28/03/2006

Authorisation has finally been given for the construction of Studio Korda, the enormous project initiated in 2004 by Andrew Vajna, the US producer of Hungarian origin, and businessman Sandor Demjan.

Located in Etyek, 28 kilometres west of Budapest, the lot, which will become the largest closed studio in the world, will spread over 50,000 square metres and house six shooting stages and a pool for water scenes. According to László Krisán, the director of Korda Movie Studio Kft, the first buildings will be operational before the end of 2006.

Born in 1944 in Budapest, Vajna, the producer of some forty-odd features in the US, is making a thunderous return to his country of origin. In fact, he has also begun producing in his homeland, with Children of Glory (Szabadság, szerelem), the second feature from rising female director Krisztina Goda (Just Sex and Nothing Else - see news).

Shooting since the beginning of March, the film is set during the Soviet invasion of Budapest and the snuffing out of the Hungarian revolution of 1956. At the Melbourne Olympics, the water polo match between Hungary and the USSR became a violent confrontation with an historical undercurrent.

With a cast that includes Ivan Fenyo, Kata Doba, Sandor Csanyi and Péter Haumann, the screenplay was written by Joe Eszterhas (Basic instinct) with Geza Beremenyi, Reka Divinyi and Eva Gardos. Benefiting from €563,000 in support from the Motion Picture Public Foundation of Hungary, Children of Glory is being produced by Flaschback Filmgyártó in association with the UK’s Business Affairs Productions. Its theatrical release is set for October 23, 2006.

(Translated from French)