It has been formulated in me what cannot happen again and what many political forces are currently driving us to, said Dorottya Helmeczy, co-producer of Elk.rtuk, on Thursday night when she spoke live to screenwriter Balázs Bendi on Facebook and as it turned out, for both of them, the realization of the film meant an intense emotional journey in several ways. The political thriller, which will process the autumn speech, will hit theaters on October 21st.
–
The idea for the film was born two years ago, voiced right at the beginning of the Facebook broadcast, in response to suspicions that the creators had deliberately scheduled the premiere for the campaign period. Screenwriter Balázs Bendi and Dorottya Helmeczy first talked in 2019 about the fact that although a large number of historical works are being made in Hungary today, none of them focus on the recent past and the events of 2006 were suddenly discussed. Because they both love works that deal with crime stories and the events that took place, the autumn speech and the ensuing police terror proved to be the perfect raw material for a work of a similar genre. And the title gave way so much that it was born before the first sketch of the script.
Had a similar event happened west of us, it would have been filmed a long time ago – adds Balázs Bendi, who was still a teenager in 2006, but read all the available documents and investigative materials while writing the screenplay.
During the thorough research work, as he increasingly realized how big politics works, he followed an almost emotional path as the protagonist of the film, who as an employee of a polling company wakes up pretty slowly to the operation of the system and opens his eyes to the shocking experience. The end result is thus not only a political thriller, but also a dramatic story of growth. And this unusual mix of genres is hoped to become a reference work for similar international productions in the future.
For the role of the protagonist, Réka, Vivianne Bánovits was the first actress to be seen, and although there were still nearly 100 applicants after that, in the end, the creators felt they had to listen to their first intuition.
Dorottya Helmeczy also experienced the birth of the screenplay as a kind of growth story, as as she betrayed, she had an earlier opinion of 2006, but as she learned more about the events in more detail, she became more determined about what could not happen again, and towards which many political forces are still driving us.
Neither do we talk about our child, nor about our own country, if we love it, as Ferenc Gyurcsány did during his speech in Öszöd.
Dorottya Helmeczy emphasized.
It was extremely important for the creators that a foreign director make the film: not only to see the story politically independently, but also because they want to reach an international audience in addition to domestic viewers. However, although the 2006 series of images toured the world around the world, it is only through the eyes of a foreign artist that the story can be conveyed to European viewers in an authentic and viable way. What was immediately sympathetic to them was that, even at the very first conversation, the British director was most interested in the human rather than the political aspects of the events.
It was also emphasized for the creators to make the work as an independent film, they did not even compete, as they thought that once they had chosen a vivid theme, they would not have to make any compromises.
During the conversation, it was recalled that when the casting was announced, many actors noticeably appeared on the casting because they were really interested in the role, but were just trying to joke; they wanted to see into the scenario what exactly was being prepared.
However, in many important roles, almost no casting was required. For example at the first moment it was obvious that Ferenc Gyurcsány’s wife had to be played by Gabi Gubás, since, as Dorottya Helmeczy puts it: the actress could be both delicate and determined and a significant politician should clearly be a diva.And the name of the actor who played Ferenc Gyurcsány was not in question either, no casting was held for that, but his identity is still obscure until next week’s premiere.
Dorottya Helmeczy also revealed that Balázs Bendi can also be found in a report. This geg was the idea of director Keith English.On the question of which films gave him a reference, Balázs Bendi mentioned Chernobyl
and – about the Watergate scandal – The President’s People, and added Dorottya Helmeczy: together with the creators, they hope that this film itself will become a reference film, as both the genre (political crime) and the story itself are suitable. to him.
Elk.rtuk will be released in cinemas on October 21st and the creators have managed to get it shown all over the country during long negotiations, in fact: the film will be screened in Brussels as well. However, this does not end the film’s international career, and there are still forward-looking negotiations with foreign distributors and the largest streaming providers.
The full Facebook broadcast on this a left available
–
