Here I am at Cannes’ Cinéfondation

Bálint Szimler’s short, Here I am was selected to participate in the Cinéfondation, where it will compete among the best student films of the world, at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival.

The Cinéfondation will present 13 films selected from the 1600 entries submitted by film schools from all over the world. The films, representing 11 countries, will be shown to the Cinéfondation and Shorts Jury, presided by Atom Egoyan, who will choose the best three. The awards will be announced on 21 May at the Cannes Film Festival.

Bálint Szimler, a student of the Budapest University of Theatre, Film and Television (SZFE) will introduce his short Here I am  at Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation competition, among the best student films of the world. The main character of the 36 minutes black & white movie, „Victor can’t sleep, so he wanders around in the city. He meets various friends as well as strangers. He is looking for something. Just like the rest of us.”

Here I am turned out to be a huge success at the 41st Hungarian Film Week in February, winning the Best Short Award of the biggest national cinematic event of Hungary.

Bálint Szimler was born in Budapest, 1987. After finishing secondary school, in 2006 he enrolled at the Budapest University of Theatre, Film and Television, and became a student of Ildikó Enyedi (Cannes Camera d’Or in 1989 for My Twentieth Century).

Here I am, Bálint Szimler’s third year diploma film, was photographed by Marcell Rév and produced by the Budapest film school with the support of VisionTeam and Inforg Studio. The Cannes premiere of the short is supported by the Motion Picture Public Foundation of Hungary and the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture.

In 1998, the Festival de Cannes created the Cinéfondation to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers. Since then, with the help of the Festival, the Cinéfondation has developed complementary programmes to help achieve its goal.
As for Hungarian student filmmakers, in 2004, Kornél Mundruczó participated at the Cinéfondation, while in 2006 Ágnes Kocsis took part, and won the 3rd Prize with The Virus.

Source: Filmunio