Budapest Retro

This Traveltalk series short visits Hungary's capital, Budapest.

Corvin variációk

Városlakók

Documentary about the fish in Budapest

A film about a district in Buda, which to this day cannot face the inconceivably cruel crimes committed by its former inhabitants.

Geri is a serious drug addict, using designer drugs intravenously. Between two flashes, he lives an active social life on the streets of Budapest, in a subculture that "normal" people cannot see.

Budapest, végállomás

The story behind the resistance of the students against the arbitrary political reforming of the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest.

A story of two boys caught up in the turmoil of the dramatic events of 1956 in Central Europe. At 13, Romek Strzalkowski was the youngest victim of the first workers' rebellion against Communist authorities in Poland. During "Black Thursday" on June 26, he was killed protesting near the UB political police headquarters. Peter Mansfeld was the youngest victim of post-revolt Communist reprisals in Hungary. As a 15-year-old he took part in the Budapest fighting. After the revolution had been quelled by the Soviet army in 1956, he did not give up; he was arrested in 1959 and sentenced to death. Because of the Communists' cruelty, it took as long as 13 minutes for Peter to die, "like Jesus Christ on the cross," said his Hungarian biographer. The filmmakers analyze the importance of the legend about the two boys who fought against Communism in Poland and Hungary.

As the war between the vampires and the Lycans rages on, Selene, a former member of the Death Dealers (an elite vampire special forces unit that hunts werewolves), and Michael, the werewolf hybrid, work together in an effort to unlock the secrets of their respective bloodlines.

Entering a seamy underground world of peep shows, nude clubs, and live Internet sex is David Huxley, an aspiring politician who has everything to lose. Secretly filmed in a steamy three-way with his fiancée Tish and a gorgeous young model, David is desperate to find the extortionist who's demanding an exorbitant amount of money for the negatives. But when the blackmail trail ends in murder and David is kidnapped, Tish must come up with $5 million ransom or her fiancé's once-promising career, and life, may come to a dead end.

When the Switchblade, the most sophisticated prototype stealth fighter created yet, is stolen from the U.S. government, one of the United States' top spies, Alex Scott, is called to action. What he doesn't expect is to get teamed up with a cocky civilian, World Class Boxing Champion Kelly Robinson, on a dangerous top secret espionage mission. Their assignment: using equal parts skill and humor, catch Arnold Gundars, one of the world's most successful arms dealers.

Like the twining vines of the honeysuckle, each of the three stories in this film follow a character whose growth is impeded by the clouds of society hanging over their heads. From a Hungarian taxi driver torn between the preservation of his family and the unexpected humane responsibility found in the clandestine activities he does for profit, to the Hungarian teenager of a single mother whose idea of life goals and success seems perpetually defined by the missing figure of a role model, and finally to the young Indian Carnatic singer who amidst personal and national turmoil decides to sacrifice the one thing that defines her - her talent, Honeysuckle aims not to narrate or condescendingly offer a message, as much as it seeks to illustrate the many life directions available, and the way none of them are good, in a world severely lacking a moral center.

Budapest in the thirties. The restaurant owner Laszlo hires the pianist András to play in his restaurant. Both men fall in love with the beautiful waitress Ilona who inspires András to his only composition. His song of Gloomy Sunday is, at first, loved and then feared, for its melancholic melody triggers off a chain of suicides. The fragile balance of the erotic ménage à trois is sent off kilter when the German Hans goes and falls in love with Ilona as well.

The movie deals with the championship-winning German soccer team of 1954. Its story is linked with two others: The family of a young boy is split due to the events in World War II, and the father returns from Russia after eleven years. The second story is about a reporter and his wife reporting from the tournament.

Vampires and werewolves have waged a nocturnal war against each other for centuries. But all bets are off when a female vampire warrior named Selene, who's famous for her strength and werewolf-hunting prowess, becomes smitten with a peace-loving male werewolf, Michael, who wants to end the war.

A tale about a strange young man, Bulcsú, and the fellow ticket inspectors on his team who work aboard the subterranean Budapest Metro. A tale about racing along the tracks, and about a mysterious serial killer. And a tale about love.

Sierra is a spy who loves cheesecake. She has a flavor to suit her every mood. Today her mood is bad. Her informant Austin has arrived. She wants answers. Will he give them freely or will she have to threaten him to get what she wants?

A desk-bound CIA analyst volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent diabolical global disaster.

Vincent, a reckless French boy, travels to Hungary to liquidate the home of a relative he has never seen. In an apartment cluttered with dusty objects and furniture, he is confronted not only with the past of others, but also with his own present.