MOVIE NEWS – According to a decision list released by the National Film Institute on February 14, 72.9 million HUF was allocated for the premiere of the historical TV series Hunyadi, a reader pointed out. The event was hosted at Müpa, a venue directed by Csaba Káel, who also serves as the head of the Film Institute.

The premiere was organized by Hollósgyűrű-SPC Kft., the company responsible for the series’ production, owned by Robert Lantos and other Hungarian producers. The series’ total budget far exceeded 20 billion HUF, with more than 15.2 billion coming from state funds. The latest estimates suggest that overall production costs could reach 22.5 billion HUF, including nearly 6.8 billion in tax rebates available upon submission of financial reports.

The event was attended by numerous high-profile figures from politics and business, including President Tamás Sulyok, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, and both past and present Ministers of Culture and Innovation, János Csák and Balázs Hankó. Other notable guests included Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky and his wife, Alexandra Szentkirályi, leader of the Fidesz faction in Budapest, as well as Hungarian State Opera director Szilveszter Ókovács and House of Terror Museum director Mária Schmidt. The media industry was represented by Index owner Miklós Vaszily and TV hosts Gábor Gönczi and Róbert Kárász.

However, the most talked-about moment came when screenwriter Zsófia Ruttkay attended the event wearing a shirt emblazoned with the words: FUCK NER.

Staggering Costs and Sharp Contrasts

The high cost of this premiere stands in stark contrast to the funding of other films. Director Gábor Reisz’s latest film, which received no financial support from the Film Institute, was produced on a budget of just 53 million HUF. Despite this, Explanation for Everything attracted more viewers during its opening week than Blockade, a film backed by billions in state funding.

Source: Magyar Narancs