EXCLUSIVE: A film charting the rise of Hungary‘s incoming Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, was watched 3.3 million times online ahead of the country’s election this past weekend.
Spring Wind – The Awakening, from director Tamás Yvan Topolánszky, was watched 140,000 times at cinemas in the run up to the election as Magyar challenged the incumbent leader, autocrat Viktor Orbán, but was then released free online to prioritize accessibility and public dialog, going on to clock up well over three million.
In a country with a population of just nine million, that could represent as much as a third of its citizens having seen it.
Magyar’s Tisza party went on to dethrone Donald Trump ally Orbán, winning massive 137 of the 199 parliamentary seats available on a ticket promising change, reform and repeal of many of the ruling’s Fidesz’s laws. Orbán had ruled for 16 years on a Christian nationalist, anti-European Union ticket.
Independently filmed in a hostile media environment, Spring Wind – The Awakening followed Magyar over more than a year, charting his rapid political ascent, the emergence of Tisza and attempting to give context to a turning point in Hungarian public life. Given its subject matter, the film received no state funding or tax incentives, but has come one of the country’s most successful documentaries of all time.
The filmmakers are also pledging that 11% of the film’s net proceeds to child protection and youth mental health initiatives, with the beneficiaries selected soon, now the election and come and gone.
“In recent years, public life has often been shaped by fear and division,” said producer Claudia Sümeghy. “We felt a responsibility not only to document change, but also to give something back — especially to children, who are often the most affected by social tension.”
Sümeghy and Topolánszky produced the film, with JUNO11 Pictures and Halluci-Nation the co-producers. JUNO11 Distribution is handling international distribution.
The news comes during a fast-moving week in Hungary. Magyar is expected to take up his role around May 15 with plans to dismantled the Orbán-aligned media structures that have been built over the past decade. This morning, he made a rare appearance on a state-run radio and slammed its news anchors for a lack of editorial independence.
Later in the day, it was announced the National Film Institute (NFI) will pause its activities until the new government is in place, with Csaba Káel, the government’s commissioner for film, losing his position when Orbán’s term ends. In the run-up to the election, several major filmmakers and producers had demanded he leaves his post.
Hungary attracts numerous U.S. and international productions to its shores through its lucrative tax incentive and skilled crew, and has in the past been dubbed ‘Hollywood on the Danube.’
Details revealed this afternoon, the NFI will pause long-term financial commitments and decision making. This is standard practice during a political transition, and even moreso when the incoming leadership diverges so drastically from the previous one. Magyar has promised close ties with the European Union and to end the cronyism, authoritarianism, corruption and suppression of press freedom associated with the Orbán government.
Here’s a teaser trailer for Spring Wind.