It was announced last week that the feature film Szelíd, or ‘Gentle’, will be screened in competition at the ever-prestigious Sundance Film Festival. This will be the first Hungarian feature length film to be entered in the competition. Gentle was directed by Csuja László — who had a success with his previous film Blossom Valley at Karlovy Vary as well as on Netflix — and Anna Nemes, a doctoral student in painting at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. The film will be screened as part of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.

NFI, the Hungarian National Film Institute, offered the following as a synopsis:

“Edina is a female bodybuilder who lives with her coach, Adam. To win the World Cup, Edina has to make a serious sacrifice. Meanwhile, he comes into a special relationship with a mysterious man. The encounter changes everything the woman believed in until then.

The protagonist of the "body melodrama" is played by bodybuilder Eszter Csonka, a world champion and multiple Hungarian champion. The director’s goal, along with presenting a special life situation, is to get the viewer into the protagonist’s emotions through bodily experience.

The Sundance Film Festival will take place at the end of January, from the 20th to the 30th, both live in Park City Utah, and online. Founded by Robert Redford, it is considered to be the most influential film festival in the US, particularly for independent films. On a side note, Redford is no stranger to film production in Hungary, having starred in Spy Game, which was shot in Budapest back in 2000.

Have a look at the toned but gentle teaser for the film below:

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