The CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in the town of Miskolc, in Hungary. It was founded under the name of Festival of Young Filmmakers in 2004 with a focus on filmmakers under the age of 35. The festival now presents feature films, shorts, documentaries, and animated films. All programs, screenings, conferences, and exhibitions are free to attend.
History Miskolc film tradition The first Hungarian film festival was held in Miskolc in 1938. Using the Venice Film Festival as an inspiration, the rooms of the Palace Hotel hosted numerous Hungarian stars and directors during the Lillafüred National Film Days. For decades since the 1960s, the most important Hungarian documentary and television festivals were also held in Miskolc. In addition to this, Miskolc and its surroundings play a role in the history of Hollywood cinema: William Fox (producer), founder of Fox Film, which went on to become 20th Century Fox, was born in the nearby village of Tolcsva, while Adolph Zukor, founder of Paramount Pictures, was born in Ricse.
CineFest The festival was founded in 2004 with the idea of providing young filmmakers a platform to showcase their creations. The event grew with each year, increasing the number of submissions and films screened, and the number of awards grew as well. This was accompanied by film-related programs and workshops, conferences, concerts, and parties.
In 2010, the CineClassics category was established, drawing attention to Hungarian filmmakers with global renown but little prominence in their home country, such as William Fox and Adolph Zukor. The first to be featured was Emeric Pressburger, the Oscar-winning British screenwriter-director, born in Miskolc, and best known for his film collaboration with Michael Powell in the multiple award-winning partnership known as The Archers. Since 2010, the Emeric Pressburger Prize has been the highest honour conferred by the festival.
Since 2017, thanks to the festival's partnership agreement with the Shanghai International Film Festival, works of Chinese cinema have been screened at Miskolc. Also in 2017, the festival organized the first Central European TorinoFilmLab, which is dedicated to the script development process, and helps creative teams working on their first or second feature films in project development and attention-grabbing devices.
In 2019, FIPRESCI held its general assembly at CineFest. The festival's jury is made up of members of FIPRESCI, CICAE, as well as various other international film associations.
Awards Imre Pressburger Prize Zukor Adolf Award Special jury prize Best short film International Ecumenical Jury Prize Dargay Attila Prize CineNewWave category award CICAE Jury Award FIPRESCI Jury Award Audience Award Lifetime Achievement Award European Cinema Ambassador Award Cinematography Award
Lifetime Achievement Awards 2021: Marcell Jankovics 2019: Bille August 2018: István Hildebrand 2017: Jiří Menzel 2016: Károly Makk 2015: Claudia Cardinale 2014: Vilmos Zsigmond 2013: István Szabó 2012: Agnieszka Holland 2010: Miklós Jancsó 2009: Slawomir Idziak 2008: Lívia Gyarmathy
Emeric Pressburger Prize Film title Director Year Of ProductionRefWheel of Fortune and FantasyRyûsuke Hamaguchi2021 Monos Alejandro Landes 2019 The Guilty Gustav Möller 2018 Western Valeska Grisebach 2017 From Nowhere Matthew Newton 2016 Mustang Deniz Gamze Ergüven 2015 Class Enemy Rok Biček 2014 Nothing Bad Can Happen Katrin Gebbe 2013 Vanishing Waves Kristina Buožytė 2012 Breathing Karl Markovics 2011 Women Without Men Shirin Neshat, Shoja Azari 2010 Thomas Miika Soini 2009 In Transit (En Transito) Isabel Muñoz 2008 A Tooth for an Eye (Diente por ojo) Elvind Holmboe-Salmón 2007 Oskar Guro Ekornholmen 2006 The Bridge Ilena Stanculescu 2005 Indecision Charles Barker 2004 The Last Day (Der Letzte Tag) Thorsten Trimpop 2004
Reviews László Kolozsi of Revizor Online wrote in 2010 that "CineFest needed less than ten years to grow into becoming the most important Hungarian film festival with the best official selection" László Valuska stated in 2011 that "Miskolc is no less than being the Cannes of the Hungarian man" In 2018, Zoltán Huber stated that "...the CineFest in Miskolc...is worth visiting at least once, even if you are not at all excited about watching promising movies a few days or weeks before their show. The “CineFest experience” is always more than what the program has to offer..."
References
External links
Official website Oscar-winning and Golden Palm-winning short films at the Miskolc Film Festival