Iska’s Journey is Hungarian Oscar hopeful
Csaba Bollók’s second narrative feature, Iska’s Journey [+see also:
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Unveiled at the 2007 Berlinale, the film has screened at around 50 international festivals (including Toronto, Brussels, Copenhagen, Seville, Hungarian Film Week, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Pusan and Sarajevo), picking up 10 awards. The title was released domestically in November 2007 by Hungarotop.
Inspired by the director’s encounter with Mária Varga, a child living on the streets of a South Carpathian mining town, Iska’s Journey retraces the young girl’s journey towards the Black Sea, where she becomes the victim of human trafficking. On her travels, she meets other children left to fend for themselves but determined to try and escape their harsh destiny.
The film was produced by Ágnes Csere for Merkelfilm on a budget of €610,000.
Iska’s Journey was chosen by a selection committee composed of Lóránt Stohr (Association of Hungarian Film Artists), Gábor Váradi (Hungarian Independent Producers Association), Réka Temple (Hungarian Producers Association), Iván Márk (Hungarian Society of Cinematographers) and András Monory-Mész (Hungarian Directors’ Guild).
(Translated from French)
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