gábor Kálomista on the set of the film Elk.rtuk.

He talks about the constant battle with Facebook and YouTube, which take down the film's site and trailers over and over again. According to director Keith English, only extremely narrow-minded people are blindly attacking the production, and Gábor Kálomista says that, according to him, fanatical Ferenc Gyurcsány fans will be among the first to buy tickets or pirate the film from the Internet as soon as they get the chance. Origo was involved in the filming of a feature film for the political thriller Elk.rtuk about the Öszöd speech and its aftermath.

There were actors and co-workers who called me in tears because their colleagues told them that they had written themselves out of the acting community with this film. There were also people who were threatened on Facebook, even though the film had not been shown yet, adds Dorottya Selmeczi.

Of course, Ferenc Gyurcsány played his part in stoking the mood this time, as he claimed on the Facebook page of the Democratic Coalition that Elk.rtuk was created with eight hundred million forints of public money. On the other hand, the production only used the tax benefits that any Hollywood, English, German or even Indian film shot in our country enjoys, most of the budget was financed by Megafilm, but private individuals and companies also supported the film. When asked why it is worth investing in a multibillion-dollar film with your own money in Hungary, where even much more modest domestic productions do not pay off due to the size of the market, producer Dorottya Helmeczy says that if a company dares to take a risk and lends its name to a bold work, the it is good for your reputation, and a brave political revelation can also unite financiers.

But the work is also enthusiastically supported by private individuals, several of them have just transferred HUF 2006 to Megafilm Kft.'s account for the sake of a joke, says Gábor Kálomista, who is not at all sure that Elk.rtuk could not eventually become a commercially profitable enterprise given the current cinema ticket prices and the thanks to the content hunger of streaming providers. Films are long-term investments, Zimmer Feri was filmed twenty-five years ago and is still profiting from it today thanks to television and internet broadcasts. In addition, there is an increased international interest in the work, Western European discrediting campaigns against the government only make foreign viewers even more curious about a Hungarian film with a political theme.

Gábor Kálomista also recalled: the documentary about the murder of Marian Cozma, 2009's Heart Stunned Country, also made serious waves, and those who were indirectly responsible for the crime attacked the work most fiercely. Although, as Gábor Kálomista puts it:

I didn't stab anyone, I didn't beat protesters with a rubber stick, and I didn't shoot out anyone's eyes. As a filmmaker, my only tool is the camera through which I can show reality, but many people try to take this opportunity away from me. We are constantly in a fight with Facebook and YouTube, which keep blocking the official page of the film and deleting its trailer.

Source and full article: origo.hu

Featured image: MEGAFILM