An all-night documentary titled The House of the Country is being made about the Parliament building in Budapest. Narrated by the American film actress Ema Horvath, the film is primarily aimed at a global audience, but it will also be shown with subtitles in Hungary this fall.
What the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, the Colosseum to Rome, the Parliament is clearly to Budapest: it is the protagonist of catalog covers, the first unmissable program point of public tours. The Kossuth square palace is perfectly suited not only to dazzle those interested in our country with a good heart as a beautiful historical building, but also to help them gain an idea of the most important episodes of our history beyond the level of phrases, without which this strange language can hardly be understood. , the way of thinking of the "rebellious" nation of the Carpathian Basin, which has come into conflict with the European mainstream for a thousand and one hundred years, reports Magyar Nemzet .
Another special feature of the documentary "House of the Country" is that the narrator, who can also be seen in the picture, is the American actress Ema Horvath, who comes from the Highlands and is known, among other things, from the Lord of the Rings prequel series. Kossuth square firefight or the decommissioning of the red star in 1990. The work also recalls that in the early 1920s, during the winter months, almost three hundred children who came to Budapest with their families from areas annexed due to the Trianon decision were accommodated in the empty premises of the Parliament, but because of a lack of housing, lived in unheated railway carriages.
Ema Horvath, the face of the documentary. Photo: Budamount Film/The House of the Country
According to the press release issued after Monday's event presenting the production, the goal of the creators is for both foreign and domestic audiences to get to know the Parliament House better, and through the history of the building to bring the history of Hungary closer to the viewers.
The announcement recalls that exactly 140 years ago, in 1883, the plans for the Parliament building were approved, and the construction of the monumental building on the Danube began. The Parliament, designed by Imre Steindl, is now considered one of the most famous buildings in the world.
" We were able to use a lot of technical tools - such as drones, high-brightness lenses - that were not available before. In this way, we were able to approach points of the building that no one had ever seen before, not even those who built it, " the announcement quotes director-cinematographer András Nagy.
In addition to footage from the Parliament, viewers can see details of interviews with experts, including art historians Margit Kerekes and Katalin Keserü, historian Róbert Hermann or architect Anthony Gall, as well as archive footage, but the documentary also recalls important historical events, such as the 1912 coup against István Tisza assassination attempt.
According to screenwriter György Somogyi, at the same time, it was considered important that the documentary should not become a boring history lesson, and since the film is being prepared for the international market, it had to be constantly kept in mind: what is historically or politically clear to a Hungarian may mean nothing to a foreigner.
The documentary - produced by Budamount Film with the support of the National Film Institute and the cooperation of the Parliament Film Workshop - is expected to be shown in the fall of 2023. "Our goal is to get the film to as many places in the world as possible, so we will find all the platforms - streaming sites, televisions or even film distributors - that will help as many people as possible watch the film," director András Nagy pointed out.
MTI / Hungarian Nation
Cover image: The dome of the Parliament - the film presents the nation's number one building from many previously unknown viewpoints. Photo: Budamount Film/The House of the Country
