Hungarian Silent Film to be Screened at International Lumière Festival in Lyon

Hungary Today 2024.10.15.

The Hungarian silent film After Death, restored in 4K with European collaboration, will be screened as part of the “Sublime moments of silent film” selection at the 2024 Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France. Made in 1920, it is “a rare example of the silent film era’s popular ghost stories,” writes Magyar Nemzet.

After Death is also significant because only three out of 42 Hungarian fantastical silent films have survived. It was directed by one of the pioneers of Hungarian cinema, Alfréd Deésy, who adapted a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux, also known as the author of The Phantom of the Opera. The lead role is played by Kamilla Hollay, a popular actress of the era who achieved international success.

The film is also unique for its rich color palette and unique technical tricks.

Director of the film Alfréd Deésy in 1910. Photo: Wikipedia

Fact

The heroine of the film, Márta, is an orphaned girl who accepts the marriage proposal of notary St. Firmin, although she is in love with the widow André, who lives next door. The jealous notary sets a trap for the lovers and then forces the young man to sign a statement in which he promises to emigrate to the US. André asks his younger brother Jacques and his wife to look after his factory and children in his absence, and if he does not return in three years he bequeaths them all his assets. Jacques does everything in his power to ensure that André never returns.

The only print of After Death survived in the collection of the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique – CINEMATEK in Brussels. In 2023, the National Film Institute – Filmlab began the digital restoration of the almost intact, 1,613-meter-long, tinted nitrate print in collaboration with CINEMATEK and the Paris-based La Cinémathèque française. Restoration of the film was realized in the framework of the ACE (Association des Cinémathèques Européennes) A Season of Classic Films program.

In the course of restoration, the original, bilingual distributor inserts were preserved. Unfortunately, the opening credits did not survive, therefore their reconstruction was necessary on the basis of the available historical sources. Following this, minimal content reconstruction had to be conducted on the film itself. A newly composed soundtrack was also created for the film.

In addition to the screening, the National Film Institute – Filmlab will also participate in the MIFC – Marché International du Film Classique and the associated conference. György Ráduly, Director of the Division of Film Preservation and Technology, will talk about his experiences at the Budapest Classics Film Marathon, attracting a record-breaking line-up of world stars in September, and Viktória Sovák, Director of the Filmlab, will introduce the challenges of analogue film production.

The Lumière Film Festival is a worldwide event dedicated to classic cinema. Every October in Lyon, the birthplace of the Lumière Cinematograph, the world of cinema celebrates its vitality and heritage through a contemporary journey to the works of the past. The event in Lyon was created by Thierry Frémaux, artistic director of the Cannes Film Festival, and Bertrand Tavernier, world-renowned French director.

Since 2017, restored Hungarian films have been regularly invited to the program, which in 2022 was dedicated to films made in Hungary by Endre Tóth, the Hungarian director who became world-famous as André de Toth.

Hungary Nominates "Semmelweis" for the Oscars

The Academy Awards ceremony will take place on March 2, in Los Angeles.Continue reading

Via Magyar Nemzet; Featured image via Youtube/Nemzeti Filmintézet – Filmarchívum