Famous Faces out and about in Budapest

For the past decade or so, Budapest has become the most sought-after film location in Europe after London.

Add to that highly anticipated concerts and music festivals that go on year-round (such as the Sziget Festival in August) and it’s really no surprise to hear of famous faces spotted out and about enjoying the city’s culinary delights or vibrant nightlife.

And when they’re not generating revenue for the likes of Netflix and Spotify, these celebs want to get out and spend some of their own hard-earned dollars.

Budapest may not have Rodeo Drive, but its off-beat, quirky shops and brands are making an impression on people who can afford to shop anywhere!

Jenna Ortega, photo from Wikipedia

Jenna Ortega's Vintage Affair at LoveChild

Known for her iconic portrayal of Wednesday Addams, Jenna Ortega has recently been filming in Budapest with the renowned production/distribution company A24. Taking a break from shooting the film ‘Death of a Unicorn,' Ortega partook in some retail therapy with a twist: browsing through pre-loved clothing at LoveChild Vintage Budapest, a charming boutique store nestled next to the Opera House.

We’d love to see what she ended up buying… and we can’t help but applaud Ortega’s sustainable purchasing choices! Vive le circular economy!

Billie Eilish, photo from Wikipedia

Billie Eilish's post-Sziget Festival Scent Hunt.

The final day of the famed Sziget Festival saw the mega-star Billie Eilish gracing the main stage. She did not disappoint! The day after the concert, Eilish tracked down some unique Hungarian wares­­–and we’re not talking salami. She paid a visit to specialty perfumery 7scents in Budapest, spending one and a half hours in extensive sniff tests… and no doubt finding the perfect one!

Well done, Billie, for supporting small, local brands! What a legend!

Flatpack Films has years of experience servicing international brands, agencies and production companies. Filming in Hungary is easy when relying on their knowledge of the market and ability to solve complex needs. They bring the best that Hungary has to offer in terms of 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.

Get in touch and learn more about Budapest film locations, Hungarian film incentives, film tax credits in Hungary and how Flatpack Films can bring your project to life through a highly bespoke approach.

Discovering the Cinematic Potential of an Industrial Relic at Hungary’s INOTA Festival.

An inaugural festival highlights why a 1950s-era power plant is such a popular filming location in Hungary.

Power plants are not usually what immediately spring to mind when hunting for atmospheric locations. But the Inota Thermal Power Plant, closed in 2001 and brought back to life by the INOTA festival 2023, is proving it has what it takes to be a cinematic goldmine. 

That’s not entirely surprising for everyone. Nestled on the outskirts of a sleepy village, this industrial marvel has long been a go-to-spot for film crews seeking that perfect post-apocalyptic setting.

Photo by RandomPhotos1989 from Wikipedia

Architecturally, it’s an absolute gem of socialist-realism and represents one of the largest investments undertaken in Hungary in the 1950s. Dominated by a large building and three towering cooling towers, this sprawling industrial space could be an epic backdrop for your next European shoot.

And at just an hour’s drive from the capital, you can file it away as a Budapest film location just waiting to be captured for the right cinematic moment.

Credit: Adrián Zoltán, 24.hu

As for the festival, we’ve seen our share in Hungary over the years. But if you’re after entertainment with a backdrop of rusted machinery and crumbling walls heavy with apocalyptic feeling and shades of steampunk, then INOTA is just the ticket. 

The festival makes superb use of the power plant’s decaying structures, originally built in the Stalinist era, with an impressive emphasis on sensory art experiences. The turbine hall and cooling towers are transformed by lighting techniques and displays to create a truly unique party venue with a post-civilization vibe.

Local as well as international audio-visual VJs and companies were on site with their shows, including Daniel Besnyõ. He was there with his latest project, the Secret Mapping Experiment, where images are projected onto buildings and industrial sites, providing a framework to reassess the space and architecture.

But INOTA Festival isn't just about the visuals. It's also a haven for electronic music enthusiasts, filling a void in Hungary’s music scene and offering a lineup that can hold its own on the European market. The stunning lightshows, art-installations and exhibitions complement the diverse array of techno performances, which clearly gain an extra layer of dark ambiance from the unusual location. 

The festival's marriage of music and visuals, along with its unique industrial backdrop, provides an unparalleled experience for both filmmakers and festival-goers alike. It's a chance to witness the power of this Hungarian film location in action and see how it can elevate your next project.

Photo by RandomPhotos1989 from Wikipedia

Photo by RandomPhotos1989 from Wikipedia

The power plant is no stranger to being re-purposed. The decaying soviet-era aesthetic, slowly being reclaimed by vegetation, has been a popular filming location for projects filming in Europe. Since closing, it’s been used several times in tandem with other Budapest shooting locations.

The building’s current state metaphorically represents a deterioration of the once stark “worker’s paradise”, the soviet era and life behind the iron curtain. But perhaps it most evocatively portrays a cursed landscape forgotten by time, making it an ideal location for anything post-apocalyptic. 

Photo by Christo from Wikipedia

Tellingly, scenes from Blade Runner 2049 were filmed here. It’s a testament to Hungary’s versatility in providing a wide range of filming options, from period to contemporary and sci-fi projects. 

Learn about the festival and see more of the power plant here:

https://telex.hu/kult/2023/09/03/inota-fesztival-buli-eromu-elektronikus-zene-kulturalis-fovaros-riport-2023https://telex.hu/kult/2023/09/03/inota-fesztival-buli-eromu-elektronikus-zene-kulturalis-fovaros-riport-2023

Flatpack Films has years of experience servicing international brands, agencies and production companies. Filming in Hungary is easy when relying on their knowledge of the market and ability to solve complex needs. They bring the best that Hungary has to offer in terms of 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.

Get in touch and learn more about Hungarian film incentives and film tax credits in Hungary and how Flatpack Films can bring your project to life through a highly bespoke approach.

A Hungarian in Hollywood: William Fox

via Wikipedia Commons

Twentieth Century Fried. That’s what the goliath film studio would have been called had Vilmos Fried decided to keep his original name, instead of anglicizing his mother’s maiden name of Fuchs. An immigrant from Tolcsva, Hungary, Fox’s mother arrived in the United Stated in the late 19th Century to look for a better life for herself and her baby boy.

As a young man, William Fox made multiple forays into business before becoming fascinated with the nickelodeon – a progenitor to modern film projectors. He sold his textile company to buy a nickelodeon theater in Brooklyn in 1904. By 1914 Fox had founded his own film studio, Fox Film Corporation, and quickly rose to prominence as a producer of crowd-pleasing silent films. Ever hungry for more business, Fox began buying movie theaters. For a time, Fox owned a large west coast chain called Fox West Coast Theaters, which, at its apex, had over 300 theaters. Under his leadership, larger screens were installed to give the viewer a more spectacular experience. Movie-goers also saw the introduction of news reels before film presentations; a foray that would foreshadow modern-day Fox News. Fox’s empire was only set to grow when he attempted to purchase MGM studios, though the deal was annulled by US courts because it was deemed a monopoly.

via Wikipedia Commons

As a producer, Fox oversaw almost three hundred films, starring the likes of Lousie Brooks and Tom Mix. Fox’s studio utilized the latest in sound technology to produce the first ‘talkie’, The Jazz Singer. At the peak of his career, Fox was, along with Louis Mayer, one of the titans of early Hollywood. In his own words: “No second of every 24 hours passes but that the name of William Fox is on the screen in some part of the world.”

via Wikipedia Commons

Fox’s later career was beset by tragedy. His greatest star, Will Rodgers, was killed in a plane crash, and many on his studio’s roster of talent, including Spencer Tracy, were dropped from the studio due to substance abuse problems. Fox himself was almost killed in an auto accident. While he was recuperating, the country was hit by the Great Depression. His empire was further diminished by a court finding that forced him to sell his theater chain. To avoid bankruptcy, Fox merged with Twentieth Century Pictures. While fighting an anti-trust suit brought by the US government, Fox was caught trying to bribe a judge, and spent six months in jail, after which he retired from film-making. Today, the Fox name lives on in Fox Broadcasting, one of the four primary US television broadcasting stations; and in 20th Century Fox studios, which is responsible for blockbusters from Star Wars to Titanic.

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.

Famous Hungarians: Harry Houdini

via Wikipedia Commons

Before David Blaine was entombing himself in ice, before Penn and Teller did magic upside down, before David Copperfield disappeared the Statue of Liberty before all of America’s eyes, and before about any magician dared tangle with a straight-jacket, there was Harry Houdini, or as he was known upon birth in a Budapest hospital, Erik Weisz. Though he  was considered more of a stunt performer, and made his name by performing daring escapes, his craft fell under the umbrella of magic.

Houdini was born to a Hungarian Rabbi in 1874, and was just four when the entire family emigrated, setting sail for the United States. It was there that he was nicknamed ‘Harry’ by friends, who riffed on his Anglicized name Ehrich. His first brush with fame came when he was nine, after he took up trapeze, and billed himself as ‘Ehrich, the Prince of the Air.’ He only acquired the name Houdini after falling under the influence of French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin.

Houdini was initially something of a disappointment as a magician. He tried his hand at card tricks in the sideshows and cheap nickelodeons of New York, but found little success in distinguishing himself. It was then that he decided to become more novel, and transform himself into an escape artist. His initial feats of escape brought him a small amount of fame on the Vaudville circuit in America, but his really publicity coup came when he was touring Europe, and was challenged to escape from a pair of Scotland Yard handcuffs. He succeeded, and before long, Houdini was being invited to escape from jails and shackles all across Europe.

Rich from his escapes, he became only more daring. Now it was not enough to escape from jail, he had to elude the clutches of death by hanging from skyscrapers or being immersed in water for his performances. For much of his career, he was one of the highest paid performers in America, eventually supplementing his career with film roles. Houdini died in 1926 of acute appendicitis, aggravated by several blows to the stomach delivered by a skeptical audience member.

Coincidentally, in the film of is life, Houdini, the magician was played by Tony Curtis, another Hungarian who made it big in the States.

via Wikipedia Commons

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.

Real Men Drink Spritzers: the fabulous Hungarian Fröccs

photo by: Asok5 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/szalkai/36388620314, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73489602

Finally, terraces in beer gardens have opened, and people can enjoy society again. In Budapest, this is huge, as we are known for out out-door, warm-weather bars.

One of the touching things about warm weather in Budapest is the sight of grown men drinking white or rosé wine spritzers outdoors. The drink (known as fröccs in Hungarian) has a decidedly feminine connotation in countries farther west, but here men of all size and persuasion enjoy fröccs in full view of their peers. Though recipes vary, below is a general, but by no means comprehensive, list of fröccs, showing the rations of wine to soda water (in decilitres) used when making the much-loved refresher.

Kisfröccs (small spritzer)       1:1

Nagyfröccs (large spritzer)     2:1

Hosszúlépés (the long step) 1:2

Krúdy fröccs (inspired by wine-loving writer Gyula Krúdy)  9:1

Háziúr  (landlord’s spritzer) 4:1

Házmester (superintendent’s spritzer) 3:2

Puskás fröccs (named for the legendary football player Ferenc Puskás) 6:3

Maflás (knucklehead’s spritzer) 5:5

Viceházmester (assistant superintendent’s spritzer) 2:3

Alpolgármester (vice mayor’s spritzer) 4:6

Lakófröccs (tenant’s spritzer) 1:4

Távolugrás (the longjump) 1:9

Hats off to Gyula Krúdy, known as Hungary’s Proust, for innovating a drink that is practically a full bottle of wine. We will lift a Házmester to you, or if we are feeling daring, a Puskás.

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.

Location Spotter: Budapest's Central Market Hall

In terms of under-utilized film locations in Budapest, it is hard to beat the Central Market Hall (Nagycsarnok) at Fővám Square.

While the Central Market Hall may seem like just a big tourist attraction, is actually primarily used by locals, who have been shopping there for fresh produce for over a century. The structure itself looks not unlikea train station, and indeed, tracks used to alongside it to deliver goods and take away refuse. While the structure bears a striking resemblance to the Eiffel-designed Western Train Station (Nyugati pályaudvar) the Central Market Hall was actually designed by a Hungarian architect named Samu Pecz for an opening in 1897. It was damaged to various degrees during both World Wars, but a comprehensive 1990 renovation returned it to its original shape. The hall itself is all of 10,000 square meters, sitting behind a huge iron gate done in Neo-gothic style. In addition to being an absolute must see attraction for tourists, the building has received international recognition by way of winning the 1999 FIABCI Prix d’Excellence award.

Inside you can find all sorts of produce from the finest smoked paprika to traditionally embroidered materials.

The Central Market Hall was the subject of an hour-long documentary: Food Markets –In the Belly of the City. Budapest was included along with four other cities (Lyons, Turin, Vienna, and Barcelona) in examining the culture of large cities’ central food markets. The film is highly recommended if you want to see just how atmospheric the hall is, and how intriguing the personal stories of select individual vendors are.

Though we have no clip from the documentary, here is the world’s most popular travel-guide writer, Rick Steves, in a video highlighting the Central Market Hall. Enjoy.

The Return of the Undesirable: A Hungarian Classic Found

The history of film in Hungary is almost as long as the history of film itself. This is a nation that prides itself on its record of technical innovations and challenging narrative techniques. The country’s rich cinematic past twine with its technology-savvy present in the reels of Michael Curtiz’s A Tolonc (The Undesirable) which was restored and digitally re-mastered at Budapest’s National Digital Archive and Film Institute.

The Undesirable is one of the many lost films of Hungary’s golden age of silent film, and represents one of the first directorial efforts from Michael Curtiz, who went on to achieve international fame as the director of such films as Casablanca, Mildred Pierce, and The Jazz Singer. His hundred-year-old silent film was discovered in 2013 the basement of the Hungarian House, a cultural center in New York City. How it got there is still unknown, but great efforts were made to return the film to its homeland. The undertaking of returning and restoring the film, at the cost of close to 50,000 Euro, was funded by the Hungarian National Film Foundation, overseen by the late Terminator and Rambo producer, and HNFF head honcho, Andrew Vajna.

Curtiz, born Manó Kaminer Kertész, shot the film in 1914 in the then Hungarian-ruled city of Kolozsvár, (now known as Cluj-Napoca, Romania). Shooting for the film was completed in the summer before the outbreak of WWI. There is evidence that the film was shown in the United States in the 1920s. This would make it one of Hungary’s first releases into the US market.

Upon completion, the re-mastered version of A Tolonc had a theatrical showing in Budapest to celebrate the film’s 100 year anniversary. It was a fine homecoming for a film that spent so long abroad. What a difference a century makes.

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.

Bauhaus Budapest: A Short Guide

via Wiki Commons

Amongst other qualities, Budapest is known for its rich architectural heritage and diverse styles. Secessionist and Art Deco examples abound, as do Morrish and Brutalist structures. But for a brief phase in the middle of the last century, all the rage was the Bauhaus style, which had its roots in Central Europe. Budapest was no exception.

Bauhaus is easy to spot, but not necessarily easy to define. According to thespruce.com, the style is characterized by “Eschewing ornamentation to focus on simple, rational, functional design

• A focus on simple geometric forms such as the triangle, square, and circle

• Asymmetry favored over symmetry

• Use of steel, glass, concrete, and other modern materials

• Flat roofs

• Glass curtain walls

• Smooth façades”

Founded in Weimar-era Germany by architect Walter Gropius, the style was more functional than prevailing pre-war styles. For a brief period, it flourished in Central Europe. With WWII imminent, many of the movement’s founders moved abroad, allowing the style to grow internationally. In part, this was helped by a famous Hungarian named László Moholy-Nagy, who fled Hungary and Germany and founded a Bauhaus school in the United States.

Moreover, according to Wikipedia, In 1928, the Hungarian painter Alexander Bortnyik founded a school of design in Budapest called Műhely, which means "the studio". Located on the seventh floor of a house on Nagymezo Street, it was meant to be the Hungarian equivalent to the Bauhaus. The literature sometimes refers to it—in an oversimplified manner—as "the Budapest Bauhaus". Bortnyik was a great admirer of László Moholy-Nagy and had met Walter Gropius in Weimar between 1923 and 1925. Moholy-Nagy himself taught at the Miihely. Victor Vasarely, a pioneer of op art, studied at this school before establishing in Paris in 1930.

In short, while Bauhaus is hardly the favored style of construction in and around Budapest, we do have some stellar examples, and a lot of tradition behind them.

Photo by Tamas Szabo via Wiki Commons

Photo by Tamas Szabo via Wiki Commons

Photo by Globetrotter19, via Wiki Commons

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: Moon Knight

Local hearts were set a’flutter when it was learned Ethan Hawke was very much out and about town in Budapest a few years back during the filming of 6-part Marvel series Moon Knight. Like so many series nowadays, Moon Knight was shot in and around Budapest, making use of locations in the city and the medieval feeling of scenic villages that lie just outside the capital.

This time, Budapest was used as a stand-in for London. There is some irony here, as it was recently revealed that Budapest is only behind London in the quantity of international film productions underway. As you can see from the below trailer, Downtown Budapest is visible and the artist-colony berg of Szentendre has been well utilised. According to the ever-helpful Wikipedia, “Filming occurred at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest in April, which served as exteriors for London's National Gallery, and in Szentendre at the beginning of May. In early June, outdoor night scenes were filmed at Madách Square in Budapest. Various exterior locations in Budapest were found to stand-in for London, particularly the Brixton and Soho areas.”

While Moon Knight wasn’t extended, the Disney + series was a success with critics and audiences alike, earning a respectable 86 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with Concrete Playground saying it was, “The first MCU Disney+ series that doesn't feel like homework.”

Part of Marvel’s huge profolio, the character Moon Night first appeared in a 1975 issue of Doug Moench and Don Perlin's horror-adventure comic 'Werewolf'. A mercenary uncertain of his own reality, mental illness — specifically dissociative identity disorder (DID) — plays a strong role thematically. Throw in vengeful Egyptian gods and you’ve got a recipe for some thrilling story arcs. And, of course, there is Ethan Hawke.

Have a look below and see if you can spot the Hungarian locations. There are more than a few.

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 Short Wins Palme d’Or at Cannes

The animated film 27, a French-Hungarian co-production directed by by Hungarian artist/film-maker Flóra Anna Buda recently came away with the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at the 76th Cannes International Film Festival, which came to a close on May 27th of this year.

Buda joins a select group of Hungarian film-makers who have won the prize including Péter Mészáros for After the Rain in 2002 and Marcell Iványi who won for Wind in 1996. Heading the jury this year was one of Hungary’s most decorated and respected film-makers, Ildikó Enyedi, who was on hand to present the award to Buda.

The short film, which follows the sexual awakening of a young woman in Budapest, will be screened at international film festivals and at home in Hungary at the upcoming Friss Hús Budapest International Short Film Festival.

And of course we have the trailer below with English subtitles. Even in this short clip you can see you are in for something special, and that the annimation is unique and evocative. We congratulate the director and the entire team and will stress that we only post news of Hungarian accomplishments to promote Hungarian film and Hungary as a filming location, but did not participate in this production. Thanks for reading.

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.

King Charles III's Returns to His Estates in Erdély (Transylvania)

Photo by Dan Marsh via Wikipedia Commons

After a diplomatic meeting with with President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest, Romania, Daily News Hungary reports that King Charles III took a trip to Transylvania, where he owns several properties. As Prince of Whales, he made a point to visit with some regularity.

Until recently, King Charles’s estate in the Hungarian village of Zalánpatak (Romanian: Valea Zalanului) in Transylvania, was a little known secret. The village, now in Romania, was once part of pre-World War II Hungary, and is populated almost wholly by Hungarians. According to Wikipedia, the population of the town is but a mere 139, though it does not state if the Prince is included in that number.

Hungary Today reported: “The Prince is known to be an admirer of Transylvania and has said that the region has a connection between man and nature that is almost unique in Europe today. He purchased several houses in the villages of Zalánpatak and Szászfehéregyháza in 2008 and again in 2013.” With an almost magical medieval atmosphere, wild game including boar and bears, and strong traditions of Hungarian folk culture, it is no surprise that the King has found Transylvania so enticing.

According to transylvaniancastle.com, his property “is composed of several buildings, and has a patch of forest and extensive flower meadows with mineral springs and small brooks belonging to it. The property is characterized by its rich biodiversity of plants, mushrooms, insects, birds and large mammals including bears (sometimes crossing the back yard). Wolves can be heard howling at times in winter nights.”

Undertaking the restoration of the now King’s abodes was Count Tibor Kálnoky, a descendent of the founders of Zalánpatak, and an entrepreneur who has made a mission of restoring old homes in the area and sparking an interest in sustainable rural tourism in the Szekler land. Count Kálnoky stated that the British King was taken with Transylvania because, “it was a place where the local population still lives in total harmony with the environment, with nature…it is the perfect co-habitation of man with nature.” In the video at the bottom of the page, you can take a tour of the Prince’s fully restored estate. It’s worth pointing out that the restoration to this and Kálnoky’s properties is done after extensive research into each house’s original look, which extends to all furniture and materials. Count Kálnoky describes the process as ‘painstaking’ and it shows in the results, which are museum-piece quality.

Have a look below, and take a tour of a Transylvanian location fit for a prince.

(All photos, unless captioned otherwise, are used with permission by transylvaniancastle.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.

Space Cowboys: The Brief History of Hungarian Astronauts

With so many science-fiction film productions taking advantage of Budapest’s amazing studio facilities, and overall the favourable conditions of film production in Hungary, it’s easy to forget that in terms of real life science and scientific exploration, Hungarians have a long and illustrious history. It is well known that the core group who invented the atom bomb were largely Hungarian. It is less known that Hungary has both a pioneering astronaut who has traveled to space and can also claim one of the first space tourists.

via spacefacts.de

Born in 1949, Bertalan Farkas would become one of the players in the space race between the USA and the Soviet Union. Indeed he was partially educated in Russia, graduating from the prestigious Krasnodar Military Aviation Institute. In 1978 Farkas volunteered to be a cosmonaut, and was chosen for the Soviet Intercosmos program. Ultimately, Farkas made the cut and was selected to be sent into space along with Soviet cosmonaut Valeri Kubasov. They were launched into space on the rocket Soyuz 36 on May 26, in 1980, much to the reported worry of Farkas’ family.

Farkas spent a week in space on the Salyut 6 Space Station, orbiting the Earth 124 times while conducting experiments. Upon returning to Earth, he was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union, and took up the somewhat more earth-bound pursuits of tennis and politics.

The second Hungarian to take up space travel represented the capitalist West, and indeed enlisted a profit-making enterprise in his quest to see space. One of the first space tourists, Charles Simonyi is said to have paid upwards of 50 million dollars to be among the first ten or so tourists in space. Simonyi, however, has the distinction of having been the only return customer, taking the space journey twice through an American space tourism company.

Famous for his development of ubiquitous software for Microsoft, including Word and Excel, Simonyi is a billionaire many times over, and can probably fly into space as much as he wants. But that doesn’t mean it was easy, or he was pampered. According to Forbes “Simonyi spent six months training alongside cosmonauts in Star City, near Moscow, where he exercised, learned about spaceflight and survival...He had to see nearly 100 doctors and pass dozens of medical tests.”

Insignia of Simonyi’s rocket, via Wikipedia

The two astronauts’ stories coincide in that both trips were on Russian Soyuz rockets. Also, much like Farkas, Simonyi had to study Russian in order to undertake his journey. Once on the space station, however, he was subject to the same zero-gravity effects that apply to space travelers of all nationalities, allowing him to float instead of walk. Forbes also reports that once in space, Simonyi played a round of ‘space golf’.

“It’s the speed that’s the most amazing. Every 90 minutes, you see spring, you see fall, you see the Arctic, you see the tropics, you see night, you see day,” Simonyi told Forbes. “I realized it was an extraordinary experience, and I just had to take it all in.”

Soyuz rocket ship via Wikipedia. Photo by NASA/Bill Ingalls

Hungarian science can’t be accused of having its head in the clouds. That said, these two Hungarians who have traveled beyond our atmosphere are both dreamers and adventurers to be commended.

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: the Remarkable Life of Painter Judit Reigl

Outburst (Explosion), 1956, by Judit Reigl.

We love a story about a person who defied odds, went against societal norms, cut their own path in this world and ultimately succeeded. Such is the case with late Expressionist painter Juidt Reigl, who died a few years back almost a century after she was born. Left behind is a large body of work, some of which can be seen in the world’s most prestigious museums, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Tate Modern in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Judit Reigl was born on May 1, 1923, in Kapuvár Hungary. After attending art schools in Hungary and Italy, Reigl was able to emigrate to Western Europe after the Iron Curtain was raised in 1950, eventually moving to Paris, before finding her home and studio in Marcoussis, France. In France she discovered a home of like-minded artists once she was introduced to André Brenton, who is considered the founder of Surrealism. Influenced by the culture of the place and era, she read Rimbaud and took to the Surrealists’ form of ‘automatic writing'.’

photo by Nolgas via Wikipedia Commons

Reigl soon became dissatisfied with Surrealism and painted in modes of Lyrical Abstraction before settling on her more Expressionist style. Reigl was largely undervalued through most of her life, and despite being highly regarded by fellow artists and academics, most of her paintings went unsold. This until Hungarian gallery owner Kálmán Makláry took up her cause, organising a large-scale show at the Műcsarkonk (Art Hall) in Budapest in 2005. This led to a surge of interest in her work and appreciation in the value of her paintings. In her 80’s Reigl became hot property on the international art market, with museums and private collectors snapping up her work.

Of her paintings, Reigl said: “I capture and I emit touches … horizontally, as I advance and advance in waves.” A statement that’s austere and forceful as anything she’s painted. Below find the artist speaking of her paintings in Hungarian before he Budapest show (English subtitles).

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: Shadow and Bone

If you are watching one of Netflix’s most popular series, Shadow and Bone, you may notice that both seasons were filmed at least in part in and around Hungary. ‘May’ is the operative word here, as a good deal of the filming was accomplished at the sounds stages of the renown Origo Film Studios, where the imaginary world of the series’ Grishaverse was recreated.

The Netfilx incarnation of Shadow and Bones, derived from the bestselling book series of the same title by Leigh Bardugo, was first aired in 2022, featuring eight episodes before being renewed for a second season. The creators had the good sense to return the Hungary to film, and like with season one, exploit some of the fantastic locations Hungary has to offer. These aren’t run-of-the-mill locations that you see in so many films; they made and effort to discover some out-of-the-way locations to give the story a fresh look.

For instance, while much filming was done in Budapest, from the Old Town to the Royal Palace, the production also ventured to the Balaton-side town of Keszthély, where Festetics Palace stood in for the novel’s Little Palace. The artists’ colony/town north of Budapest called Szentendre was the story’s Ryevost. Moreover, Shadow and Bone may be the only major foreign production to have gone all the way to the eastern city of Békéscsaba, where they filmed in the Széchényi–Wenckheim mansion. You have to admire the ingenuity and location scouting to sniff out that.

Festetics Palace by Mykee 78 via Wikipedia

Szentendre, Photo by Thalar Tamas, via Wikipedia Commons

No word yet on Season Three, but for sure there are any number of locations that have yet to be discovered if one is to leave Budapest. Below find the official trailer for the series,

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.

100-Year-Old Budapest: Now in Colour

If you are local to the region, you know it has been a cold and rainy past half year. This type of weather sends certain romantic minds down nostalgic paths towards a distant past. Luckily, in the age of the Internet, such reveries are made easy, especially as there have been a spate of uncovered tourist promo films and archival footage uploaded.

Somebody even took it upon themselves to colorize a good deal of old video, really bringing the past to life. You can see from the near-100 year old British Pathé clip of 1930s Budapest just how picturesque the city is and was. It’s almost so pristine that it could be said to look like a film set.

We hesitate to say it was simpler times, as things were about to get much more turbulant, but the footage does convey an easy conviviality that feels appropriate for what was the ending of the Jazz Age. From the Oktogon roundabout to the Castle looking down on the city, we think you’ll agree that looking at Budapest through the lens of the past is a great way to spend a few minutes.

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.

Depp-Charge: Johnny Depp Spotted in Budapest.

via the Arquitecto Pitpit FB page

Spring 2023 will be the season that stars became so frequently spotted in the city that a Hungarian website coined a new term to address the phenomenon: ‘sztardumping’ - or - star dumping. This on the heels of Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Depp both alighting upon the same restaurant to eat at in a short period of time.

The restaurant in question is the Spanish and tapas themed Arquitecto Pitpit, which until recently was enjoying a quiet existence in the cellar and courtyard of the building that houses the Chamber of Hungarian Architects. The much circulated photo above was taken after the actor failed to secure a table due to a wedding party that had reserved the venue.

It’s nothing new to see stars around town: Jennifer Lawrence famously got in a fight after bar hopping in the 7th District, starting at Vittula - the exact place one would go to get in a barfight. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a regular at a downtown gym. Will Smith literally danced on the famous Chain Bridge.

What pirate Jack Sparrow was doing in landlocked Budapest is less known. What we do know for sure is that his supergroup side-gig The Hollywood Vampires will be playing in mid July in Budapest at the Papp László Arena. This means Alice Cooper, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, and guitarist Tommy Hendrikson will also be in town. Perhaps they should book a table at Arquitecto Pitpit in advance, as the slate of films and series being shot in Budapest is at record levels.

It’s worth pointing out that Arquitecto Pitpit, actors or not, always offers succulent, spicy, and flavourful tapas, no matter who the guest is. The star of the dish below is a langoustine fit for any seafood lover.

via the Arquitecto Pitpit FB 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.

Brutalist Budapest: The Film (Coming Soon)

via the Hotel Budapest FB page

Here’s some inside information from the backend of this blog: our most viewed post is not about Timothée Chalamet, nor is it about Blade Runner 2049, or Budapest’s luxurious thermal baths, but about the oft-maligned ‘brutalist’ style of architecture popularized in the middle part of last century, and identified with the then reigning Socialist regime.

Despite its unfortunate connotations and unsubtle appearance, Brutalism has a forcefulness and purpose behind its forms that has attracted an increasingly broad international fanbase. And Budapest — while not in league with cities like Moscow or Bucharest for examples of the style — has its share of Brutalist architecture.

This is all a lengthy preamble to announce that heretically Hungarian actor Adrian Brody is in Budapest shooting a film entitled The Brutalist, which follows a Jewish Hungarian architect who flees his Central European homeland during World War II to make a new home in America. IMDb gives us the ‘elevator pitch,’ as such: When visionary architect László Toth and his wife Erzsébet flee post-war Europe in 1947 to rebuild their legacy and witness the birth of modern America, their lives are changed forever by a mysterious and wealthy client.

According to the site Budapest Reporter: Written by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold and directed by Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist” is not just a film about the uncompromising vision of an artist and the rebuilding of a nation by a generation of immigrants; it is also a powerful love story about a couple struggling to protect themselves against a patron whose dark influence threatens to destroy everything they have built.

How much this has to do with the actual style of Brutalism is still unknown. And only time will tell if this post brings in the readers Brutal Budapest, or if The Brutalist film attracts the dedicated audience the school of Brutalist architecture did. Until then, enjoy this post and all posts about the great architecture Budapest has to offer, from Secessionist to Art Deco and beyond. Below find a decidedly un-Brutalist example.

Budapest’s Chain Bridge vy Wilfredor - Own work, CC0, via Wikipedia Commons

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.

Frigyes Karinthy and the Six Degrees

Hungarians have come up with so many inventions and ideas, from the atomic bomb to the ball point pen, that it would be difficult to list here. Nobody in these parts is surprised when it’s revealed a Hungarian had a hand in the latest technology, from the covid vaccine to the Excel spreadsheet on Windows. But every now and again, even we are shocked to discover certain local ingenuity that has made its way into the big world.

Take for instance the one-time viral game ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.’ Without the inventive imagination of a long-dead Hungarian writer, this game, not to mention Will Smith’s first movie roll (we’ll get to that) would not exist.

That’s because the concept of ‘six degree of separation’ by which it is posited everyone on the planet is only separated from each other by six other people, or as Wikipedia explains it: Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of "friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps — was conceived of by a Hungarian.

The writer in question was ‘Golden Age’ novelist Frigyes Karinthy. He likely came up with the idea in a grand Budapest coffeehouse as a parlour game. He wrote it down in a short story, but it was poplarized only later, in John Guare’s Broadway play Six Degrees of Separation. In the words of his character Ouisa: “I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation between us and everyone else on this planet. The President of the United States, a gondolier in Venice, just fill in the names. I find it A) extremely comforting that we're so close, and B) like Chinese water torture that we're so close because you have to find the right six people to make the right connection... I am bound to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people.”

And observant fans of film will remember that the silver-screen version of Six Degrees starred a young actor named Will Smith, in what was his first roll.

Karinthy didn’t live to see the popularity of his concept, but you can read about it in his short story “The Chain” or “Chain Links” as it is sometimes translated. He died in 1938. But not before writing a short story called “Voyage to Faremido,” which was a meditation of the concept of AI. To be sure, this was almost 100 years ago, so to say he was ahead of his time would be an understatement.

These’s no available clip of the ‘Six degrees’ monologe delivered in the film, but we will still treat you to a wonderful scene starring Will Smith while we wonder just how many degrees he is from us right now.

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 Hollywood: György Ligeti

Not long ago the famed music website Pitchfork published a list of the all-time best film soundtracks. A few names came up again and again: obviously, John Williams, Vangelis, and Tangerine Dream were well represented. But among those luminaries, a Hungarian composer found himself with an outsized place. That is of course György Ligeti, the Central European avant-garde composer whose work was embraced by serious Hollywood filmmakers, most saliently Stanley Kubrick.

Ligeti’s life, though triumphant, was fraught with hardship. Born Hungarian in a Hungarian enclave of Romanian Transylvania in 1923, as Jew, he was poorly positioned to thrive. Indeed, once WWII approached, much of his family was deported to German concentration camps. Ligeti himself was sent to a forced labor camp, an experience he survived. Once the war ended, Ligeti was able to attend Budapest’s renowned Liszt Ferenc Music Academy. With the help of his mentor, composer Zoltán Kodály, he found a position teaching at the academy upon graduation.

Once it was clear Hungarians would be violently suppressed by the Soviets in their homeland, Ligeti fled with his wife to Vienna in 1956. It was there he would embark on a path to being one of the century’s most important composers, teaching and working around Western Europe and the Baltic States. But it would take Stanley Kubrick’s inclusion of his work (at first, unlicensed) in his seminal film 2001: A Space Odyssey to bring Ligeti’s work to the world at large.

Kubrick would return to Ligeti’s work for future films, the most famous of which was The Shining. Other directors like Martin Scorsese and Michael Mann would follow suit, making use of Ligeti’s eerie atmospheric music in films like Shutter Island and Heat. The Killing of a Sacred Deer used his cello concerto and piano concerto and his piece Requiem found its way into the Godzilla soundtrack. That’s a list that is both prestigious and popular. While Ligeti never made it to Hollywood, Hollywood most certainly found Ligeti.

Below find the use of Ligeti’s Atmospheres in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

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.