Empty Horses

Péter Lichter / Hungary / 2019 / International Premiere / 67 min.

synopsis

Mihály Kertész (1886-1962) made more than 150 films, most of them as Michael Curtiz in the United States. He remains known thanks to one of them - the melodrama Casablanca (1942). Gábor Bódy (1946-1985), on the other hand, devoted his short life spent in Hungary creating experimental films, and his filmography is little known to the general public. In this untraditional documentary, we listen in on a conversation between these two directors as they discuss their experience with film work and its sense from somewhere beyond the imaginary cinematic afterlife. An associative collage of excerpts from classic Hollywood movies and the filmmakers’ own avant-garde works evokes not only questions connected with the history and theory of film, but also opens the personal dramas and inner conflicts of their creators.

“Our aim was to imagine a fictional conversation between two film directors, both classical masters but from very different cinematic worlds, all brought to life with rich images of poetic associations.” P. Lichter

biography

Petér Lichter (1984) studied film theory at Budapest University and since 2002 has also devoted himself to the practical aspects of film. He creates short experimental films in which he works with abstract images and the revival of found film material. Works from his filmography shown at the Ji.hlava IDFF include The Negative Hungarian Film History (2010), Non-Places: Beyond the Infinite (2016), 8th October 2016 (2016), and Nutrition Fugue (2018).

more about film

director:	Péter Lichter
cast:	Pál Mácsai, Roland Rába
producer:	Dora Nedeczky, Péter Lichter, Bori Máté
script:	Bence Kránicz, Gábor Roboz, Péter Lichter
photography:	Dávid Gerencsér
editing:	Péter Lichter, Bori Máté
music:	Ádám Márton Horváth
sound:	Péter Benjámin Lukács