1. Aunts’ Nest, drama, Hungary – Zoltán Fábri, 1971

Fábri enriched this turn-of-the-century convent story with his own experiences of 1968, the image of the brutal violence used to trample democracy, and the drama of forbidden love. The abbess is dying and in preparing for the new election, younger nuns would like to see reforms instituted, headed by the enlightened sister Virginia, who cherishes hard-to-hide feelings for her nominee, the cultured Magdolna. The nuns also begin to rebel against the stifling atmosphere of the convent. However, dogmatic older nuns are not choosy about the means they employ…

Produced by MAFILM 1. Játékfilmstúdió; Directed by Zoltán Fábri, Written by Margit Kaffka, Screenplay by Zoltán Fábri, Endre Illés, Cast: Mari Törőcsik, Éva Vass, Éva Pap, Magda Kohut, Margit Makay, Schallerova Jarka, Györgyi Andai, Noémi Apor, István Pathó, Director of Photography: György Illés, Music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Roland de Lassus, Giovanni Palestrina, Sound by György Pintér, Set Designer József Romvári, Costume Designer: Judit Schäffer, Edited by Ferencné Szécsényi, Photo Sándor Domonkos, Movie Poster Design Kálmán Molnár

Language: Hungarian
Colour: Colour
Subtitles: English
Format 16:9 (1.78:1)
Running Time 95’

2. The Unfinished Sentence, drama, Hungary – Zoltán Fábri, 1974

This lavishly spectacular film focuses on the character of Lőrinc Parcen Nagy from the 1200-page Tibor Déry novel interwoven with numerous autobiographical elements. Lőrinc Parcen Nagy is the offspring of an upper middle class family, whose life is marked by two violent deaths: the suicide of his father and the slaughter of an innocent worker. He breaks with his family and his mother in disgust; she is of weak character, a person who abandoned her own husband. He is also unable to discover the right tone with his colleagues and his lover who is an illegal party worker.

Produced by Budapest Játékfilmstúdió Vállalat, Directed by Zoltán Fábri, Tibor Déry, Screenplay by Zoltán Fábri, Cast András Bálint, Anikó Sáfár, Zoltán Latinovits, Mari Csomós, Mária Bisztray, László Mensáros, Sándor Lukács, Margit Dajka, Noémi Apor, Margit Makay, András Kern, Director of Photography György Illés, Music by György Vukán, Sound by György Pintér, Set Designer Tamás Vayer, Costume Designer Mariann Wieber, Edited by Ferencné Szécsényi, Photo Sándor Domonkos, Movie Poster Design András Máté

Language: Hungarian
Colour: Colour
Subtitles: English
Format 16:9 1.85:1
Running Time 133’

 3. The Fifth Seal, drama, Hungary – Zoltán Fábri, 1976

One of the highpoints of the Fábri oeuvre, one of the finest chamber pieces of Hungarian cinema, plays out in 1944, in the darkest days of the Second World War, revealing the actions of those people vulnerable to history with a capital H, a recurring theme of Fábri. A watchmaker, a book seller and a carpenter are drinking in a bar with the owner, discussing whose fate they would choose if, after their death, they had the chance to be resurrected. Would it be the wealthy tyrant or the oppressed but honourable slave? The next day they find themselves in the torture chambers of the fascists, facing in reality exactly the issue they were discussing theoretically.

Produced by Budapest Stúdió, Directed by Zoltán Fábri, Written by Ferenc Sánta, Screenplay by Zoltán Fábri, Cast Lajos Őze, László Márkus, Ferenc Bencze, Sándor Horváth, István Dégi, Zoltán Latinovits, György Cserhalmi, Gábor Nagy, Mariann Moór, Director of Photography György Illés, Music by György Vukán, Sound by György Pintér, Set Designer József Romvári, Costume Designer Judit Schäffer, Edited by Ferencné Szécsényi, Photo Sándor Domonkos, Movie Poster Design István Bakos

Language: Hungarian
Colour: Colour
Subtitles: English
Format: 4:3 (1.33:1)
Running Time: 107’

4. Hungarians, drama, Hungary – Zoltán Fábri, 1977

„An awareness of being Hungarian and the importance of ethics are thoughts that play the most important roles in my work. I particularly like Hungarians because it succeeds in saying something about our sad national fate…” (Zoltán Fábri) The film based on the novel reworking genuine historical events illuminates the fate of peasants from Szabolcs county who in 1943 went to Germany as day labourers in order to work the land of German soldiers. Fábri depicts with heart-rending profundity the ignorance, helplessness and vulnerability of these destitute individuals as they work relentlessly on German estates while constantly stumbling across bodies and with the death camp operating close by...

Produced by Dialóg Stúdió, Directed by Zoltán Fábri, Written by József Balázs, Screenplay by Zoltán Fábri, Cast Gábor Koncz, Éva Pap, Bertalan Solti, Noémi Apor, András Ambrus, Anna Muszte, Gellért Raksányi, Tibor Molnár, Sándor Szabó, Zoltán Gera, Director of Photography György Illés, Music by György Vukán, Sound by György Pintér, Set Designer Tamás Vayer, Costume Designer Fanny Kemenes, Edited by Ferencné Szécsényi, Photo: Sándor Domonkos, Movie Poster Design: István Bakos

Language: Hungarian
Colour: Colour
Subtitles: English
Format 16:9 (1.78:1)
Running Time 107’

5. Balint Fabian Meets God, drama, Hungary – Zoltán Fábri, 1980

Fábri linked two József Balázs novels. The Bálint Fábián story depicts the bitter peasant existence of the father of the protagonist of Hungarians with a profundity and power similar to sociographic literature of the 1930s. Bálint Fábián is killing people on the Italian front in 1918. At home, his sons strangle the priest who is the lover of their mother. On returning from the front, instead of discovering a robust wife Bálint finds a deranged woman. He is to be the carriage driver for the baron but during the ‘white terror’ he showed solidarity with his fellow labourers, and he returns to his sons as a shepherd. His wife dies, his sons abandon him…

Produced by Dialóg Stúdió, Directed by Zoltán Fábri, Written by József Balázs, Screenplay by Zoltán Fábri, Cast Gábor Koncz, Vera Venczel, István O.Szabó, György Szatmáry, Jácint Juhász, László Bánhidi, Mátyás Usztics, Gyula Benkő, Noémi Apor, Director of Photography György Illés, Music by György Vukán, Sound by György Pintér, Set Designer Tamás Vayer, Costume Designer Fanny Kemenes, Edited by Ferencné Szécsényi, Photo István Bartók, Movie Poster Design István Bakos

Language: Hungarian
Colour: Colour
Subtitles: English
Format 4:3 (1.33:1)
Running Time: 105’

6. Extra features

Original and recently shot extras provide behind-the-scenes glimpses into the making and reception of Fábri films, and they evoke the historical background of the era.

Stories about Hungarian film 1 – Zoltán Fábri, 1980, 74’
Fábri and the Hungarian Holocaust – Klára Barabás and Tibor Sándor in conversation, MaNDA, 2014, 35’
Report on the 11th Party Congress, Hungarian Newsreel 13/1975, 5’40’
Fifth assembly of the Association of Film and TV Artists, Hungarian Newsreel 2/1977, 3’30’
Hungarian Film Week Hungarian Newsreel 8/1977, 7’44’
Hungarian Film Week, 1978. Hungarian Newsreel 8/1978, 8’