All three came to work and shoot in Budapest, one of continental Europe’s most popular destinations for international productions. Last year, the Hungarian National Film Fund raised the tax rebate from 25% to 30%, making Hungary even more attractive for foreign filmmakers.

Hungary therefore needs film professionals now more than ever. That’s why, in 2017, the Hungarian National Film Fund initiated the Fast Forward Program, an innovative series of lectures and practice-oriented workshops to help junior industry professionals and film students keep up with the ongoing demand. It was an experiment in many aspects to invite film scholars, tutors and professionals from all over the world to present their expertise to the Hungarian industry.

AND THE RESULT?

Until today: 

22 workshops

16 specialties

54 days

almost 300 hours

more than 1800 participants

Noemi Schory workshop (Photo: Bálint Hrotkó)

The experiment has clearly worked: international talents held lectures and seminars on film writing, script developing, pitching, scriptwriting, film acting and post-production etc.

In 2018 the Fast Forward Program collaborated with the Budapest Classic Film Marathon and invited Katinka Faragó, the long-time creative partner of Ingmar Bergman and Andrei Tarkovsky, and Viktória Petrányi the producer and creative partner of Kornél Mundruczó to talk about their experience of creative partnership in the filmmaking process. The Program cooperated also with the Budapest Showcase Hub and offered a lecture and workshop on music supervising and film music composing by Thomas Golubic,  the music supervisor of ie. Breaking Bad and Six Feet Under and Ádám Balázs, the composer of a score for the Berlinale 2017 Golden Bear winning On Body and Soul and Sing, the Oscar-winner live action short. Inviting the visionary British filmmaker Peter Greenaway, director of films like The Draughtsman’s Contract, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover or The Pillow Book for a masterclass was also a succcesful collaboration between Republic Group’s Budapest Zeitgeist and the Fast Forward Program.

Kurt van der Basch workshop (Photo: János Posztós)

In the fall Kurt van der Basch who worked on films and videoclips from Everything is Illuminated through Madonna’s Sweet and Sticky tour to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom shared his experiences on storyboard-making; talents from 3D animation and the CGI industry, József Czakó and Attila Szigeti (Digic Pictures), invited participants to a reality where anything can happen; and Noemi Schory from Israel held a lecture on the future of documentaries. Film marketing continued to be an important component of this year: John Durie together with the Hungarian specialist Anna Bartók put forward case studies about recent Hungarian blockbusters ie. The Whiskey Bandit and A Kind of America 3. Even the Berlinale was a guest of the Fast Forward Program, as Nikolaj Nikitin, the long-time selector for the festival, came to Budapest for a lecture and a workshop about film festival strategies.

In February Miguel Machalski talked about storytelling in film, about what makes a story a story and, more importantly, what makes it a story worth telling, over and above visual artistry and filmic aesthetics. 

Thomas Golubic workshop (Photo: János Posztós)

STILL TO COME IN 2019

Sibylle Kurz will be arriving to Budapest after the Berlinale to give a lecture on the importance and cruel reality of pitching and an intensive workshop for the participants of this year’s Incubator Program.

Anders Kjaerhauge, from Zentropa will be bringing hands-on knowledge on how to deal with clearance issues in real life and the legal problems of filmmaking; Joost de Vries and Dennis Kleyn from the Netherlands will give a comprehensive introduction to the basic techniques of visual effects in film and television series and will also address the creative implementation of VFX as a narrative tool; and similarly to the 2017- 2018 year Steven Lovy and László Pistár’s hands-on workshop on movie trailers will be closing the year.

The FFP continues with more exciting events, and for those who missed the lectures, video recordings can be accessed online, on the youtube channel of the Hungarian National Film Fund.

Anita Libor