Budapest's largest international film festival, the Budapest Classic Film Marathon, started yesterday organized by the National Film Institute and Film Archive, which welcomes visitors with a rich program until the 26th.
Movie marathon. Outdoor screening in front of the Basilica/ source: turizmus.com/previous recording
During the six days of the special film festival, the audience can see more than seventy freshly restored classic films at several locations in the capital, in five thematic blocks. To the delight of the people of Budapest, the square in front of the Szent István Basilica will once again be transformed into a free open-air cinema for four nights this year.
Source: Csaba Káel/mandiner.hu
According to Csaba Káel, "the 120th anniversary of the birth of Hungarian film defines the entire year of the National Film Institute this year. The special anniversary inspired our historical exhibition, Nagylátószög - 120 years of Hungarian film, created at the Ludwig Museum, and we are also organizing this year's Budapest Classic Film Marathon under its auspices. After the closure caused by the pandemic, we consider it extremely important that film fans can once again experience the experience of going to the cinema on the big screen and in community. Budapest's largest international film festival awaits those interested in five locations, including one of the city's most beautiful squares, in front of the Basilica, where spectators can attend free open-air screenings. In addition to the outstanding Hungarian works of the past 120 years, we also offer a serious international overview of the best classic films. At this year's marathon, we will show motion pictures from more than forty European film archives, so everyone can find the ones they like the most."
Source: fidelio.hu
György Ráduly, director of the Filmarchivum, put it this way: "this year is special, as we have the opportunity to celebrate several important anniversaries from the point of view of the history of Hungarian film. 125 years ago, the Lumière brothers' cinematographers shot the first films in Hungary, 120 years ago the first staged Hungarian film was shown, and 90 years ago the Hungarian sound film was born, whose first success, Hyppolit, the footman, is still hugely popular 90 years later. In 2017, when we launched the Budapest Classic Film Marathon, we undertook to present Hungarian film history on the big screen, the influence of Hungarian filmmakers on world film history, and the great classics of universal film history. For this, we called on the large family of international film archives, who have been continuously sending restored film treasures to the Marathon's program ever since. This year too, we invite film lovers on an exciting journey through time, from silent films to the past decades, paying tribute to the talent of great creators"
Source and featured image: filmarchiv.hu
