Twenty Years After 

Watch the WINNING TRAILER for the 2009 film festival trailer competition.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPM9pThtPKk

At the ICA Cinema 1 & 2, 25-30 June 200

‘The second Check the Gate film showcase, organised by the Hungarian Cultural Centre in London, will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of Hungary's decisive break with Communism by looking at a range of films from both sides of that landmark historic divide. Films by veterans such as Miklós Jancsó and a new exciting generation of young Hungarian filmmakers will show a range of responses to the totalitarianism of the old days and to the 'system change' as it is often referred to in Hungary.
The earliest film on offer is Károly Makks's classic Love (Szerelem) from 1971 which traces a political prisoner's complex relationship with his ailing mother, while Made in Hungaria - Music Sets you Free, directed by Gergely Fonyó was released only this year and is a nostalgic tongue-in-the-cheek, over-the-shoulder look at the impact of Rock 'n' Roll on Hungary in the years after 1956. There is something here for every taste - from the gritty realism of Béla Tarr's early film, Family Nest (Családi tűzfészek, 1979) to the youthful hopes and dreams of the new post-1989 generation in Ferenc Török's highly praised Moscow Square (Moszkva Tér, 2000).
The years since 1989 have brought change, hope but also despair and anger. Everyone who has lived through these times has had to make enormous adjustments in their life and the initial euphoria which greeted the changes has given way to a much more tempered and sober assessment. The utopia expected by some never materialised and the events of recent months have only served to emphasise that the new system, whatever its advantages, nevertheless comes at a price. The past and the present, history and memory are brought to you by some of Hungary's finest filmmaking talent and, along with a selection of documentaries and shorts, these films give a keen insight into how Hungarians viewed these turbulent years.’

John Cunningham (Senior Lecturer, Department of Stage and Screen, Sheffield Hallam University, curator of Check the Gate '09 – 2^nd Hungarian Film Showcase in London)

 Patron of the Check the Gate ‘09 – 2^nd Hungarian Film Showcase in London is David Korda