27/02/2009

2008 started well for the Hungarian film industry, with MAFILM announcing plans to build a US$2.5 million studio to replace the one badly damaged by fire in July 2007. However as the year progressed and the international economic situation deteriorated, prospects have begun to look distinctly uncertain. Whether or not the cancellation of plans to build the Greenhill Studios outside the southern city of Pecs was connected to the financial downturn is, at the time of writing, speculation as hard information has been difficult to obtain.
With the news in late October of an IMF-engineered deal to bail out the Hungarian economy to the tune of US$25 billion, a fuller assessment of the impact of the downtown on the Hungarian film industry may well have to wait until 2009.

Read the survey published by the International Film Guide:
Survey - Hungary