The famous Hungarian director will present her film "On Body and Soul" - a Golden Bear winner at Berlinale 2017 and will also receive a special FIPRESCI award
Ildikó Enyedi’s debut was in 1989 with "My 20th Century" ("Az én XX. Századom") at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Golden Camera award. Specialists immediately defined her as one of the young hopes of Hungarian cinema. In 1992 Ildikó was invited as a member of the jury of the 42nd Berlinale, two years later her film "Magic Hunter" was in the main competition of the 51st edition of the Venice Festival. Her surrealistic work "Simon, the Magician" was featured at various film forums and received good reviews. 18 years later, her film "On Body and Soul" conquered Berlinale 2017 and was awarded with the "Golden Bear" award. Asked what she has been doing during those 18 years, Ildikó says: "I took care of my children, I tought at a fine arts school, I shot a series for HBO. But I was desperate, dashing and pushing like a madman to start my projects, every single day during those 18 years."
In the 22nd Sofia Film Fest program, the Hungarian director will personally present her latest work, and despite her busy schedule as chairman of the International Jury at the festival, she will make time to meet with journalists and the audience. At an official ceremony Ildikó Enyedi will receive the "FIPRESCI Platinum 90" Award. It is a special award which both directors Bella Tarr and Goran Pascaljevic also received in Sofia. FIPRESCI's General Secretary Klaus Eder will moderate a public conversation with Enyedi.
"On Body and Soul" received also the FIPRESCI, the Ecumenical Jury and Berliner Morgenpost readers’ prizes in Berlin. The film was nominated in four categories at the European Film Awards. Actress Alexandra Borbeli was touched to tears by the European Film Academy's award. With awards from Mumbai (from the audience), Sydney (for best film), Palm Springs, Haifa and Philadelphia, the delicate love story of two lost souls who have the same dream every night and meet as deer in the forest, will compete with eight more films from around the world for the prestigious Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars 2017.
“A picture of instinctive attraction born between two lone workers in a slaughterhouse, somewhere in Hungary, unfolds before our eyes. They both have problems communicating in life, but quite suddenly they start sharing the same dream that connects them in a mysterious way. Enyedi skillfully combines the grim, but extremely beautiful and poetic solution with the blows of brutal reality…” Variety, Guy Lodge
“The story of two damaged, solitary souls trying to make contact in a harsh, uncomprehending world is one of the oldest in the book, but delicate psychological insight, a strong aesthetic signature and two affecting, restrained performances by Alexandra Borbély and Géza Morcsányi overcome any familiarity, as well as occasional hints of preciousness.
A definite auteur item with strong emotional pull, an unusual story, which the audience accepts with open arms and ovations. The presentation "On Body and Soul" in Berlin's Contest Program is just the beginning of the international recognition that the author of "My 20th Century" will regain in the world of cinema…” Screen International, Johnathan Romni
Ildikó Enyedi’s visit to Sofia is organized in partnership with the Hungarian Cultural Institute.