You took over the management of the Hungarian film industry following the tragic death of Andy Vajna. Why do you find it exciting to renew the already successful film industry?

First of all, I’d like to talk about motion picture culture, not just the so-called film industry. A Hollywood producer for many years, Andy Vajna was first and foremost interested in cinema. Narrowing moving images down to full-length features for theatrical release is an aristocratic world view that we cannot afford to have in the 21st century. We have to pay attention to exciting new platforms such as VOD or television, which increasingly fill people’s free time, and we must also think about moving-image production as a system, as one strategic unit.

Is that why you’ve unified the funding system?

Yes. From now on, motion pictures, TV movies, documentaries and series will all be financed by the National Film Institute, which was established in January. We’d like to give back the prestige of TV movies and documentaries, which turned motion pictures into a form of education. People read less and less and increasingly consume information through moving images. We have to take this into account when planning distribution. Before, if there was potential for a TV movie to become a motion picture, it wouldn’t have been feasible under the previous funding system because there was no permeation between platforms.

How will you put that idea into practice? Will it be decided during script development whether a motion picture or a TV movie format would suit the script better?

There are two decisive boards, one for full-length features and one for the other motion pictures, for example TV movies, series and VOD content. From now on, even TV movies and series are going to go into script development. Andy Vajna had two great achievements; he established a transparent financial system and introduced script development to Hungarian film production. As we’d like to take the script development phase a lot more seriously, for each production we’ll suggest a few independent script doctors who are experts in that genre or field. The goal would be to learn how to cooperate. It’s not an easy task because film is not a team sport. My teacher, Gyula Gazdag, who has been teaching script writing at UCLA for many decades now, showed me the positive impact of cooperation. Today it’s not uncommon to see four or five writers working together in the writer’s room on a TV series. Young script writers can learn the trade quite effectively that way.

The Film Institute plans to launch its own VOD platform. Can you reveal anything about that?

A Hollywood production spends 30 to 150 % of its budget on marketing. We cannot compete with that. But Netflix and HBO have proven that a VOD model does not require comparable promotion. If somebody goes through the content, they are immediately hooked. We’d like to divide our VOD platform into more profiles, just like Netflix does. There will be a profile for children with animation, movies and curiosities about film history; an encoded profile for teachers with screen content optimised for 45-minute classes focusing on a director or a genre; and a subscription profile where the general public can access Hungarian movies.

You’d like to appeal to young people through streaming?

Yes, but we should be starting to appeal to them already in schools. As a government commissioner I’m lobbying for a visual arts and film module to be included in the high school curriculum. Growing up without learning how film works and the way it affects you is like learning to read without knowing the alphabet. It’s absurd. We also plan to reintroduce film clubs into people’s lives. These provide a great feeling of community and create a context for movies that enrich the viewing experience.

Do you think the model used by Netflix, in which movies debut online after a brief theatrical distribution, is exemplary?

I can’t give you an answer for that because Hungarian film distribution is in quite a bad shape right now. There are not enough cinemas, and Hungarian movies are removed from the listings too soon because they are not marketed properly. I recently learned that international movies and the sale of popcorn provide enough income to maintain an international movie theatre chain. The extra profit comes from local content. So, if we can build and provide strong local content, it’s in the distributors’ interest to push that because it can be profitable. In 1997, under the guidance of Warner, we established the music channel Z+, a generational cornerstone in music television for Hungarian viewers. Warner executives suggested that only 10 % of the programme be Hungarian content. We argued that it should be 50 % because otherwise it wouldn’t be much different from MTV. They thought there wouldn’t be enough Hungarian music to fill half of the programme, but we were sure there would be if we provided a platform for them. In the end, we agreed to 30 %, later raising it to 40 % before making it unlimited, because Hungarian pop music had seen a boom. The reason is because locals are highly curious about local cultural products. We should make our movies important for ourselves too. We tend to forget the golden age of the sixties, when popular TV series were made, such as the comic sci-fi Fantastic Adventures of Family Mézga, which even now are considered national treasures. Why? Because they were about us: Hungarians.

Hungarian television enjoyed a monopoly status under socialism. There were only two or three channels and people couldn’t watch anything else. Today there is an incredible oversupply of movies and TV series in which quality products can easily get lost.

Economic willpower plays a huge role in what content people watch. American mainstream TV reaches viewers no matter what. If we wanted, we could make our movies reach the public. As the CEO of Müpa Budapest, a home for classical music, operas and prime popular culture, I have only positive experiences in this regard. In 15 years, we have created an internationally renowned brand. I hope to achieve similar results with Hungarian movies as well. It isn’t necessary to reinvent the wheel, just to use the available tools properly.

Such as?

Hungarian filmmaker sare in a convenient position because the state finances entire movie budgets. So they aren’t pushed to make a profit. We’d like to set up a system that helps, motivates and gets them interested in the distribution of their movies.

The National Film Institute will also put a greater emphasis on co-productions. How?

By incentivising producers to participate in them. The Film Institute finances one third of a co-production’s budget, to which we can add 30% of the overall production spending in tax rebate. That’s not a small sum. It is important for us to create co-productions because collaborations benefit the distribution of Hungarian movies abroad; and partners are interested in getting the widest distribution possible for their co-production. Müpa Budapest has become a world-famous institution by cooperating with the biggest opera houses and concert halls. We especially have to take central European co-productions more seriously. Even socialism had a positive effect on film as it forced socialist countries to cooperate behind the Iron Curtain. We have a common culture and history to build upon. The central European approach to life could appeal to a lot of people.

Csaba Káel, the Government Commissioner for the Development of the Hungarian Film Industry  (Photo: Szilvi Csibi)

What do you mean by ‘the central European approach to life’?

I’m not talking about the pejorative meaning that stems from the Communist era, when everything that came from the West was marvelled at and everything that was Hungarian was dismissed. Let us be amazed by how cool central Europe is! We live in one of the most interesting areas of the world, where the scenery is beautiful, the cities have a rich history, and we have every landscape imaginable: mountains, seas lakes and plains like the Hortobágy Puszta. Everybody’s jaws would drop if they saw a great series set at Lake Balaton, where good summer stories and heavenly feasts could take place in a dazzlingly beautiful landscape.

The National Film Institute also plans to broaden the range of Hungarian movies by organising new and specialised grant programmes. Which genre or theme would you like to see more of in Hungarian cinema?

Americans have made movies about the bulk of the successes and failures of their history. We haven’t. Hungarian cinema hasn’t produced a good movie about the First World War, the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the 1989-1990 regime change or even about the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. We’d like to change that and provide an opportunity for filmmakers to reflect on our history and national heroes on certain anniversaries. 2023 will be the 200th anniversary of Sándor Petőfi’s birth, Hungary’s national poet and one of the key figures of the 1848 Revolution. He is considered a sort of pop star in Hungary, and also belongs to the ‘27 Club’ along with Amy Winehouse and Kurt Cobain. A Petőfi movie shouldn’t be about what a great hero he was but about understanding what made him a genius based on his daily experiences. It is important to see our heroes not as idols, but as people like you and me.

Can Petőfi be of any interest in central Europe?

Absolutely. And in China. Chinese people know his poem Liberty and Love by heart because it’s part of the school curriculum. Sissi is also famous in China because, for a long time, Romy Schneider’s Sissi was the only Western movie that was screened there. There are stereotypes and shared references that we should and could build on.

Hungarian cinema has enjoyed a streak of international success in the past decade. Son of Saul and Sing both won an Oscar, On Body and Soul received an Oscar nomination, and movies like Sunset, One Day and Solar Walk all won prestigious awards in Berlin, Cannes and Venice. What is the key to the success of Hungarian movies?

Our success story continues, with Trezor receiving an International Emmy Award nomination and the actress Marina Gera winning an Emmy for playing the lead role in Eternal Winter, a film about a national tragedy that was largely unknown to the world. The post-Holocaust movie Those Who Remained made it to the Oscar shortlist. So it seems our history is interesting for an international audience after all. The key to success is to present ourselves as authentically and captivatingly as possible. George Cukor famously wrote above his office: “It’s not enough to be Hungarian; you must also have talent!” Robert Capa reversed this, jokingly saying: “It’s not enough to have talent; you also have to be Hungarian!” I’d like to emphasise that too. Let us believe that we are interesting! Let us be ourselves and not be at the service of others’ tastes! It’s not an easy task, because the influence of American movies is strong and effective, but we have to tell stories about our lives too and not just imitate the American lifestyle.

Under Andy Vajna’s supervision, Budapest became the second-favourite filming location in Europe, after London. Recently the competition for international productions has grown, however, with neighbouring countries raising the percentage of their tax refunds. How can Hungary preserve its leading position in the field of support jobs?

There is a ‘dolce vita’ vibe in Budapest right now, not that different from Rome in the 60s. We’ve got a fantastic city where a lot of international movie stars come to shoot international productions, while culture and the nightlife is buzzing thanks to students and tourists. I’m certain that today Fellini would consider shooting La Dolce Vita in Budapest. Owing to its great location and infrastructure and highly qualified film professionals, Budapest is still the favourite filming location in central Europe. Thanks to support jobs, a strong background industry has been established in Hungary. However, due to the demand, there is a permanent shortage of qualified professionals. If we want to produce even more local content we have to train more experts and technicians. I don’t want to see a wage-raising competition start and international productions siphoning off manpower from Hungarian movies. We plan on organising new short-term, targeted skills trainings and on expanding Mafilm Studios, so that visiting filmmakers can say that shooting in Fót is just as good as shooting at Pinewood Studios. We have the necessary infrastructure, because Mafilm Studios are only half an hour’s drive away from Budapest, a luxury compared to Hollywood, where movie stars have to travel 2 or 3 hours from their apartments to the shooting location.

Hungarian cinema will enjoy a strong year in 2020. New movies from the Oscar-winning director István Szabó, Ildikó Enyedi and Ágnes Kocsis, among others, will be released. What Hungarian movies are you most looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to good motion pictures, and the ones I’ve seen so far are very promising.  

Tamás Soós