From László Nemes to the New Voices of Hungarian Cinema: The Hungarian Day
A thriller about a surrogate family, documentaries built from personal archives, and stories about motherhood, identity, and success that arrives too soon — these are all part of the Hungarian Day programme at the 25th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (12–21 June 2026). This year’s selection brings together established directors such as László Nemes, György Pálfi, and Ildikó Enyedi alongside a new generation of independent Hungarian filmmakers who continually experiment with genre and cinematic form.
With a Grand Prix at Cannes, a Golden Globe, and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for Son of Saul, László Nemes is one of the most celebrated European directors of recent years. At TIFF.25, audiences will have the opportunity to see his new film in its Romanian premiere: Orphan (2025), a story set in Hungary in the aftermath of the 1956 revolution, in which the life of a boy raised solely by his mother is upended by the arrival of a man who claims to be his biological father.
A longtime presence at TIFF, György Pálfi is known for his explosive and unconventional style, and his latest title is no exception. As its title suggests, in Hen (2025), the story is told almost entirely from the perspective of a chicken who escapes an industrial farm and ends up in a village on the Greek coast, navigating a world defined by abuse, violence, and absurd power dynamics.
In Feels Like Home (dir. Gábor Holtai, 2025), a woman is abducted and taken to a house where a man forces several lonely, vulnerable individuals to play the roles of a family. Each is given a new name and a strict set of rules to follow. As she searches for a way out, the protagonist begins to observe how fear, dependency, and the need for affection keep the others captive — even when the door is left unlocked.
In the documentary Don’t Worry, Sári! (2025), director Sári Haragonics reconstructs more than 30 years of her own family history using archival footage, voice messages, recordings, and excerpts from her personal therapy sessions. The film speaks candidly about mental health, intergenerational relationships, loss, and the way personal traumas are transmitted within a family, set against the backdrop of social change in Eastern Europe.
Un thriller despre o familie surogat, documentare construite din arhive personale și povești despre maternitate, identitate sau succes venit prea devreme se regăsesc în programul Zilei Maghiare de la cea de-a 25-a ediție a Festivalul Internațional de Film Transilvania (12–21 iunie 2026). Selecția de anul acesta îi aduce împreună pe regizori consacrați precum László Nemes, György Pálfi și Ildikó Enyedi cu o nouă generație de cineaști maghiari independenți care experimentează constant cu genurile și formele cinematografice.
Cu un Grand Prix la Cannes, un Glob de Aur și titlul de Cel mai bun film străin la Oscar pentru Fiul lui Saul, László Nemes este unul dintre cei mai apreciați regizori europeni ai ultimilor ani. La TIFF.25, publicul va putea vedea în premieră națională noul lui film, Orfan (Orphan, 2025), o poveste plasată în Ungaria de după revoluția din 1956, în care viața unui băiat crescut doar de mamă este zdruncinată de apariția unui bărbat care susține că este tatăl lui adevărat.
Un obișnuit al TIFF-ului, György Pálfi este cunoscut pentru stilul său exploziv și nonconformist, iar cel mai recent titlu din filmografia lui nu se lasă mai prejos. Așa cum se poate intui din titlu, în Găina (Hen, 2025), povestea este spusă aproape integral din perspectiva unei găini care scapă dintr-o fermă industrială și ajunge într-un sat de pe litoralul Greciei, unde traversează o lume dominată de abuzuri, violență și relații de putere absurde.
În Aici mă simt acasă (Feels Like Home, r. Gábor Holtai, 2025), o femeie este răpită și dusă într-o casă unde un bărbat obligă mai mulți oameni singuri și vulnerabili să joace rolurile unei familii. Fiecare are un nume nou și reguli stricte pe care trebuie să le respecte. În timp ce încearcă să găsească o cale de scăpare, protagonista începe să observe felul în care frica, dependența și nevoia de afecțiune îi țin pe ceilalți captivi, chiar și atunci când ușa nu este încuiată.
În documentarul Nicio grijă, Sári! (Don't worry Sári!, 2025), regizoarea Sári Haragonics reconstruiește peste 30 de ani din istoria propriei familii folosind filmări de arhivă, mesaje vocale, înregistrări și fragmente din propriile ședințe de terapie. Filmul vorbește direct despre sănătate mintală, relațiile dintre generații, pierdere și felul în care traumele personale ajung să se transmită în interiorul unei familii, pe fundalul schimbărilor sociale din Europa de Est.
With the late Béla Tarr — who was honoured at TIFF last year — serving as executive producer, Stars of Little Importance (dir. Renátó Olasz, 2025) is a debut feature about two brothers who return to their hometown for Christmas. Against the backdrop of a place where time seems to have stood still, the film explores failure, friendships that no longer work, and the unsettling feeling that the past is waiting exactly where you left it.
Mambo Maternica (2026), the debut feature of director Borbála Nagy, follows three Hungarian women living in Berlin, Paris, and Budapest as they navigate pivotal decisions: an abortion, an artificial insemination, and an adoption. The film weaves these three stories in parallel, exploring how motherhood, relationships, and social pressures intersect in the lives of its characters.
Directed by Ildikó Enyedi (Golden Bear at the Berlinale for On Body and Soul) and presented in official competition at the Venice International Film Festival, Silent Friend (2025) stars Léa Seydoux and Tony Leung Chiu-wai (Wong Kar-wai’s actor of choice) in a story centred on a botanical garden in a medieval German city. The film spans three different time periods and follows characters searching for escape from stagnant lives, discovering in the garden a space where their relationships — with one another and with nature — begin to shift.
In My Turn (2025), a strange accident forces two Chinese-Hungarian brothers to share the same body, and their everyday lives quickly spiral into uncontrollable chaos. Drawing on his own experience growing up between two cultures, director Ge Zhang reflects on identity and how the concept of family means something different to each person.
Academy Award winner for Best Short Film, Kristóf Deák returns with With Friends Like These (2025), a film about four former dormitory roommates who come face to face again after a decade of doing everything possible to avoid one another. The reunion swiftly brings old frustrations, broken relationships, and unspoken words to the surface, in a blend of tension, humour, and emotional chaos that unfolds over the course of a single night.
In the documentary My Father’s Daughter (2026), director Lea Podhradská sets out in search of her sister, who disappeared when she was only eight years old and whom the family chose, for nearly three decades, to almost never mention. Everything changes with the arrival of a letter sent from a prison in Spain — the only trace left by her sister after 27 years.
Another documentary that speaks to the diversity of Hungarian cinema is Meant to Be: The Story of Pogány Induló (dir. Olivér Márk Tóth, 2025), an HBO production centred on the rise of a rapper who becomes famous before finishing his teens. Shot over three years, the documentary captures him between ever-larger concerts, millions of streams, and the pressure that accompanies success arriving too quickly — at a moment when he is still trying to find his place between family, personal struggles, and everyday life.
Younger audiences will also have programming on Hungarian Day: Hugo, the Hippo (Hugó, a víziló, William Feigenbaum & József Gémes, 1975), the classic Hungarian-American animated film, will receive a special screening dubbed into Hungarian as part of the Mini-TIFF preview programme.
The Hungarian Day at TIFF.25 is made possible with the support of the National Film Institute Hungary, the Liszt Institute – Hungarian Cultural Centre Bucharest, the Department for Interethnic Relations, Filmtett, and MOL.