An inverted model: concrete actions to promote Hungary’s cinematographic heritage

Having maintained close ties with the International Classic Film Market since its inception, Hungary was honored on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, nearly ten years after being spotlighted during the Market's anniversary edition in 2017. During Wednesday's case study, Hungary was represented by three figures from the National Film Institute Hungary: Csaba Bereczki, Director of International Affairs and Sales, György Raduly, Director of Film Archives, and Viktoria Sovak Lelievre, Director and also a figure at the Filmlab laboratory. Moderated by Joël Chapron, a specialist in Central and Eastern European cinema, the three of them painted a picture of the state of heritage cinema in Hungary and its inverted model.

A complex history

Until 2011, Hungary's film heritage was under the direction of Vera Gyurey, a leading figure in classic cinema and its digital restoration in Hungary. After going bankrupt in 2011, the former conservation center became the National Film Institute Hungary (NFI), a hybrid institution combining archives, restoration, and distribution under a single entity whose primary goal is to promote Hungarian heritage. This involves institutional partnerships with the Ministry of Education, which take the form of a catalog made available to teachers for film education courses, as well as a subsidy program for movie theaters. As part of this initiative, which has been a resounding success with 50,000 admissions recorded last year, cinemas in 16 cities welcome school classes during off-peak hours. In terms of funding, the NFI benefits from the Creative Europe fund and state aid, similar to the CNC in France. It also generates revenue through its many activities.

A multi-tasking institution

Unique in its kind, bringing together archives, a laboratory, and a distribution service under the same name, the NFI can count on the work of the Filmlab laboratory to restore the titles in its catalog. Around 30 feature films are restored each year, depending on the condition of the film stock, anniversaries or important events (such as the Annecy Festival, which hosted several Hungarian animated films this year), or following discussions with industry professionals. Filmlab also works on new films alongside its restoration and digitization of Hungarian archives, which allows it to generate profits. It restores films to digital format while also being able to transfer works back to film if necessary. Filmlab also cooperates with other countries. This was the case, for example, with Alfréd Deésy's Le Revenant, the only copy of which was found at the Royal Belgian Film Archive, which was invited to collaborate on the restoration, as was the Cinémathèque Française, as the film is an adaptation of a novel by Gaston Leroux. This cooperation is proof of the international openness of Hungarian heritage cinema, which is distributed abroad thanks to international partnerships with distributors and institutes. The NFI would like to strengthen this openness with a European platform. 

An appealing heritage: proof from the Budapest Classic Film Marathon 

If classic cinema has found its audience in Hungary, it is largely thanks to the success of the Budapest Classic Film Marathon, launched in 2017 to better promote Hungarian heritage in theaters. At the time, only one cinema had agreed to screen heritage films, but only in one and a half theaters and for two and a half days: the Marathon was born! A total of 5,000 viewers gathered for this first edition, which established the festival as a permanent fixture: in 2018, it had five screening venues and one outdoor screening. The challenge of attracting audiences to theaters to see classic films has been met, and the festival now includes meetings and conferences, during which the distribution of classic cinema is a major topic.

What's next for the NFI?

Evolving since its foundation in 2011, the National Film Institute of Hungary wants to grow by soon opening its own film library: in the architectural planning phase, a location has already been found, and all that remains is to negotiate with the government. This ambition particularly concerns Filmlab, which also plans to evolve by building a new laboratory more suited to its needs and those of the sector. These two ambitions are intrinsically linked, as the two entities have been for more than ten years.