Being Woody Allen

Müpa Budapest Film Club's new series, Being Woody Allen, is a compelling selection of the actor-writer-director's work. Eighteen films. That's something. Although, when you consider that this is less than a third of Woody Allen's film output... Incredible. When did he even sleep? (I'm sure he would have a joke to make about the connection between insomnia and narcolepsy.) In 1950, he entered the world of moving pictures as a television writer. By going through his films, we not only get to know him, but also – through his work and performances – how the world has changed over seven decades. Woody Allen is a strange comedian. There is a strong cultural-artistic tradition in his jokes, sayings and quips. But to make us feel a little less stunned and inadequate, he quickly helps us out of our predicament with a joke. To make us laugh. To make us understand. The rest is desire, love, affection... Life and death. (But he has a joke for that too.)

110 Years of Hungarian Animation

Reality is a fine thing, but sometimes it’s even better to switch it off with the push of a button. Or simply by purchasing a cinema ticket. This series introduces the most free-spirited artists in the history of Hungarian animated film, ones who have helped millions of viewers around the world get a little closer to the realm of dreams, where neither the stubborn laws of physics nor the rules of grey everyday life operate in the familiar fashion!

In our selection, we have collected the works of major figures who through their unique formal languages fundamentally defined the evolution of the genre and how viewers relate to animated films. Before anyone starts to scoff, these are not ‘just’ fairy tales we are talking about. Their works comprised Cold War propaganda amidst the escalating international situation, as well as a depiction of the generational sense of the tough reality of inner-city life in the 1970s. And even when they were fairy tales, that’s not ‘all’ they were. They could be a work of total art, a ‘culture trip’ incorporating dance and the music of Kodály, combined with psychedelic visions of an ancient Hungarian folk tale, and a core public sentiment-boosting work involving geese.