A short film by an ELTE graduate shown at Cannes

08.05.2022.

With the short Craze (Hajszálrepedés) directed by Bianka Szelestey, the film school of Eötvös Loránd University got in the Selection La Cinef – presenting the youngest generation of filmmakers – for the first time.

For the 75^th International Film Festival at Cannes, La Cinef has selected 16 short films from among the 1,528 submitted by film schools, including a Hungarian production. The short film Craze (Hajszálrepedés) was directed by Bianka Szelestey, a graduating student from the Film Studies MA programme at Eötvös Loránd University. The short was created in KMH Film’s workshop in 2021, with the funding offered by the Hungarian National Film Institute.

Lenke, the film’s protagonist, has to face the fact that there is no point in clinging to her dying relationship after their being together for eight years, her partner, Áron, breaks up with her just before a family dinner. The argument leading to the break-up is caused by nothing more than a few hairs. But is that the real cause? Are these events truly unexpected? The young girl goes through the phases of release during dinner and proves by desperate action how much their relationship is worth to her.

“How can we give way to change and let our new self be born? I had no intention of answering this question. You just wanted to ask it by the example of Lenke and hope that someone will answer it and change his or her life as a result,” says Bianka Szelestey about her film.

The leading roles in the short are played by Niké Kurta, Gergely Váradi, Anna Kubik, and József Incze. The cinematographer is Tamás Füzesi, the production designer is Dominika Horváth, and the sound engineer is Petra Kissik. The members of the creative team include, among others, Kristóf Polai, focuspuller, Richárd Endrédi, lighting designer, Balázs Nyitrai, assistant director, and Dániel Becságh, production manager.

The Bianka Szelestey’s thesis advisor was Balázs Maruszki, her supervising teachers were György Pálos, Brigitta Bacskai, and Gábor Ferenczi, her head of department was András Bálint Kovács. The producers of the film, created jointly by ELTE and KMH Film Production Company, were Linda Pfeiffer and Ferenc Pusztai.

The La Cinef (formerly Cinéfondation) programme, which presents films made by students or graduates of film schools, is an official part of the Cannes Film Festival. In recent years, the early works of Kornél Mundruczó, Ágnes Kocsis, Bálint Szimler, Mór György Kárpáti, and Nadja Andrasev took part in the programme.

The results will be announced on 17 May.

Source: Hungarian National Film Institute