”Co-production is a feasible path”

Gábor Kovács and Filmpatrners

Filmpartners is enjoying a productive period: hardly had Ferenc Török's Overnight, co-produced with Katapultfilm and Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv from Germany, premiered at this year's Titanic Film Festival, when Béla Paczolay's Kalandorok began production, work on Delta resumed, and shooting for Szabolcs Hajdú's new feature film begins in August. We talked to Gábor Kovács, head of Filmpartners, about the company's plans, and opportunities for Hungarian producers.

filmhu: Looking through Filmpartners' projects for the year you cannot help but notice that they are all co-produced.

Gábor Kovács: So were most in recent years! I believe in co-production. I do not think that this is the only way to make quality films in Hungary but I feel that for us co-production is the way to go.

As far as state sponsorship and financing goes, we must acknowledge that there is no film industry in Hungary without the Motion Picture Public Foundation of Hungary, 40–50 percent of a film's budget needs to come from them. On top of that is the 20 percent tax break, maybe an 8–12 percent commercial television contribution, and for the rest there is private capital, depending on how smart the producer is. But if you add up all of these, that still will not exceed 250–280 million forints per film. If you need more than that your only choice is foreign co-production.

filmhu: Despite having less money Filmpartners will not be without feature films for 2007...

GK:  No! After having premiered at the Titanic Film Festival, Overnight–which only got ready this year because of sound post-production issues, therefore becoming a 2007 film–will start circulating in cinemas from September with 10–12 copies. We are very much hoping that either through us, or the co-producers, or even through Filmunió, the film will make it to one of the foreign festivals as we would love to put it on an international track...

filmhu:In the meantime shooting has begun on the 200-million-forint Transsylvanian road movie Kalandorok, co-produced with Unió Film, and news reports claim you also helped out on Kornél  Mundruczó's film Delta.

GK: Ági Pataki and István Bodzsár are the producers of Kalandorok, they should talk about this  very promising film. I am ”just” a co-producer there. In the Delta project we are only minority producers, working together with Proton Cinema and a German production agency. We have just come back from the shooting a few days ago, producer Viki Petrányi's team are doing a wonderful job in very difficult circumstances. I think there is something big brewing there...
On top of that we are starting out with Smooth Operator with Katapult Film and H2O Motion Pictures, lead by András Hámori. The working title of the piece, directed by Szabolcs Hajdu, has actually been changed to Bibliothek Pascal. The 2–2.5 million euro plan has recently received 250,000 euros from Eurimages, and in Cannes we managed to agree with Iván Angelusz and András Hámori on certain points of financing. Shooting starts on 23 August by the Black Sea, then comes Budapest and probably London, and then some time in November we will record the winter scenes in Transsylvania.

White Palms

filmhu: Then it will only be seen at the 2008 Filmweek at the earliest...

GK: I would rather say at Cannes. I am not saying that we are making it specifically to go there, but deep in our hearts we wish it would get selected. Kornél Mundruczó's film might end up as its fiercest competition... We are hoping both of them will be there.

filmhu:As far as I know you have other plans as well.

GK: We have put in our grant application for Adás by Roland Vranik of Black Brush fame with Judit Stalter and Inforg. This is on next year's ”list”, just like Péter Gárdos's Darvasi adaptation, Tizenhét nő az életemből. It is no secret either that we are planning an Edit Domján film with Miklós Vámos, Róbert Pejó and Dorka Gryllus, and that we are timing Péter Forgács's documentary on 20th century Hungarian immigration to coincide with the 2009 Hungarian Year in New York. I can tell you that Péter is already there and has dived into researching background materials and motifs with his characteristic thoroughness.

Overnight -Ervin Nagy

filmhu:Last year two big film studios opened their doors, one in Pomáz, and the other in Etyek. Do you think that this will change anything as far as Hungarian filmmaking is concerned?

GK: There must be great potential in cinematic wage labour, but I am not planning on getting involved! As far as I can tell these big studios were primarily not built for local filmmakers, and I did not expect them to. There is great need for wage labour, however, it is not Hungarian directors that need it, but the professionals to whom it is definitely a good opportunity to gain experience and get work. Filmpartners would not like to do wage labour, we only want to keep making films that we are actively participating in, where I have a complete script that I can comment on, and I can get it from beginning to end, not just a page each morning. I can only stand by a film if I believe in it.

Kalandorok - An actor and Béla Paczolay director