"The well-deserved winner of the best narrative feature award was Roland Vranik's Ken Loach-like 'The Citizen', starring Dr. Cake-Bali Marcelo as Wilson, an African refugee in Budapest." - wrote Richard von Busack on Metro Active about the Hungarian success at the 27th Cinequest, in San Jose. "The amateur actor played a security guard pinioned between the requirements of his new government and his duty to a helpless and homeless Iranian mom (Arghavan Shekari). It's a warm drama, with Agnes Mahr outstanding as Wilson's native-born Hungarian lover."

The Cinequest Jury's statement about their choice was that "The Citizen is an excellent and moving drama that addressed some really pressing world issues of immigration, persecution, and racism, without ever becoming preachy or political. It was character-driven and sincerely empathetic. The audience cared about the characters and that led naturally to sympathy with them. The world that this film portrayed was rich and interesting. The filmic style is honest, simple, and yet surprisingly polished."

The Citizen trailer from Hungarian National Film Fund on Vimeo.