Short Films

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Hungarian Rhapsodies

HICCUP
HUKKLE

• Director: György Pálfi
• HUNGARY / 2002 / DCP / Colour / 79’ / Hungarian, Czech; Turkish, English s.t.

• Screenplay: György Pálfi, Zsófia Ruttkay
• Director of Photography: Gergely Pohárnok
• Editing: Gábor Marinkás
• Cast: Ferec Bandi, Józsefné Rácz, Margitai Ági, Eszter Ónodi
• Producer: Csaba Bereczky, András Böhm
• Production Co.: Mokép
• World Sales: National Film Institute Hungary

2002 Cottbus Audience Award, Special Prize–Cinematography, FIPRESCI–Special Mention, Best First Film–Student Jury
2002 European Film Awards Discovery Award
2003 Hong Kong Best Film
2002 Molodist (Kyiv) Best Film
2002 San Sebastian Best New Director

György Palfi’s fresh and original debut examines everyday events in a Hungarian village in the middle of summer, turning a subtle observation of daily life in the human and natural worlds into an intricate thriller before our very eyes. As the film progresses, its action ushers in an old man’s bout of hiccups, an unusual fact emerges: no dialogue is ever spoken. We never hear anyone speaking, but we do hear the sound of grass growing, women sewing, men bowling – all rhythmically intercut with the old man’s hiccups. Palfi has crafted a daring technical tour de force, a flawless exercise in wordless narrative, that produces its complexities out of its simplicity. An experimental film with the deceptive appearance of a documentary, where each scene contains clues from a detective story.

This film is screened as part of the Turkish-Hungarian Cultural Year with the kind contribution of of the Liszt Institute Hungarian Culture Center and the Hungarian National Film Institute.

This film was a Meetings on the Bridge participant.