In additional to the annual Hungarian Film Week (Magyar Filmszemle) which is devoted exclusively to the showing of new Hungarian films, Budapest now has an authentic International film festival all of its own.

The so-called called “Titanic Film Festival”, brainchild of a local cinephile, György Horváth, has actually been around as a kind of informal spectator oriented public service for over a dozen years, but it has now taken on a genuine film festival format, even dishing out cash prizes decided upon by a formal jury.

Running this year for ten days from April 3-13, Titanic 2008 will present some sixty films, mostly features but some documentaries and short films as well, all arranged in sections according to theme and country of origin, The festival center is now located in the main lobby of the historic Urania National Film Theater, an imposing piece of Baroque architecture on one of Budapest’s main downtown streets. The Urania also serves as the venue for gala screenings and audience discussions with guests. Further screenings will be held at three other cinemas around down which normally specialize in repertory and art films. The festival, originally aimed strictly at the strongly film loving audience of the Hungarian capital, took a significant step forward in 2006 when it became a competition based event. The “Breaking Waves Award” comes with a cash prize of 10,000 Euros for the winning film selected by an international jury.

Reviews of films and events of interest will follow as the festival unfolds.

Alex Deleon-Farba
Budapest, April 3, 2008