There’s definitely something going on with independent Hungarian cinema. Produced without any kind of public support and released in cinemas on 19 September by way of Mozinet, Lesson Learned [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bálint Szimler
scheda film] by Bálint Szimler (awarded a Special Mention and the Leopard for Best Acting Performance in Locarno’s Cineasti del Presente section) kicked off its career at the top of the national box office with €158,000 in takings between 19 and 29 September. Its success resonates with the 2023 triumph of Gábor Reisz’s Explanation for Everything [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Gábor Reisz
scheda film] (which triumphed in Venice’s Orizzonti line-up last year and earned €435,000 dollars on home ground, the second highest revenue for a Hungarian feature film in 2023), which was also wholly produced outside of the system. And now it’s the turn of another title which hasn’t enjoyed direct backing from the Hungarian National Film Fund - Tomorrow I Die [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Nikol Cibulya - to attempt to win over international audiences with a world premiere on 11 October within the Warsaw Film Festival’s 1-2 competition.

Starring Niké Kurta, Lili Meyer, Dániel Baki, Márton Kerekes, Zalán Makranczi, Fanni Wrochna and Ilma Hárshegyi, this first feature film by Cibulya, who also wrote the screenplay, is a horror movie with a female lead. The story revolves around Irma who’s pregnant and who retreats to her family’s cottage in the middle of the forest. This young woman is tormented by strange thoughts: she senses she’s going to die the very next day, a date which coincides with the death of her mother who also passed away on her 34th birthday. Irma doesn’t want to be alone, so she invites her half-brother and his best friend over to the house. But some increasingly inexplicable events unfold, and the situation no longer feels like a waking dream. It appears something really is going to happen to Irma…

Produced by György Kárpáti and Balázs Berta on behalf of Vertigo Media (who are steering the film’s release in Hungarian cinemas on 7 November), Tomorrow I Die benefits from Dániel Kiszler’s photographic expertise, Andor Sperling’s music and Luca Bonta’s editing prowess. International sales are at an advanced stage of negotiations.