Comparison of the Hungarian Film Industry and Hollywood

Comparison of the Hungarian Film Industry and Hollywood,

and is this even a Relevant Topic?

A lot of people think Hollywood is the only place on Earth that is capable of producing movies, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

 We usually know about the British and the French film industry, but what about the Hungarian? Is there even a room for comparison?

Let’s start where it all began, at the dawn of the 20th century.

            Even though we take movies from Hollywood for granted today, this absolute juggernaut of entertainment has only been around for 107 years. Despite the fact they started producing movies in 1901 Hollywood became the World’s movie capital by 1920.

The increasing quality and the sheer number pictures produced took the world by storm. The 20^th  century’s advancements in broadcasting gave Hollywood the opportunity to reach a global audience, and they have been keeping that audience to this day.

Existing in a very different economic and political atmosphere than Hungary, the only limitation on the studios was the depth of the investors’ wallet.

On the other hand, the Hungarian film industry had humble beginnings. The very first pieces of visual entertainment created in the country were news reports in 1896. These reports sparked a widespread public interest in films and movie making, and so, in 1901 the first Hungarian cinematography institute was founded by Zsitovszky Béla.

From this point on the movie industry gained more and more relevancy.

Even today, the audience of these films is mostly Hungarian. This doesn’t mean that they had no success abroad. They won several awards and amongst them 4 Oscars (1981 A légy, 1982 Mephisto, 2016 Saul fia, 2017 Mindenki)

Despite all these achievements, the country’s movies always lacked two key ingredients. Sufficient financial backing (from the state or investors) and well equipped studios.

Both of these problems have been solved. Through significant financial backing from the state in form of the Nemzeti Filmalap, and through decades of slow development. We could confidently say the crown jewel, and prime example of this progress is the new Blade runner movie that –apart from post production- was made here.

            Is this a relevant topic then? I don’t know, but whether there is relevancy to be found or not, it is undeniable that there is potential. Hungary has the history, the will and the means to enrich the artform with its creations, and even compete with Hollywood in its own way.

Bálint Surman; Csaba Katona