Mafilm
Mafilm was established in 1948. It has been the largest and most significant film studio in Hungary and a strategic base for the Hungarian film industry. Mafilm's history has had its ups and downs. It dates back to Kolozsvár, and its ancestors include Europe's third-largest silent film factory. Korda Sándor founded the predecessor of Mafilm.
History
Mafilm - From Nationalization to Reorganization
The decree of the Council of Ministers of 19 August 1948 decided on the nationalization of the Hunnia Film Factory under the name of Magyar Filmgyártó Nemzeti Vállalat . The first film released after nationalization, Frigyes Bán's Talpalatnyi föld, was an international success.From 1949, film production was assigned to the Communist minister József Révai. After Stalin's death, from 1953, film production belonged to Minister József Darvas, and this has brought a revival of Hungarian cinema. Contributing to the success was the fact that Darvas gave more money in addition to more freedom. The positive changes quickly bore fruit, bringing a new golden age to Hungarian film. For the first time, films from behind the "Iron Curtain" came into the focus of international film art. Zoltán Fábri, Zoltán Várkonyi, Viktor Gertler, Félix Máriássy, Károly Makk, were members of the new generation of Hungarian film directors who restored the status of Hungarian film.
The overthrow of the 1956 revolution and the subsequent mass showdown pushed back the promising processes that had begun in the Hungarian film industry. The structure of film production was restructured, and Mafilm continued to operate as Hunnia Filmstúdió. The films made here were mostly apolitical works, mainly literary adaptations. Among them stood out were László Ranódy's three films as well as Zoltán Fábri's work, Édes Anna.
At the same time, the Budapest Filmstúdió'' was established, and its director, István Nemeskürty, played a key role in becoming an internationally renowned creative workshop. He gathered young talent around him, these young people became the ones who then formed a new, powerful generation of Hungarian film directors. At the film studio, already in the first years after its establishment – without claiming completeness – Zoltán Várkonyi, Félix Máriássy, Miklós Szinetár, Miklós Jancsó and István Gaál could sign film contracts as directors.
Mafilm - again
As of January 1, 1964, the film factory formed by the merger of Hunnia Filmstúdió and Budapest Filmstúdió was renamed Mafilm.The year 1966 also brought about a change in the financing of feature film production. The Ministry of Culture transferred a significant part of the costs of the films to Mokép and Hungarofilm. Two years later, in 1968, the coordination of production and distribution brought the Magyar Filmtröszt to life.
During the following decade, there was such a huge upswing in film production, that Mafilm's studios were not able to serve all the demands. Therefore, the film factory's new 23-hectare studio base was established in the ideal location of Fót.
Hungarian films had their golden age, their brightest era, in the sixties and seventies. Two generations appeared on the silver screens at the same time: Zoltán Fábri, Miklós Jancsó, András Kovács, Péter Bacsó, Károly Makk, and the youth: István Szabó, Zoltán Huszárik, Pál Gábor, István Gaál, Ferenc Kósa, Sándor Sára and their companions. There were Hungarian filmmakers of the era whose work was considered among the greatest achievements in universal cinema, including at international level. Speaking about Miklós Jancsó, many film critics have stated that it is no exaggeration to say that he is also among the first in the world, on an equal footing with Antonioni, or even Bergman.
Film Factories and Film Studios within Mafilm
In 1972, feature film production was reorganized again. The Hunnia Játékfilmstúdió Vállalat, the Budapest Játékfilmstúdió Vállalat and the Magyar Filmgyártó és Szolgáltató Vállalat were founded. Subsequently, in 1976, the structure formed within Mafilm's organization four years earlier was changed again, three companies were merged again, and then four feature film studios, Budapest, Dialóg, Hunnia and Objektív, were established.Budapest Film Studio
also managed the re-established Budapest Film Studio. Gábor Hanák became the head of the studio in 1985. A new generation of young directors started working at the Budapest Film Studio in the 90's, among others Ildikó Enyedi , Attila Janisch, Zoltán Kamondi and Dezső Zsigmond, now all well-known and respected directors. In 1992, the film director Ferenc Kardos took over the film studio, and in 1999 the baton fell into the hands of László Kántor, the cinematographer-director who represented the youngest generation of Hungarian film at that time.Hunnia Film Studio
The Hunnia was organized under the direction of Miklós Köllő, Pál Sándor took part in the professional work as a deputy leader, and the art council was Ferenc Grunwalsky, Ferenc Kardos, Zsolt Kézdi-Kovács, the later first man of Mafilm, Pál Zolnay and Zsuzsa Bíró, Sándor Csoóri. The film studio was later directed by film director Sándor Simó.Dialóg Film Studio
The Dialóg was organized under the leadership of Antal Bogács. Bogács's deputy was Péter Bacsó, the members of the studio's art council were István Dárday, Zoltán Fábri, Imre Gyöngyössy, Miklós Jancsó, András Kovács and Károly Makk, supplemented by playwright János Újhelyi and literary historian Miklós Béládi. From 1982, Péter Bacsó was the director of the film studio, followed by Tamás Tolmár and then Ferenc András.Objektív Film Studio
The film studio was established from the Béla Balázs Studio, unlike other Hungarian film production workshops, not on the initiative of the state, but from the independent workshop of young filmmakers, by the joint determination of "aged" film directors.Almost forty directors shared among them the film studio's nearly one hundred feature films, and thanks to István Szabó, they managed to win an Academy Awards with Mephisto.
At the beginning, the film team was led by József Marx, his deputy was István Szabó.
On the Edge of Bankruptcy
On the Verge of Disintegration
In 1987, Mafilm was decentralized. The four studios – Budapest, Dialóg, Hunnia, Objektív – have emerged from Mafilm, gaining complete autonomy.The Budapest Film Studio, which also served as Mafilm Site II, continued to operate under the name Magyar Mozi és Videofilmgyár . In 1998, the walls of the nearly 70-year-old historical creative workshop of the Hungarian film industry were demolished. Today, the international bus station stands in MOVI's place, opposite its main entrance stands on a small memorial stone: "Itt egykor FILMGYÁR állt, a magyar kultúra egyik őrhelye. 1927–1995"
In 1989, Mafilm executives opted for a more dynamic, smaller organizational structure. It was then that Mafilm was formed with its majority stake the first film companies: Mafilmrent, Mafilm Audio and Mafilm Profilm.
In 1992, the Magyar Mozgókép Közalapítvány, MMKA , a group of 33 film organisations, was founded. In the same year, on 15 June, the Fővárosi Bíróság found Mafilm was insolvent and declared the liquidation of the film company. On 7 December, the Filmunió, a consortium of state-only institutions, bought Mafilm from the liquidator for HUF 415 million. Following the change of ownership, the new owners retained the name Mafilm and created a huge redundancy. On 1 January 1994, Mafilm was formed into a public limited company with a capital of HUF 500 million.
By 1996, the company was back in bankruptcy. The result of the tender for the privatization of Mafilm in early 1998 was no longer announced by the Horn government in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections. By 1999, Mafilm's ownership structure had been reduced to two players, with the ÁPV '''' and MMKA once again re-building state ownership.
MMKA in Power
In 2004, the Film Act was established.In 2006, the government decided to hand over the state-owned Mafilm to the MMKA. Since 2007, Mafilm's asset management has also been transferred to MMKA, which is chaired by Ferenc Grunwalsky and its CEO, Tamas Tolmár.
In November 2009, Mafilm's Huszárik Studio was handed over to Máriássy Studio in Fót. Mafilm's investment of HUF 500 million created the largest studio of the film factory.
In 2010, the mandate of the Film Board of Trustees, ''MMKA, headed by Grunwalsky expired, and the new chairman became writer Zoltán Kőrösi. In 2011, following due diligence at the foundation ordered by Kőrösi, the government withdrew 20 percent of the foundation's budget, making it insolvent.
In 2012, a government decision terminated the MMKA'' operating Mafilm.
Restart Again
was appointed Government Commissioner for the Hungarian Film Industry in 2011, and together with Ágnes Havas and Csaba Bereczki, CEO and International Director of the Magyar Nemzeti Filmalap, he put the Hungarian film industry on a completely new footing. In 2012, the Magyar Nemzeti Filmalap consolidated the assets of the defunct Magyar Mozgókép Közalapítvány and settled its debts.Vajna set three goals in an interview with Film New Europe in Cannes in May 2012, and within a short time he achieved all three. He successfully negotiated with the banks to reschedule the outstanding debts of MMKA, managed to create a clean slate for the film industry; managed to get 80 percent of the profits of the Six Lottery automatically transferred to the film fund; and finally, more than doubled the number of films planned for 2012 from four to ten in one year.
From 2012, Tamás Zákonyi became the CEO of Mafilm, succeeded in 2019 by Andrea Ildikó Ottinger. On 1 October 2013, both Mafilm and the Magyar Filmlaboratórium were merged into the Magyar Nemzeti Filmalap, which was then tasked with providing studios and external sets for domestic and foreign film and television productions, as well as prop, costume and weapons rental services. In addition, it was responsible for the rental of office space and the operation of the Budapest and Fót sites.
In January 2014, the renovated Studios III and IV of Mafilm's film factory in Róna Street, were inaugurated with a HUF 300 million grant by the government. In Zákonyi's words at the handover ceremony, the film production facilities offered by the easily accessible, modern and attractive renovated studios enable them to accommodate up to 5-6 productions at a time.