Four of the 14 winning film projects were finished and premiered, and even more got several prestigious awards; five of them are currently under production and another four are in pre-production stage.

All of the four winning projects of the first Incubator Program are finished and only one of them hasn’t had its premiere yet. The first feature-length animation by Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó, ’White Plastic Sky’, is co-produced by the Hungarian Salto Film and the French Paprika Films and is expected to be in cinemas in 2020. The utopian sci-fi takes place in 2200, when fertile soil has disappeared from the Earth and all flora and fauna has become extinct. The population of the city survives by eating a special plant, which is implanted into people’s flesh after their 50th birthday. The psychiatrist Stefan strongly believes in this system until the day his wife signs up for volunteer implantation.

Tibor Bánóczki & Sarolta Szabó: White Plastic Sky

The first feature by Csaba Vékes, ’Behind the Column’, got premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival in 2017, ’One Day’ by Zsófia Szilágyi was the second production completed within the framework of the Incubator Program, and it had its international premiere at the Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2018, winning the FIPRESCI award.

The socio-realist lovers-on-the-run movie entitled ’Blossom Valley’, by László Csuja, debuted at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s East of the West Section in 2018 and won the Special Jury Prize. The documentary feature ’Easy Lessons’, by Dorottya Zurbó, premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2018.

The second Incubator Program was held in 2016 and the five winning projects will be premiered in 2019. The historical drama ’Guerilla’, by György Mór Kárpáti, will start its festival circle at the Göteborg Film Festival. Set in 1849 at the end of the liberation war against the Habsburg Empire, a young soldier tries to find and save his wounded brother who has been hiding with a guerilla group.

György Mór Kárpáti: Guerilla

‘Tales from the Prison Cell’ by Ábel Visky is a creative documentary about the relationship between fathers in prison and their children at home. As a way of keeping in contact, the inmates wrote fairy tales for their kids, which the creators then made into films with the children playing the lead roles.

The documentary feature by Alexa Bakony, ’Tobias’, is about 16-year-old Jasmin, who feels that he is a boy who was born in a woman’s body. Jasmin would like to start his life as Tobias, but he can’t transform until he turns eighteen. The film follows this frustrating period of the transgender boy and his relationship with his mother.

FOMO (’Fear of Missing Out’) by Attila Hartung puts the focus on Gergő and his teenage friends, who are into three things: partying, sex and how many online followers they have. One night, at a party, Lilla falls victim to the boys. A dare gets out of hand and the young boys’ world changes forever overnight.

Zoltán Nagy: Impromptu

A coming-of-age story, ’Impromptu’, by Zoltán Nagy, is set in the contemporary countryside, where irresponsible teenager Dávid must stand up for a 13-year-old girl who is being molested by their old music teacher.

The four chosen projects of the third Incubator Program are in pre-production stage. ’Things Worth Weeping For’ by Cristina Grosan and Nóra Rainer-Micsinyei is about people in their 30s who try to meet serious grown-up expectations when their lives do not actually have much in common with typical adulthood. The film intends to examine this controversial state that is full of conflict, tension, self-righteousness and absurd situations.

Hajni Kis’s biographically inspired film, ’A Pack of our Town’, shows the relationship between an ex-convict father and his teenage daughter. Their relationship is filled with conflict, but they slowly manage to break down their barriers and grow closer to each other, and the father realises that he never wants to leave his daughter again, and for that he is ready to take some radical steps.

Bálint Nagy & Nándor Lőrincz: The Last Bus

The film by Bálint Nagy and Nándor Lőrincz, ’The Last Bus’, discusses the subject of sexual abuse from a husband’s point of view. A couple is finally given confirmation to adopt an orphan, but one night the wife is sexually abused by a stranger. The couple faces the culture of victim-blaming, which also breaks the trust in their marriage. The Last Bus won €25 000 for the post-production service fee at the Transilvania Pitch Stop.

Inspired by the book by László Kozma, the animated adventure film entitled ‘Where did I go Wrong?’, by Márton Szirmai, brings the focus to the writer, who is innocently sentenced to 15 years in prison. Memorable and graphic stories of Kozma’s life come to life until he himself works out the perfect plan of escape. Set in 1950’s Hungary, it is an exciting and humorous film about how power and history can easily break a person’s ambitions and opportunities.

Ten selected filmmakers are currently working on their first projects to present them at this year’s pitch forum for Incubator Program held in 2019 spring.

Zsófi Herczeg