News

New Hungarian Film program at the 31st Festival

16.07.2024.

As part of the 31st European Film Festival Palić, held from July 20 to 26, 2024 in Palić and Subotica, six films will be screened in the “New Hungarian Film” program: Without Air, directed by Katalin Moldovai, Pelikan Blue (László Csáki), Some Birds (Daniel Hevér), Death of a Goalkeeper (Siflis Zoltán), All About the Levkoviches (Ádám Breier) and Semmelweis (Lajos Koltai). Admission to these screenings is free.

The films in this section will be shown at the Eurocinema movie theatre from July 21 to 26, at 7p.m. As in previous years, this program is organized by the European Film Festival Palić in cooperation with the National Film Institute of Hungary (Nemzeti Filmintezet).

The film Without Air is about a high school teacher who starts an absurd struggle to justify herself as she is accused by a parent of promoting homosexuality among students after recommending Agnieszka Holland’s “Total Eclipse” to her 17-year-old students, so they could better understand Rimbaud’s work. She has to decide whether to stand up for the values she represents or to withdraw quietly.

The animated film Pelikan Blue is set in the 1990s Hungary, where travel is finally possible but unaffordable. By forging international train tickets, three young men provide the opportunity for a whole generation to experience the outside world.

Some Birds revolves around Béla, who feels like the world is conspiring against him when his son puts him in a nursing home. Here, they cross paths with a rebellious teenager Zoé, who has been sentenced to community service. While Zoé desperately tries to connect with her single mother, Béla wants to prove to everyone that he can live independently so that he can go home. Despite the almost sixty-year gap between them, their similarities and loneliness turn them into allies.

Death of a Goalkeeper is a documentary film about Géza Siflis, born in 1907 in Szabadka, Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. From 1927 to 1928 he was the goalkeeper of SAND Subotica football team, then he went on to keep the goal of Ferencváros, Budapest. As such he was the member of the team which defeated the then world champion Uruguay national selection during his team’s South American tour. He appeared five times in the national team of Yugoslavia and participated in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam.

In the film All About the Levkoviches the stubborn boxing coach agrees with his estranged Jewish orthodox son to let him mourn in his house after his wife's death. During the seven-day long shiva, father and son are obliged to face their old grievances.

Semmelweis follows the events of 1847, when a mysterious epidemic raged in a maternity clinic in Vienna, while doctor Ignác Semmelweis tried to defeat puerperal fever by going against all traditional theories.

The 31st European Film Festival Palić will be held from July 20 to 26, 2024, in Palić and Subotica. At this year’s edition of the festival, the audience will have the opportunity to watch 150 films divided into 17 sections, and over a hundred film professionals from the country and abroad, who will be staying in Palić, will participate in the festival program. The Palić European Film Festival has been supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities, the City of Subotica, the European Union through the Creative Europe MEDIA program, as well as numerous friends and media partners.

Gorky List has been a sponsor and supporter of the European Film Festival Palić for more than 20 years, both as an indispensable part of our artistic scenography and a partner that encourages the audience to delve into the experiences of the showcased films through the Gorky List Audience Award.