In early 1971 a propaganda report called ‘The Kerényi-Case’ was released nationwide in the Hungarian state media. The film, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, was intended to enforce an inherent fear of western people among Hungarians, particularly of people from West Germany. The film retells the story of a cultural diplomat who has been misled by a German spy supposedly and enumerates the methods of the West’s assumed subversion of the Eastern Bloc. Regardless its widespread media coverage, the story didn’t quite stick in our memory, however it did ruin the life of its protagonist.
The film is now archived at the Open Society Archives in Budapest and it is available for research, but not for publishing. I came upon this film when I began my Master’s studies and I was fascinated by its ambiguity that defies its original purpose. Our film uses the dialogue from the original transcript and dramatizes the situation through its technical restrictions and the original film’s framing decisions. It also gets rid of the agenda-driven editing of the original and devotes itself to contradicting it in a single take.
Cast
Ágnes Krasznahorkai
Sándor Terhes
Károly Hajduk
László Hevesi
András Hencz
Márton Getto
Crew
Director, Writer & Editor
Cinematographer
Production Designer
Costume Designer
Sound
Make Up Artist
Production Manager
Art Director
Production Sound Mixer
Assistant Director
First Assistant Camera
Second Assistant Camera
Producer
Executive Producer
Daniel Misota
Bálint Orosz
Gréta Melicher
Dóra Pattantyus
Tamás Zányi
Réka Wolf
Gerzson Szántó
Máté Kudar
Bálint Zándoki
Kata Incze
Gergely Gyenes-Kristófi
Endre Dániel Tóth
József Fülöp
Marcell Marton