The world’s freshest, internationally acclaimed feature-length documentaries will delight moviegoers not only in Budapest but in 10 major cities across Hungary too from January 20 to 29 2023. In Debrecen 7 documentaries will be shown in the Apollo Cinema.
From January 20 to 29 2023, the 9th edition of BIDF – The Budapest International Documentary Festival – the world’s freshest, internationally acclaimed feature-length documentaries will delight moviegoers in Budapest and 10 major cities across Hungary.
In 2023, documentary lovers will be able to choose from 200 screenings of almost 60 movies over more than a week in Budapest (at Cinema City Mammut) and 10 major cities across Hungary.
The festival’s theme for this year is RESPECT LIFE! “DO NOT KILL!”
The prizes of the 9th Budapest International Documentary Festival will be awarded by a jury of respected luminaries and creators from Hungary and abroad like Vilmos Gryllus, György Spiró, Tamás Jordán, Gábor Máté and many others.
All movies are screened in their original language with ENGLISH and HUNGARIAN subtitles.
Program of the 9th Budapest International Documentary Festival in Debrecen
20 January 2023 (Friday)
16.00 Opening speech, then screening Silent Love
17.30 Talking about the film
19.00 Slam night
21 January 2023 (Saturday)
14.00 H6
16.00 Talking about the film
17.00 The New Greatness Case
18.30 Talking about the film
20.00 Imad’s Childhood
21.15 Talking about the film
22 January 2023 (Sunday)
14.00 Young Plato
15.45 Talking about the film
16.45 Behind the Swedish Model
18.00 Talking about the film
19.00 Freedom on Fire
21.00 Talking about the film, then closing of the event
Films to be screened in Debrecen
Imad’s Childhood
After two and a half years in captivity, Imad, his little brother Idan and their mother Ghazala are released into a displaced persons’ camp in Kurdistan. Healing from the trauma is hard for all of them, but it seems Imad is having a particularly tough time. Not yet five, he has already spent over half his life enduring terror, abuse and “training” meant to make him heartless. Speaking only Arabic, he cannot communicate with his family, and the only means of expression at his disposal is violence. He hits and spits, and his only game is pretending to be an ISIS fighter who shoots, blows things up and kills. This poignant film follows him as he takes hesitant steps on the hard road to recovery, guided and held by his mother, his grandmother, and an incredibly supportive therapist.
The film will be shown in the original language, with ENGLISH and HUNGARIAN subtitles.
H6
The Sixth People’s Hospital is one of the biggest in Shanghai. Its corridors are filled with medical staff, patients, and families whose lives have been turned upside-down. A series of interconnecting stories paint a picture of China as it is today, where hypermodernism meets cultural tradition. Confronted with life’s ups and downs, the sensitivity and sense of humour of the Chinese people emerges when least expected, helping them to find a sense of personal balance.
The film will be shown in the original language, with ENGLISH and HUNGARIAN subtitles.
Freedom on Fire
February 24, 2022, 4:00 a.m. Russian missiles hit the military airport of the Ukrainian capital and several residential buildings. Marines assigned from Moscow advance towards Kyiv, and marine units land in Odessa and Mariupol. But how could this tragic war break out? How could it happen in the middle of Europe, with peaceful people in a peaceful country? Did it start now, or did it start eight years ago, just the world didn’t notice it? The Oscar-nominated filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky by Putin, but also with the true heroism and the triumph of democratic values through the personal stories of ordinary people who suffered aggression.
Silent Love
After their mother’s death, 35-year-old Aga starts to look after her teenage brother, Miłosz. She starts playing the role of both parents to him, but there is one thing she’s keeping a secret from him – her romantic relationship with Maja. Will the three of them manage to build a new family model in the midst of a conservative small-town community? How will the xenophobic mindset that Miłosz is surrounded by affect the relationships within his home? “Silent Love” is a coming-of-age and a coming-out story about taking on new roles and redefining the old ones. It’s a tender story about the courage to love.
The film will be shown in the original language, with ENGLISH and HUNGARIAN subtitles.
The New Greatness Case
Anya and Masha were ordinary teenagers who dreamed of making life in Russia better. They were brutally snatched from their families and incarcerated on fabricated charges of extremism. Downtrodden and ostracized, their parents started a desperate fight to prove their daughters’ innocence – a fight against the very Regime they used to blindly believe in. It all started when the girls joined a forum on the messenger app Telegram where teenagers talked about music, ecology, and politics. They agreed they didn’t like Putin’s politics and believed that something had to be changed.
The film will be shown in the original language, with ENGLISH and HUNGARIAN subtitles.
Behind the Swedish Model
A unique behind the scenes documentary from deep within the Swedish Government, following the decision-makers behind their controversial fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. While most countries endured harsh lockdowns during March 2020, Swedes went on with their lives largely as before, indulging in nightlife, visiting elderly relatives, and so on. “Judge me in a year” said Swedish public health boss, Dr Anders Tegnell, in July 2020, whose actions and lack of actions are closely observed by the global media.
The film will be shown in the original language, with ENGLISH and HUNGARIAN subtitles.
Young Plato
An inspiring documentary from the filmmakers of School Life, YOUNG PLATO charts the dream of Elvis loving, maverick school Headmaster Kevin McArevey and his dedicated, visionary team who are determined to turn the fortunes of an inner-city community plagued by urban decay, sectarian aggression, poverty, and drugs. The all-boys primary school in post-conflict Belfast’s Ardoyne, Northern Ireland, becomes a hot-house for questioning violence, as the determined headmaster sends his young wards home each day armed with the wisdom of the ancient Greek philosophers. The boys challenge their parents and neighbors to forsake the prejudice that has kept this low-level civil war on the boil for decades. YOUNG PLATO hums with the confidence of youth, a tribute to the power of the possible.
The film will be shown in the original language, with HUNGARIAN subtitles.
