Mari Csomós

A cardiologist is sent into retirement, but he feels at loss without his work. He returns to his home village to work as a general practitioner. This is the start of his ordeal: he's confronted with raw reality, which finally brings him to his knees. But music has the last word.

Over the course of four generations, a family in Hungary confronts poverty, political turmoil and a life that's perpetually on the move.

Hungarian tales around the end of the regime(s).

1997. Young car mechanic Iván lives in a godforsaken village in eastern Hungary. He looks after his mentally disabled sister Eszter and earns extra money smuggling diesel oil from Ukraine. The siblings' coexistence is disrupted by a tragic event, Eszter is raped. A police investigation gets under way; in the meantime, Iván starts up a relationship with young Ilus, who has just finished school and is planning on going to the university. Iván plainly wants to leave his old life behind him, but will he be able to fulfill this ambition? - Written by Warsaw Film Festival

Karcsi, a Roma policeman, lives with Eva, a Swede. One day he is called to the scene of the murder of a wealthy trafficker named Schulter. He begins to investigate the crime, interrogate neighbours and suspects, and untangle a complex situation - one that he, himself, complicates even further. For he is a gypsy, who despite being adopted and raised by "regular" Hungarians, has his nose rubbed in his minority status every day. The film, which is based on the novel by Ákos Kertész, is a shrewd genre work full of dusky humour and surreal situations. Tabló follows a vivid succession of strange images that eventually lead to the emergence of the central story about a charismatic police officer on a tireless quest for the truth, though he must fight against virtually everyone and is just as fallible as the next person. Tabló makes a statement on the issue of race and racism - or, indeed, relations between any minority and majority.

Trumpet player Géza Elekes does not play very well in his private life, and his fourth marriage has failed. One day he gets a call from his father, whom he hasn't spoken to in decades. This prompts her and her son, András, who is in the thick of things, to visit her parents, who live across the border. When he arrives in Transylvania, his father says he is fed up with her jealousy and moves in with him. Géza reluctantly accepts the idea, but eventually the three men set off for Budapest. Along the way, they face many trials and tribulations: hit-and-runs, chases, women, corpses and the green border.

Lili and Pali are "chance" bank robbers, and perhaps "chance lovers" but they don't have the opportunity to pursue their relationship. With stolen money in their backpacks they are constantly on the run and everything seems to go wrong. As they seek refuge in a rundown industrial town they learn they are now famous and have been nicknamed Bonnie & Clyde. A contemporary look at youth in Eastern Europe trying to find truth in a world found on deception.

Kata, in her 20s, loses her boyfriend and her job on the same day. She's been indulging in fantasies of a more thrilling romantic life, and the cold water of being alone and unemployed doesn't entirely dampen her imagination. She's egged on by three girlfriends who get together to talk about men and sex. Kata has possibilities: she meets David, a medical student; there's Tamás, a stranger on a train who might be good for a relationship and a job. There's also Miki, her brother who's had serious drug problems. Is fulfillment within her grasp?

No one is happier than Ondris, who is celebrating his bachelor party and wedding, as his fondest dream has come true: he has won the hand of his beloved, his father's ward, Jadwiga, who was educated in Germany, and has been able to lure this irresistibly attractive but dangerously mysterious woman home. On the one hand, there is the playful but explosively intense physical and emotional passion of a young puppy, and on the other, the sincere, feminine longing for loving devotion and a joyful marriage, which at first may still inspire hope. But soon the threads begin to become entangled...

Hungarian Thriller Film