{"id":3905,"date":"2026-03-22T21:25:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T21:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/?p=3905"},"modified":"2026-09-30T16:21:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T16:21:22","slug":"filmed-in-hungary-the-testament-of-ann-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/?p=3905","title":{"rendered":"Filmed in Hungary: The Testament of Ann Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Starring Amanda Seyfried\u2013who plays the 18th century founder of the Shakers religious movement, Ann Lee\u2013this historical musical drama was filmed principally in Hungary.<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Story<\/h3>\n

The feature follows the story of Ann Lee\u2019s life, a woman with humble beginnings born in Manchester in 1736. Working as a child in a cotton mill alongside her brother William, Ann Lee\u2019s religious devotion deepens as she grows older, until she eventually becomes involved with a group led by Jane and James Wardley. <\/p>\n

What sets this religious movement apart is that they worship through the expressive use of movement and song. They are also of the opinion that Christ\u2019s second coming will take female form. Ann becomes an integral part of this community as other members come to view her as the female Messiah, dubbing her \u201cMother Ann\u201d. Facing hostility and increasingly high tensions in England at the time, the group emigrate to New England. <\/p>\n

The Shakers continue to grow in the USA, but hardship is never far away. Ann is arrested during the Civil War for taking a neutral stance and survives an \u2013barely\u2013that will eventually lead to her death at the age of 48. The film ends by noting that only two surviving members of the Shaker community remain as of 2025.<\/p>\n

Filming in Budapest<\/h3>\n

Principal photography for The Testament of Ann Lee started in August 2024 in Hungary (mostly in and around Budapest) as well as in Sweden and Massachusetts. The film is yet another testament to Budapest\u2019s versatility in being able to double for a range of locations. Many of the city\u2019s streets and buildings stood in for England or New York State of the 18th century. <\/p>\n

As reported originally in Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler, production designer of the film Sam Bader said:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWhen it came to the meat of it, anything Shaker you saw was built by our amazing set dec fabrication team there.\u00a0Lauren Doss, our lead decorator, was able to find a fantastic recreation of the chair we were looking to make: the Niskayuna Albany chair. That was serendipity.\u201d<\/p>\n

This also meant that it was easier to build on set rather than transport furniture evocative of the Shakers. For example, instead of having to build a structure to represent the home where the Shaker group stayed in New York after having arrived from Manchester, Bader and his team located a property that could be filmed as the congregation hall. Rebuilding the floors, walls and other parts of the building, he explained to The Hollywood Reporter:<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where we did a third of the movie\u2019s sets, and we saw that the best thing for the hall was old stone, a concrete barn full of junk, with a wooden vaulted roof and joints and beams.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Via Imdb.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Directed by Norwegian filmmaker Mona Fastvold, the film debuted in competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in 2025, earning a nomination for the Golden Lion. Fastvold also co-wrote the feature with partner, Brady Corbet. <\/p>\n

Incidentally, they were the writing team behind The Brutalist (2024)\u2013the film we\u2019ve written about here<\/a>\u2013which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2025 and also filmed extensively in Hungary. <\/p>\n

The film is currently in cinemas on a limited theatrical release until it moves to streamers.<\/p>\n

Sources & further information<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n

The Cinemaholic<\/a><\/p>\n

Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveler<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/p>\n

Flatpack Films<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Starring Amanda Seyfried\u2013who plays the 18th century founder of the Shakers religious movement, Ann Lee\u2013this historical musical drama was filmed principally in Hungary. The Story The feature follows the story of Ann Lee\u2019s life, a woman with humble beginnings born in Manchester in 1736. Working as a child in a cotton mill alongside her brother […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3905"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4035,"href":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3905\/revisions\/4035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatpackfilms.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}