Once Upon a Time in Hungarian Comics

Message of Stones - Budapest

January 1994 •English

The first film in Miklós Jancsó's documentary series Message of Stones.

Geek, and You Shall Find

July 2019 •English

After attending a local comic book convention, three filmmakers are so moved by the stories shared with them by cosplayers that they decide to investigate geek culture even further. Attending other conventions across the country and speaking with legendary creators such as Kevin Eastman, Stan Lee and George R.R. Martin, the trio not only begins to find answers to why people gravitate towards superheroes and stories about superheroes, but how being a geek could help them live deeper, richer lives. Geek, and You Shall Find tells the stories behind the creation of several popular stories including Superman, Star Wars, Game of Thrones and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In sharing how these characters and their worlds came to be, creators reveal how often they have been inspired by real-life social ills. Most importantly, by continuing to speak with fans who have been inspired by these creations, this film reveals how superheroes have the potential to combat these social issues as well.

Històries de Bruguera

April 2012 •Spanish

The history of Bruguera, the most important comic publisher in Spain between the 1940s and the 1980s. How the characters created by great writers and pencilers became Spanish archetypes and how their strips persist nowadays as a portrait of Spain and its people. The daily life of the creators and the founding family, the Brugueras. The world in which hundreds of vivid colorful paper beings lived and still live, in the memory of millions, in the smile of everyone.

Elie Wiesel Goes Home

February 1997 •Hungarian

A documentary chronicling the adolescent years of Elie Wiesel and the history of his sufferings. Eliezer was fifteen when Fascism brutally altered his life forever. Fifty years later, he returns to Sighetu Marmatiei, the town where he was born, to walk the painful road of remembrance - but is it possible to speak of the unspeakable? Or does Auschwitz lie beyond the capacity of any human language - the place where words and stories run out?

La potion Astérix

January 2014 •French

From the magic potion to the chemical composition of the worldwide success of Asterix, the film will tell of the genesis of the work, the creative complicity between Uderzo and Goscinny as well as behind the scenes anecdotes.

Étienne Robial, un spécimen de caractère(s)

May 2023 •French

Documentary on the French graphic and visual artist and designer, editor, artistic director, and teacher who is known for his widely-used fonts.

Liquid Gold: In Quest of the Aszu of Tokaj

September 2019 •Hungarian

The Aszú of Tokaj, a sweet wine of Hungary, was once cherished by King Louis XIV, Queen Victoria, Peter the Great, Goethe and Beethoven. But the world has since forgotten the noble Aszú, two world wars, the enforced collectivisation of the Communist regime and the deadly filoxera epidemic had all wreaked havoc on the vines. Three dedicated heroes, one passion: to create The Great Wine that can return to the most refined tables of the world.

In memoriam Hajnóczy Péter

December 1985 •Hungarian

The footage was shot in the writer's room a few days after his death. Everything in the room was untouched. The poet György Petri reads from one of Péter Hajnóczy's works, Miss Embolia. A sacred image of the Eastern European "beaten generation."

René Goscinny, Our Uncle From Armorica

October 2017 •French

The career of French comic author René Goscinny was a living blend of cultures and an expression of the great importance this artist attached to the production and dissemination of sophisticated popular culture. Goscinny left behind an extremely extensive body of work: "Asterix", "Lucky Luke", "Isnogud", "Little Nick" and many more.

KIX

November 2024 •Hungarian

Handheld skate video meets hardcore social realism in a sensational film with the energy of a three-chord punk song and an unruly group of street kids in front of the camera, shot over 10 wild years of their young lives.

Viktor & Victoria

October 2023 •Hungarian

The Story of Zagreb Comics: New Square

January 2017 •Croatian

Documentary about "New Square", a group of young cartoonists from Zagreb who mainly gathered around the weekly paper Sloga in the second half of the 1970s. The authors Radovan Devlić (1950-2000), Krešimir Skozret (1951-) Joško Marušić (1952-), Mirko Ilić (1956-), Krešimir Zimonić (1956-) and Igor Kordej (1957-) introduced graphic innovations that raised the general interest in the Croatian comic art.

Moleman 4: Longplay

March 2017 •Hungarian

It is the year 2546. Corporations rule the world, and an agent is on a secret mission to explore the untold stories of the past. His journey leads him into a secret virtual reality where one corporation has recreated the 1980s, an era that witnessed the birth of video game development, an event in which a politically and economically restricted small European country, Hungary, had a significant role. He discovers a strange but exciting world, where computers were smuggled through the Iron Curtain and serious engineers started developing games. This small country was still under Soviet pressure when a group of people managed to set up one of the first game development studios in the world, and western computer stores started clearing room on their shelves for Hungarian products.

Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters

August 2022 •English

As one of the most successful independent comic book creators, Mignola has inspired generations of writers and artists. This feature-length documentary explores the legacy of the legendary comic book creator behind Hellboy. The film delves into Mignola's career, from his early days at Marvel to his success with Hellboy, featuring insights from Neil Gaiman on the Mignolaverse and Rebecca Sugar on Mignola’s influence on Steven Universe.

Washing Our Hands

November 2023 •Hungarian

This film is part of the Semmelweis Project, launched by Direkt36, an investigative journalism center based in Hungary, to show the reality and the causes of hospital-acquired infections, which are a growing problem in the country.

Rural Hungary

April 1939 •English

This Traveltalk series short visits the rural agricultural areas of Hungary.

Christmas on the Danube

December 2013 •English

This documentary visits cities and towns and captures stunning landscapes along Europe's majestic Danube at Christmastime. Locations covered include Passau, Germany; Salzburg, Oberndorf, the Wachau Valley, and Vienna in Austria; Bratislava, Slovakia; and Budapest, Hungary. Along the way the viewer learns relevant history.

Romazsaruk

Invalid date •Hungarian

The Fallen

April 1985 •Hungarian

The documentary was shot in the prison for juvenile delinquents in Hungary. It does not aim at judging whether the perpetrators were convicted rightly or not but, given the burden they carry, how they can reintegrate into society after they are released.

Carson Coma - A koncertfilm

April 2022 •Hungarian