Filmed in Hungary: Don't Breathe

Every now and again you learn a movie has been made locally that really has you scratching your head. It’s true that Budapest has stood in for locales as far flung as Moscow and lower Manhattan, but Detroit? But that’s how it played out in the smash horror film Don’t Breathe, which was primarily shot just north of Budapest, in the town of Pomáz, at the Stern Film Studio, where the interior of a typical Detroit house was re-created by production designer Naaman Marshall. You might have to travel to Communist-built Dunaújváros or the industrial parks on Csepel Island to find exteriors that match Detroit, so the film-makers made it easy on themselves and also shot a few scenes in that actual city.

A largely bloodless horror film that got high ratings for originality, Google summarises Don’t Breathe as such, “Rocky (Jane Levy), Alex and Money are three Detroit thieves who get their kicks by breaking into the houses of wealthy people. Money gets word about a blind veteran who won a major cash settlement following the death of his only child. Figuring he's an easy target, the trio invades the man's secluded home in an abandoned neighborhood. Finding themselves trapped inside, the young intruders must fight for their lives after making a shocking discovery about their supposedly helpless victim.”

Directed by Fede Alvarez, who previously undertook the Evil Dead reboot, the film was well received by critics, with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone saying, "This is some weird, twisted s***. Don't groan when I say Don't Breathe is a home-invasion thriller. Director Fede Álvarez is as good as it gets when it comes to playing with things that go bump in the night.” The film has a very high 88 percent approval rating on the all-important Rotten Tomatoes site. With a budget of under 10 million dollars, the pic went on to gross over 150 million, making it a film loved by horror-movie fans that also managed to cross over with mainstream audiences.

Hungary has become a go-to spot for horror films, with Midsommar, The Rite, Underworld, Howling V, Season of the Witch, Hellboy 2, The Raven, World War Z, and the series The Witcher all having at least some of their production here. This puts Don’t Breathe in good, but spooky company.

To infuse a little scare into your All Souls Day, below find the Don’t Breathe trailer.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Squids in the Danube: The Hungarian Connection to Squid Game

You’d have to be living under a rock not to know that the most sensational show these days is the South Korean Netflix series Squid Game. The show is the most watched in the streaming juggernaut’s history, and is only picking up steam. Inspiring real life versions of the games, restaurants, and parodies, the show is an instant classic. But did you know that a Hungarian company and Hungarian musicians had a hand in the score? Neither did we until local news site Index broke the story.

The site reposts that the version of Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss, and much of the incidental and background music, was provided by LA based company Budapest Scoring, which connects the deep pool of talented Hungarian musicians with the global entertainment industry.

Founded by Bálint Sapszon, a Hungarian who has been living in Los Angeles since 2007, Budapest Scoring was hired to help with the music on Squid Game after their successful collaboration with the South Korean filmmakers behind the Oscar winning film Parasite.

When we were working on the music for Squid Game, we didn’t even know exactly what it was all about. The big band and the symphony orchestra also contributed to the recordings. In each episode, Johann Strauss's Orbit of the Blue Danube and Haydn's trumpet would be performed by trumpet player László Tóth. The orchestral recordings of both classical music, jazz big band and original film music took place in Budapest — Sapszon told Index.

Sapszon went on to tell the news site that South Korean audiences have different expectations regarding background music in film, which explains why there is seemingly upbeat music playing during the most harrowing, gruesome scenes in the series, over the course of which, hundreds of competitors in the ‘game’ are executed.

There are very brutal series of images in the series, which become even more shocking with the musical background and achieve their effect a lot, Sapszon told Index.

Squid Game can claim, by Netflix’s own numbers, 111,000,000 viewers, rounding to millions. To call is widely watched would be an understatement. That Hungarian musicians contributed with Blue Danube Waltz, which feels very fitting considering that we sit on the Danube, allows us some to enjoy some local pride in this international hit.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Hungarians in History: Remembering Jazz Great Elek Bacsik

Historically, jazz has had a strong following in Hungary, being more permissible under the Socialist regime than consumerist-minded, Western rock. Jazz is also the choice of a highly intellectual population, and thus found no shortage of fans in Budapest. Many home-grown Hungarian jazz musicians, however, left their country of birth to find international fame in places like Paris and America, foremost Gábor Szabó. Another one of the greats, but perhaps lesser known as a solo artist, is guitarist and violinist Elek Bacsik, who was revered among the top names in jazz.

Bacsik had music in his genes: he is a cousin of legend Django Reinhardt. Born in 1926 in Budapest, he began playing violin at age four, and originally trained as a classical violinist at a local conservatory before turning to jazz. He soon became an in-demand jazz guitarist, and was taken abroad along with a touring Hungarian big band. Eventually deciding to relocate to Paris, he played at the city’s famous Left Bank jazz clubs. There, Bacsik had the opportunity to play alongside touring greats such as Lou Bennett and Dizzy Gillespie. He soon became a regular musician with jazz singer Serge Gainsbourg, as well as accompanying fellow Hungarian great György Cziffra.

But Paris couldn’t hold the restless musician, and Bacsik, travelled to places like Austria and Switzerland, even spending a whole two years as a musician in Lebanon. Then, in 1966, he relocated to America, where his gypsy and swing influenced jazz found an enthusiastic audience. Bacisk initially made his living by playing in Las Vegas pit orchestras, but was soon cutting his own sessions as the Bacsik Trio, a star in his own right. He would live out his days in the States, playing the prestigious Newport Jazz Festival, and even playing the 1984 Olympic Games. He died in the jazz-loving city of Chicago in 1993.

Below is a smooth-as-butter version of “All the Things You Are” with Serge Gainsbourg on piano. Perfect Sunday jazz, with a Hungarian twist.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Pre-Oscar Shock: Post Mortem Chosen to Rep Hungary

It’s not often a horror film gets the nod as Hungary’s entrant for the Best International Feature Film category at the Academy Awards. In fact, in recent memory, it is the first to do so. The choice is surprising, as the film, written by Piros Zánkay, and directed by Péter Bergendy (best known for 2011’s feature film A Vizsga, or The Exam), has yet to see a local theatrical release. Perhaps it’s a Halloween treat come early.

According to moviesandmania.com, Post Mortem is a “horror film about a photographer who confronts ghosts in a haunted village after World War One. In the cold winter of 1918, Tomás (Viktor Klem), a young man who works doing post-mortem photography, ends up in a small Hungarian village. The strange nocturnal sounds, the hostility, the mysterious deaths and the sombre figures that appear in his photographs all urge him to leave as soon as possible. Nonetheless, Tomás returns to the village to investigate the ghosts’ intentions and find a way to eradicate them…”

So, it’s easy to see from the synopsis that the film is not a run-of-the-mill scare-fest, but also uses the genre to comment on both history and present times. Thus far it has experienced a good amount of success on the festival circuit, premiering at the 36th Warsaw Film Festival and subsequently screening at the Stiges - Catalonian International Film Festival and the Shanghai Film Festival among others. Working in the spirit of ‘folk horror’ it aspires to capture the substantial audience for intelligent horror, as with films like Midsommar and The Others. Though it’s early days, thus far Post Mortem has a remarkable 100% rating on film buff site Rotten Tomatoes.

With stunts by the same crew who also worked on Game of Thrones, and cinematography by András Nagy (Eternal Winter and Bibliotheque Pascal) the film should be a technical wonder up to the standards of all the massive budget films that shoot in Hungary. Post Mortem opens in Hungary on October 28, just in time for All Souls day. But for a little taste of what to expect, enjoy the English language preview below.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Filmed in Budapest: Hwang Min-Hyun's Video "Universe"

Screenshot from “Universe”

As a cultural force, K-pop, or, Korean pop music, is seemingly unstoppable, with K-pop boy bands becoming global sensations. Few are bigger than the group NU’EST, who put out music in both Korean and Japanese. NU’EST’s videos mostly have over 10 million views on Youtube, with their hit “Face” achieving over 120,000,000. That’s a lot of fans.

One of the driving creative forces behind NU’EST is Hwang Min-Hyun, known as ‘Minhyun.’ Singer, songwriter and actor, Minhyun, like the rest of the group, is also famed for his androgynous, delicate good looks.

It is no surprise that Minhyun wanted an original, distinctly crafted video for his foray into solo work, and found that in Budapest. In the video for his debut single “Universe”, which has a cool, steampunk feel, Minhyun suffers from a case of heartache as he alights upon locations mostly in Budapest’s Distrcit 1, the Castle District. (It should be noted that there are also a few shots of Milan, Italy in the video).

The video opens with a shot of a classic Budapest courtyard, the type of place beloved by people who live here but is mostly kept from the eyes and cameras of tourists. Minhyun undergoes a kind of crystal therapy with a wise neighbor to rid him of thoughts of his lover, recalling a New Agey kind of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Beautifully shot, the Shin Dong Geul-directed clip is moody and fun to watch. The video for “Universe” was also a hit with fans, with over 7 million views to date. Korean productions are increasingly finding a home in Budapest, with parts of TV series Doctor Stranger recently completing filming here.

So, without further ado, below find Minhyun’s “Universe”, shot in our own little world known as Budapest.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Literature Spotlight: Three Hungarian Writers to Watch

The Hungarian literature that makes it to the world stage—writers like Nádas and Krasznahorkai—have been lionized by the international intelligentsia to the point where they are perennial candidates for the Nobel Prize. But there is a whole new crop of writers making waves with their work in translation. More accessible, less foreboding than their predecessors, there is a lot to enjoy in Hungary’s up and coming literati. Though more and more Hungarian writers are appearing in translation, we’ve chosen three personal favorites to showcase below.

György Dragomán is best known for his second novel, The White King, which was translated into 28 languages, and published in English by prestigious publishers in the UK and USA. It tells the semi-autobiographical tale of a Hungarian child in Transylvania whose father is a political prisoner under the Communist regime. The New York Times effused: “Utopia and its discontents, so central to Eastern European writers, are central to Gyorgy Dragoman’s darkly beautiful novel. A scathing portrait of life in a totalitarian society, The White King is both brutal and disarmingly tender.”

His most recent release in English is called The Bone Fire, and it too was widely praised by the international press. Finicky Kirkus Reviews called it, “A poignant coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of regime change.”

Much beloved in his home country, Dragoman also is increasingly finding a much deserved audience abroad.

Short stories always a hard sell, but Krisztina Tóth found success with her first full-length English language release, entitled Pixel. Described as a ‘novel in 30 chapters’. The back cover copy describes this intuitive novel in stories as such: “Like stars in the sky, pixels may seem like tiny, individual points. But, when viewed from a distance, they can create elaborate images. Each pixel contributes to this array, but no individual point can create the whole. The thirty stories that comprise Krisztina Tóth's book similarly produce an interconnected web. While each tale of love, loss, and failed self-determination narrates the sensuousness of an individual's life, together, the thirty stories tell a more complicated tale of relationships.”

India’s Seagull Books put out the English language edition. While it didn’t receive the attention of writers like Dragoman, the reviews have been uniformly strong, with hip literature site LitHub saying that the book: Addresses the crises facing Europe today: the influx of immigrants and resulting xenophobia, mounting anti-Semitism and anti-Roma bigotry, the validity of the European Union versus nation-specific loyalties. . . . Even as Tóth slices her characters into single limbs and facial features, there’s no escaping their interconnectedness. In this way, Tóth makes the concept of a national 'border' seem laughably arbitrary."

Tóth is also a poet and translator, and a writer we are predicting great things for.

Ferenc Barnás has received most major literary prizes in Hungary, and consistently seen his books published in English and languages as distant as Indonesian. Released in 2020 in English, The Parasite is described as such by its publisher, Seagull Books: “Marked by powerful and evocative prose, Ferenc Barnás’s novel tells the fascinating story of a young man’s journey through his strange obsessions towards possible recovery. The unnamed narrator is the parasite, feeding off others’ ailments, but he is also a host who attracts people with the most peculiar manias.”

Of his lush, heartfelt prose in his novel, The Ninth, The Quarterly Conversation wrote: “Telling a story from a child’s point of view is one of the most difficult modes of fiction to write successfully. The narrator of Ferenc Barnás’s The Ninth is a nine-year-old boy—The Ninth child of ten (eleven, counting the brother who died) in a large Hungarian family—whose inexperience and bare vocabulary are compounded by a speech disability. “

Barnás’ past and present don’t fit the mould of the typical Hungarian writer, as he spent a good portion of his life working as a museum attendant before moving to live and write in Jakarta, Indonesia, full time.

If you have a favorite contemporary Hungarian writer we should know about, please inform us in the comments.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Haute Cuisine's Happy Return: Two More Michelin Stars for Budapest

via the Salt Facebook page

Before the lockdown, Budapest was on a roll when it came to Michelin-starred restaurants. No other former Soviet Bloc country had achieved five stars in total, with four eateries getting a star each. A sixth restaurant actually received a star as well, but closed not long after. But with the re-opening of the city, with seemingly little time to dust off silverware, and some diners still opting to stay away from eating out, the city has heroically bounced back, earning two more stars, bringing the total up to seven.

via the Salt Facebook page

The restaurants awarded new stars this year are Salt and Essencia. They join Babel, Borkonyha (Winekitchen), Costes, Costes Downtown, and Stand, all of which previously won stars. Salt’s concept is both rustic and progressive, as described on their web site: “Salt Budapest was created on the foundations of the traditional Hungarian cuisine, where Chef Szilárd Tóth’s kitchen herbs and wild plants play an important role. Majority of these is collected by the chef himself in the countryside, the rest is produced by farmers. Everything in the dishes is freshly pickled and fermented.”

According to the Michelin site: “This sophisticated restaurant sits within a boutique hotel and the open kitchen forms an integral part of the stylishly lit room. Chef-owner Szilárd Tóth serves intricate, exquisitely constructed dishes, many of which are updated versions of classic Hungarian recipes.”

That’s some rich, delicious praise.

via the Salt Facebook page

For its part, Essencia is no less concept based, fusing Portuguese and Hungarian to reflect the nationalities of the chefs. According to the Michelin site: “Essência is run by Tiago & Éva. Chef Tiago is Portuguese, while his wife Éva is Hungarian, and the menus at this stylish and warmly run restaurant are a joyful celebration of both their nationalities. Dishes are assured and balanced, service is attentive – and if you sit in the front section, you can watch the chefs in action in the open kitchen.”

via the Essencia Facebook page

It’s worth noting that there were six new restaurants given Michelin Plate honors: Hoppa! Bistro, Felix, Stand25 Bisztro, Spago by Wolfgang Puck, Rumour, and Pasztell. Many of these are new restaurants, and all contenders for future stars.

According to Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the Michelin Guides: “Both these restaurants are wonderful examples of Budapest’s dynamic restaurant scene. They not only offer fantastic food and are doing something a little different, but they also do so while paying respect to Hungary’s culinary traditions”. This is huge and encouraging news in a sector that was badly hit by closures. But stars are by design, meant to shine.

via the Essencia Facebook page

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Unicum, the Ultimate Hungaricum

Every country has a drink they are famous for. France has champagne, Scotland has scotch whisky, and Mexico has tequila. Hungary of course is no exception, offering visitors a chance to taste the strange herbal aperitif known as Unicum.

The purple/brown digestive has been a mainstay of Hungarian bars and liqueur cabinets since its invention in the 17th century by the Zwack family. And with the cold weather approaching in these parts, revellers are increasingly turning to the warming spirit to keep a fire lit in the belly.

Like most national treasures, there is a bit of lore surrounding Unicum. Its medicinal qualities are touted heavily by imbibers, as the aperitif is believed to resolve digestion problems.  It is claimed the drink got its name when Emperor Josef II tasted it and proclaimed: “Das ist ein UNIKUM”, or “That is unique!”  Non-Hungarian natives have other words for it. I quote from Time Out Magazine: Unicum is “bitter as cold winter’s night”, or “Like licking the blade of a lawn-mower.”  This grassy bitterness can be put down to the almost 40 herbs used in the recipe. Which herbs they are is a well-guarded trade secret. Once the Zwack family fled Hungary (and the Communist regime) the government, missing the drink, attempted to replicate it, marketing the results of educated guess-work under the Unicum brand name. Only after the regime fell did the Zwacks return to Hungary to reclaim the brand and begin producing Unicum according to the exacting standards under which it was created.

One quality of Unicum which makes foreigners resist Unicum as an import is its lack of mixability. What could possibly go well with Unicum? Unlike pálinka (a Hungarian fruit brandy) it does not play well with others, and we have yet to taste a reasonable cocktail made with the spirit. It is true though that there are experts who recommend substituting Fernet with Unicum for similar results in Fernet-based cocktails, which may be coffee based or have other ingredients like Rye. But why would you want to dilute such a powerful, unique flavor? To some of us, it tastes like Hungary itself, and as we all know, Hungary is able to stand on its own.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Filmed in Budapest: Black Widow

Screen shot of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow at Keleti Station

Post lockdown box office began with a bang with the theatrical and streaming release of Scarlett Johansson in Marvel’s adrenaline-pumped superhero film Black Widow. But who is that moody co-star? It only takes a passing glance at the trailer to see that the film was—at least in part—shot in Budapest. The film makes amazing use of distinctly Central European architecture on many downtown streets, including Alkotmány, and Széchenyi.

It was over twenty years ago that Johansson first shot a film in Budapest. That was the loving, if under-appreciated ode to writer Éva Gárdos’ family heritage, An American Rhapsody, where Johansson played an American teen discovering her Hungarian roots over one summer abroad.

Screenshot from Black Widow trailer

Black Widow is an entirely different animal. Budgeted at a reported 200 million dollars, since its release a month ago, it has ensnared almost twice that in sales and streaming revenue, making it one of the year’s top blockbusters.

In the tangled web of the Marvel universe, Budapest Film Reporter summarised Black Widow’s place as such: “Scarlett Johansson will be reprising her role as the titular hero (aka Natasha Romanoff) who was first seen in 2010’s “Iron Man 2” and last seen in “Avengers: Endgame”. Her new film will take place between the events of “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Infinity War”, finding the trained spy getting back to her roots with her history of family and enemies.”

Why Budapest, aside from the obvious reasons of a beneficial tax rebate and amazing locations? Well, it also played a part in previous Avengers films, and Black Widow’s past, as Johansson explains in the press release: “When we first started talking about locations—back when everything was possible—we all agreed that we had to find out what happened in Budapest. I think Natasha is haunted. She has this huge sense of doom. There’s unfinished business and a sense of guilt that follows her around, and it all stems from what happened in Budapest. The film is not about what happened in Budapest, but it helps us understand the heaviness that Natasha walks around with and what her burden is. It gave us a great jumping-off point for a lot that goes on in the film.”

If there is one thing Black Widow proves, it’s that filmgoers aren’t tired of big budget superhero films, and that Budapest—no matter how many films are shot here—always looks fresh and cinematic as a backdrop. And that Johansson, no matter where she is in town (in one of Budapest’s un-renovated, proletariat apartments or Keleti Raialway Station) is a star that shines only brighter for the lustrous Hungarian locations.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Filmed in Budapest: Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest

Ah, nostalgia. How easy it is to look back to simpler times, though they may not have seemed so then. But in Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest, the ever-dynamic Freddie Mercury makes it look easy. In the trailer for the film of Queen’s 1986 concert at Budapest’s Népstadion (now the Puskás Ferenc Stadium) in front of 70,000 people we accompany him for a taste of some of the great things the Hungarian capital has to offer.

Beginning with a pleasure cruise down the Danube, the ramparts lined with adoring fans, Freddie Mercury shows a generosity and hugeness of spirit, waving and basking in attention and the Hungarian sun. Later, we find him antiques shopping (though apparently he wasn’t sated by Zsolnay porcelain, as he inquires as to the price of the Hungarian Parliament.) A shot of Hungarian fruit brandy is part of any local welcome wagon, and Freddie too is indulged, calling it' ‘delicious and strong.’ Perhaps the most touching scene is when the British pop star practices singing in Hungarian against a night-time cityscape.

The Budapest stop was part of the last tour where Mercury was lead singer of Queen (he would die a mere five years later). It is hard to overstate the importance of the event: few bands were permitted to perform behind the Iron Curtain. But, apparently Queen had fans in high places, as the band was treated like visiting royalty (excuse the pun), and filmed for what would be a 1988 Laserdisc release in the UK and limited worldwide theatrical release in 2012.

Enjoy this snippet from the movie, which the film-makers culled from hundreds of hours of filming.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Legendary Budapest Restaurant Gundel to Re-Open in Autumn 2021

via Wikipedia Commons

In its 150-plus history, the internationally famous Budapest restaurant Gundel has experienced enough triumphs and tragedies to merit a book, or at least a documentary. Of course, it has already spawned cookbooks, but its history has yet to be preserved in bound form. To be sure, it has seen many heydays, and endured enormous challenges. Many of its most difficult periods came in the past decade, which saw the passing of its owner, the restaurant impresario George Lang, followed not long after by the pandemic that shuttered so many restaurants around the world.

The establishment that would become Gundel opened in the Budapest City Park (Városliget) way back in 1866. This was before air travel, car travel, and even before food bloggers. That’s not to say writers didn’t frequent the Gundel of old. Originally called the Wampetics, it was a hotspot for writers, politicians, and artists. It was in 1910 when Károly Gundel took control of the establishment and renamed it Gundel. The forward-thinking restauranteur modernised the menu, and brought service up to international standards, making it Budapest’s chicest eatery.

Gundel survived World War I undamaged, with the kitchen continuing to innovate and add French influences to offer a more sophisticated experience once the war ended. In 1939, Gundel became the official restaurant of the Hungarian pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. Of the experience, the New York Times wrote: “The Gundel Restaurant is a bigger, better publicity from Budapest than a boatload of tourist brochures.”

via the Gundel Facebook page

Hard times came when Károly Gundel died, and post-WWII businesses were nationalised. The quality of the cuisine plummeted and the restaurant saw intermittent closures. It wasn’t until the post-Soviet late 80s that the restaurant made a concerted effort at returning to form. But it was really the involvement of Lang in the early 1990s that allowed it to once again take its place as the grande dame of Budapest eateries. In 2006, Condé Nast Traveller named Gundel “one of the world’s 10 best restaurants.”

Now part of the organisation that owns the Danubius hotels chain, the restaurant is undergoing a renovation and will reopen under the guidance of chef Zsolt Litauszki. We have high hopes this great culinary establishment will return with style, class, and a lot of good food.

via gundel.hu

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Hungarian Cinematographer Nominated for Emmy

From the series Euphoria

While Hungarians have historically been well represented at the Academy Awards, the Emmys — which honors television in the USA and beyond — have been more difficult to crack. One notable exception was in the 2019 Emmy’s when Hungarian Actress Marina Gera won an award for her role in the WWII drama Eternal Winter.

This year may see another Emmy coming back to Hungary — in spirit at least — when Marcell Rév learns if he won in the category in which he was nominated: Outstanding Cinematography, for the HBO series Euphoria. It is a big year for Rév, who also worked on famed director Ildikó Enyedi’s most recent film Story of My Wife, which just debuted at Cannes. Moreover, Malcolm & Marie, a film he worked on with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, was released in January on Netflix.

Wikipedia offers the following synopsis of Euphoria: “Euphoria is an American teen drama television series created and written by Sam Levinson for HBO. It is loosely based on the Israeli television miniseries of the same name created by Ron Leshem and Daphna Levin. It follows a group of high school students through their experiences of sex, drugs, friendships, love, identity, and trauma”. The know-it-all site goes on to praise Rév, citing positive reviews from critics for the cinematography.

Deadline.com, in an interview with Rév, called his work on Euphoria, a “gorgeously stylized aesthetic”. Rév went on to describe the show’s basic visual aesthetic: “It has to be colorful in a way, I think, to feel that elevation. But we didn’t want it to go like rainbow colors, or with no real system in it. So, most of the time, we’re using primary colors, and I’m relying a lot on the orange-blue color contrast, which is a really basic one,” the cinematographer says. “We use that in night scenes, as well as in day scenes.”

Rév, a graduate of increasingly famous Hungarian film school SzFE, the University of Theatre & Film Arts, has a history of working on prestigious Hungarian film projects, like director Kornél Mundruczó’s films White God and Jupiter’s Moon, not to mention winning numerous awards including Film Treat’s Best Indie Cinematographer Award in 2019.

Here’s hoping September’s Emmy’s presentation will see another Hungarian win. Until then, enjoy a trailer from the show, found below.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

The New Bauhaus: Doc Reassesses the Career of Moholy-Nagy

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy was as great an artist as Picasso, and as much a visionary as Buckminster Fuller. At least this is what the film-makers behind The New Bauhaus want you to believe. The recently released documentary makes an attempt at not just casting Hungarian-born Moholy-Nagy as a great artist (this, is already widely acknowledged) but as one of the primary influencers of the art and design of the 20th Century.

It’s not entirely a controversial premise. His influence on fine art and industrial design are indisputable. But the film-makers argue that his greatest impact was in his process, not in his results. As the founder of a school: The New Bauhaus school in Chicago, USA, Moholy-Nagy was as much a purveyor of thought and ideas as he was a fine artist.

Born László Weisz in 1895 in the Hungarian town of Bácsborsód, Moholy-Nagy was of Jewish decent. He would later take the family name of his uncle, Nagy, and add the name Moholy to honour the town of Mohol (in present day Serbia) where he spent childhood summers. A soldier who dabbled in drawing, Moholy-Nagy moved first to Vienna, then to Berlin to expand his horizons beyond Hungary. He found quick success, and before long was teaching at the famous Bauhaus School in the Weimar Republic. During this fecund period, he became proficient at photography, typography, sculpture, painting, printmaking, film-making, and industrial design.

But his true genius was revealed when he was brought to Chicago in 1937 to head the New Bauhaus School. Though short-lived, his work there and at subsequent art schools in the States would leave an indelible mark on industrial design. For instance, we can credit the iconic bear-shaped honey jar to Moholy-Nagy’s schools, and the trademark shape of a bar of Dove soap. All the while, his photograms and other artistic works were widely shown and sought after by collectors.

Buried in Chicago, Moholy-Nagy died young, succumbing to leukemia in 1945. As Art News sums up the The New Bauhaus’ premise: “Yet as The New Bauhaus argues, the less visible aspects of Moholy-Nagy’s influence—the people he touched and the artists he fostered—are what make him important. He would have likely agreed with this documentary’s stance. As he once said, “I do not believe in art so much as mankind. Man reveals himself. Much of it is art.”

The New Bauhaus is available on various streaming sites, but the trailer is available here:

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Zsa Zsa Gabor Returns to Rest in Budapest

Zsa Zsa Gabor via Wikipedia Commons

The late, great, Zsa Zsa Gabor, the Hungarian bombshell who became a Hollywood icon, has finally returned to Budapest, after her ashes were flown from the Untied States. Gabor (Gábor, in Hungarian), was known for her larger-than-life persona, seductive Hungarian accent, nine marriages, and sassy one-liners. Now buried at the Kerepesi Cemetery, in the section reserved for famous actors and actresses, Gabor, despite living much of her life in Los Angeles, insisted upon Budapest as her final resting place. “She was first class, she had her own seat and she had her passport, everything there. It was her last trip, she always used to go first class, she had her champagne, caviar….,” her final husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, told Reuters, of her journey. “And then we arrived in Budapest. That’s what she wanted and that’s what she had in her last will. She definitely wanted to be in Budapest because her father is buried here too.”

Born Sari Gabor in Budapest in 1917, she initially lived the life of a socialite, and was named Miss Hungary in 1936, eventually marrying a Turkish diplomat. As WWII approached, though, she abandoned him before she and her Jewish-born sisters Eva and Magda fled Hungary for the United States.

According the the Guardian: “Zsa Zsa Gabor appeared in more than 30 movies, including Moulin Rouge in 1952 and Lili in 1953. By the 1970s she began to reject smaller roles, saying: ‘I may be a character but I do not want to be a character actress.’ “ She was sought after for her good looks both on and off the screen. Magnate and Paris Hilton’s dad, Conrad Hilton was one of her more famous husbands. She once stated, "Men have always liked me and I have always liked men. But I like a mannish man, a man who knows how to talk to and treat a woman—not just a man with muscles."

Zsa Zsa’s sister, Eva, was equally famous, starring in the long running US sitcom Green Acres. Their lesser known sister, Magda, was also an actress. Zsa Zsa survived both sisters (and most of her husbands) by many years, living to near 100.

Gabor led an extraordinary life. Her biographer Gerald Frank summed her up best: “Zsa Zsa is unique. She's a woman from the court of Louis XV who has somehow managed to live in the 20th century, undamaged by the PTA ... She says she wants to be all the Pompadours and Du Barrys of history rolled into one, but she also says, ‘I always goof. I pay all my own bills. ... I want to choose the man. I do not permit men to choose me.’ “

Rest in peace, Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Ildikó Enyedi Returns to Cannes! The Blog Returns to Posting!

Hungarian director and local favorite, Ildikó Enyedi, is no stranger to the Cannes Film Festival. She is a one-time winner of the Golden Camera award for her 1989 feature film debut My 20th Century. Now, after a productive lockdown, Enyedi is in the running for the Palme d’Or with her latest film, The Story Of My Wife, which is set to have its world premiere in competition at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.

Enyedi’s previous film, 2017’s On Body And Soul, was an international critical success, winning the coveted Golden Bear, the Berlin International Film Festival’s main prize, and was also a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at that year’s Oscars. The film continues to enjoy a long life on Netflix, and has introduced a new generation of viewers to her work.

Her latest, The Story Of My Wife, is an adaptation of the 1942 novel of the same name by Hungarian writer Milán Füst. Following is the official synopsis from the Cannes press material: Jacob Störr, a sea captain, makes a bet in a café with a friend to marry the first woman who enters the place. And in walks Lizzy.

Enyedi disclosed that the book was one of her childhood favorites.  In a lengthy, recent interview, she told The Hollywood Reporter about her fascination with the book: “The Story of My Wife: The Reminiscences of Captain Storr is a very well-known book. It is quite famous in Hungary and also internationally. It was translated into many languages, but somehow it is not a hit, an easy read.

And it has been quite misunderstood. It’s praised, in my opinion, for the wrong things. It is beautifully written, so everyone praises it for how it is written. Or they just consider the plot of the story – which is very colorful, very lush, very rich and meandering, a One Thousand and One Nights story, and also a passionate love story.

But this writer who was, by the way, a Jewish writer, wrote this book during the Second World War in Budapest when his own life was in danger. The essence of the book, for this guy, sitting in Budapest when the bombs are falling outside as he works on this, is not the love story. It’s about this search of how to live our life, our tiny, very fragile life. And he says, in more than 400 pages, that trying to control our lives, to have control, is the wrong approach. That you have to accept and appreciate that you cannot control life. That life is more elusive, more secretive.”

Up against a diverse selection for the main prize, with Spike Lee as this year’s jury president, nobody can predict how Story of My Wife will fare, but no doubt everybody will agree that a ‘live’ Cannes is something to celebrate, as is Enyedi’s retrun to directing. Below find the English language trailer to Story of My Wife.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

5 Great Hungarian Products

via Wikipedia Commons

Breaking: Hungary doesn’t just make great films. As millions of travellers and tourists know, Hungary also has a lot of goods on offer that are peerless…which is to say, distinctly Hungarian. Have a look below for some of the wonderful things you can buy once you are lucky enough to cross the border into Hungary.

5. Tokaj Aszú: Perhaps the ‘wine of kings’ is virtually unknown in places like America because they have no tradition of royalty, or due to the fact that dessert wines don’t figure into many contemporary menus. Or perhaps it is the price that is prohibitive, a modest 3 puttonyos bottle could set you back close to a hundred dollars at a wine shop. But in Hungary, Tokaj Aszú – made from grapes that have attained a ‘noble rot ‘ on the vine – is available relatively inexpensively by the bottle – or by the glass at any of any upscale bar.

4. Tisza Trainers: Retro-hip has never been cooler in Budapest, especially to a generation that is discovering kitsch and didn’t have to endure the repression of the Soviet-imposed socialist regime. This re-fangled brand of shoe updates the omnipresent state-owned Tisza trainer, to fantastic results. It is only a matter of time before Millennial shoe fetishists catch on.

3. Szatmári plumb jam. As we posted before, this distinctly Hungarian delicacy, made from Hungarian ‘Nemtudom’ or, ‘I Don’t Know’ plumbs, is so dense and packed with bitter sweetness it could pass as chocolate. Hungarians are rightly proud of this jam, and it turns out, so are the Japanese, who have developed a taste for the product as an import.

2. Mangalica pork: believe the hype. The rescue of this species of wooly pig from near extinction and its ascension as a sought-after gourmet foodstuff is already well documented, so much so that it has become popular to bash the trendy pig. But there is a good reason mangalica it has found its way onto the menus of the world’s most esteemed restaurants: the meat is beautifully marbled and fantastically rich. That’ll do, pig.

1. Le Parfum perfumes: Using scents of derived from such whimsical sources as absinthe and smoky lapsang souchong tea, Zsolt Zólyomi’s perfumes, which he creates for his own line as well as already existing brands, are inventive and exclusive. But expect no Eastern European budget shopping here: prices of his artisan perfumes run close to $ 150 for a 100-ml size bottle. The price of  Le Parfum may make you dizzy, but the scent will make you swoon.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Filmed in Hungary: 47 Ronin

The Keanu Reeves-starring 47 Ronin, a martial-arts-based epic fantasy released in 2013, was for some, nothing to brag about. It went down as one of Reeves’ rare flops, and didn’t fare well with critics either. All that being said, over the years, Ronin has maintained and grown its fan base, and will now see its sequel produced as a series.

Shot near Budapest, Ronin’s huge production was accommodated by Origo Studios (along with UK’s Pinewood Studios) and their multiple state-of-the-art sound stages and back lots. The 150 million-plus dollar budget allowed for an entire feudal Japanese village to be built on the lot. Whatever snarky sites like Rotten Tomatoes criticised Ronin for, it wasn’t the spectacular sets and production. It more had to do with the difficulty many of the Japanese-speaking actors had with their lines; the convoluted plot, and struggle in making it a star vehicle for Reeves while respecting the ensemble cast that the material called for.

In the vein of Tom Cruise’s Last Samurai, 47 Ronin follows a troupe of Samurai as they venture through a magical, ancient world to avenge their master’s murder and free its people. Viewers complained it lost its thrust as an action film when it delved too deeply into drama, in the director’s attempt to emulate films like Gladiator.

Up-and-coming Director Ron Yuan has been brought on to helm the sequel. He stated this to to Deadline.com “I’m incredibly excited to be working with Universal and the producing team on this genre-blending, martial arts, action, horror and cyber-punk film. This will be a fun, intense, supercharged thrill ride for viewers globally.” Best known as an actor (Mulan) Yuan has directed well released several smaller-budget films like Unspoken: Diary of an Assassin. and Step Up China.

The as-of-yet untitled sequel differs from the original in a few ways. Foremost, it is set in the distant future, rather than the past. Secondly, filming took place in Bangkok, a city that also has its fair share of mystical charm. But this will only bolster 47 Ronin’s continued resurgence in the eyes of fans, and, who knows, possibly critics. You can look to a film like Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a good example of a hugely successful series based on a lackluster film.

Regardless, the success of Ronin in all its forms, reflects well on the quality of film production in Hungary. We wish all the Ronin good luck on their journey. Below find the trailer for the original 47 Ronin. Maligned, or misunderstood, you be the judge.

This post was based on reporting found on the site budapestreporter.com

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Four People Who You Might Not Have Known Love Budapest!

It’s true! Many celebrities come to Budapest for business, but leave a piece of their heart here. It turns out Budapest appeals to a broad range of types, so let’s just have a look at a few famous people who openly love Budapsts.

1) Allen Ginsburg. America’s most famous beatnik poet, and for a long time, America’s most famous poet, spent a goodly amount of time in Budapest before the Iron Curtain fell. His volume Howl is no less famous here in Hungary, where it is known as Üvöltés. He was close friends with local hero Hobo Blues Band singer László Földes. The band honored Ginsburg with a song “Leples Bitang (Allen Ginsburg, the Shrouded Stranger)”. We’ll save you the time of searching for it on Youtube: watch and enjoy below.

2) Bobby Fischer: Bobby Fischer’s extreme views and mental demise made him something of a pariah for many years before his death. But there was a time when he was hailed as a Cold War warrior and US hero on the scale of medal-winning Olympic athletes. Falling afoul of the US authorities over playing a chess match in Serbia, thereby violating US sanctions, Fischer holed up in Budapest, where he became enamored with the chess scene and took to coaching chess prodigies, the Polgar sisters, in his free time. Says Susan Polgar in the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal, “After Bobby arrived to Budapest, I often drove him and his companions around, showing him my beautiful hometown. We often had lunch or dinner at our place, and went out to restaurants together, which was one of his favorite things to do. He was especially fond of caviar and Japanese cuisine. Another thing Bobby loved in Budapest was our world-famous mineral baths.” He eventually left Hungary for Iceland, but his legacy in Budapest lives on through those he played with.

via Wikipedia Commons By Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-76052-0335 / Kohls, Ulrich

3) Yoko Ono: Like Ginsberg, she discovered Budapest in the 1980s, and traveled here with her then boyfriend Sam Habitoy, an American of Hungarian decent. There was a rumor going around in the late 90s that she was trying to lease or buy the then-abandoned synagogue on Rumbach street. You can hear her singing her late husband’s song “Imagine” in Budapest in the video below (you know it’s Hungary, because she speaks through an interpreter) in 1986. Imagine that!

4) Alice Cooper. The dark lord of Heavy Metal has gone on record as having a case of the warm fuzzies for Budapest. Quoting his wife, he proclaims it is “more romantic than Paris. There is something about Budapest that is very warm.” We are still looking for the ‘Old Town’ maze he is referring to, but who are we to contradict a man who has been touring the world as a star act for over 40 years? Have a look at the full interview below, where he gushes about his fondness for the classical beauty of the city and its superior gulyás (no surprise, he likes it hot and spicy)!

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Jamie Lee Curtis in Back in Budapest

Photo by Gage Skidmore via Wikipedia Commons

While the world continues to be hobbled by current circumstances, Budapest and Hungary remain a location dedicated to safe and efficient working conditions. As such, there continues to be a stream of stars in and out of Budapest; most recently, Ethan Hawke and actress Jamie Lee Curtis, the later known for her parts in the Halloween franchise, A Fish Called Wanda, and True Lies. But Curtis has the distinction of also actually being heretically Hungarian. Curtis is the daughter of Hollywood legend Tony Curtis, whose father was a Hungarian Jew that emigrated to the United States.

As it was Mother’s Day in American on May 1, Curtis wished her paternal grandmother, Helen Schwartz, a happy mother’s day in Hungarian, while looking out over the Danube and the Buda Palace. Curtis is here on business, though. She is currently shooting Borderlands with Kate Blanchett and Kevin Hart. This is an Eli Roth film, and based on the successful video game by the same name. According to Reporter Budapest, “Curtis will play Tannis, based on the character Dr. Patricia Tannis, an archeologist on the planet of Pandora, whose expertise could help lead to a mysterious vault filled with ancient alien technology.”

This isn’t Curtis’s first time in Budapest, and it’s worth noting that her father had a hand in the renovation of one of Budapest’s—and the world’s—most stunning pieces of architecture: the Great Synagogue on Dohány street in downtown Pest. Jamie Lee Curtis also reportedly continues to support the landmark’s development.

So, as we hit our stride as summer—and a more open country—approaches, let’s hope the success that brings actors like Curtis to Budapest and Hungary to film, continues.

via Jamie Lee Curtis’s Instagram account

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Pogácsa: The Hungarian Miracle Scone

By Burrows - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/

This post is based on the article Megtaláltuk a legfoszlósabb pogácsa módszerét by Ács Bori published in Telex.

In the origin story of the humble Hungarian scone called the pogácsa, a young man who set out on a long journey was given a bag of unleavened biscuits, baked in ash, by his mother to keep him from hunger and to offer to strangers who could help him. As such, the pogácsa came to represent nutrition, currency, and luck, and is thus present as a snack at most Hungarian ceremonies, from weddings to house parties.

The bready treat is also featured in many folk traditions. For instance, on the Name Day of Luca, a coin is hidden in a batch of pogácsa, and the one who discovers it is said to experience good luck for the year. Conversely, feathers, and the speed in which they burn down in a baking pogácsa, were once said to determine who was at risk of dying.

In reality, pogácsa shares lineage with flatbreads like focaccia (similar in sound), and are among the world’s oldest recorded bread recipes. It is surmised that the founding conquerers of the Carpathian Basin and Hungary sustained themselves on breads such as these: unleavened, baked in ash.

But just as Hungary has evolved, so has the pogácsa. What we call pogácsa today stands in stark contrast to the scones of our ancestors. No longer a flatbread, it rises in the oven, and is made with more decadent ingredients like butter and lard, not to mention eggs. The dough in modern pogácsa ferments and rises with yeast. In the days of yore, cheese pogácsa were not an option, while they are now a standard. Modern recipes are in fact quite diverse, and can include sour cream, skim milk, etc. Unlike early pogácsa found in Transylvania, which might be sweetened with honey or sweet poppy, the pogácsa we know in Budapest is always savoury, and innovations come in the form of adding cracklings, cottage cheese, and other tasty delicacies.

If you are reading from abroad, and wondering why the pogácsa is not known to you—why this compact little scone with so much flavor and history is not world famous—the answer is simple: the pogácsa does not lend itself to industrial production. Most pogácsa in Hungary are baked—with love—at home, or in corner bakeries. Like with most simple, but perfect foods, it is the sum of its ingredients: great butter and cheese, folded by hand. A pogácsa is as particular as a personality. What’s good for one, is not good for all.

Have you tried pogácsa? Do you like them big and fluffy, or small and bite-sized?

Below find a pogacsa-baking demonstration in English.

Flatpack Films has many years of experience dedicated to offering expert servicing. It has brought the best of Hungary to countless brands, agencies, and production companies through its unique locations, exceptionally skilled crews, top of the line equipment and technical solutions. Backed by an impeccable track record, Flatpack Films has worked with world-class clients including Samsung, Samsonite, Toyota, Braun, Chivas Regal and many more - bringing their projects to life through a highly bespoke approach.