Yet Unknown Specimen: Dracula with a Movie Camera.
Have you ever heard about Transylvanian filmmaking? You might have heard about the glorious Transylvanian mute film production between 1913 and 1920.
But you must have heard about all the great films that were filmed in and about Transylvania. I will mention just a few titles from the past couple of years: Peter Strickland’s Katalin Varga, Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain, Tony Gatlif’s Transylvania, and Szabolcs Hajdu’s Tamara and Bibliotheque Pascal, which can be seen at this year’s Berlinale screenings. This land is “getting film roles” more and more often nowadays since many foreign directors choose Transylvania as their filming location. Until now however – save for co-productions, the land itself hasn’t really been able to produce its own films. When it comes to feature filmmaking, this multiethnic and multicultural region shifts Romanian filmmakers mostly to the capital and Hungarian filmmakers to Hungary or other countries.
Contemporary Romanian filmmaking is undoubtedly living its golden age. Romanian films are critically acclaimed deservedly by the Romanian and European press but oddly these films echo more from European press then its own. This is probably due to the fact that professional and systematic Romanian film criticism that deals with both inland and foreign films is practically inexistent.
The Transylvanian Hungarians have only recently received the opportunity to study film at home in their own language. The Department of Photography, Film and Media at the Sapientia University in Transylvania (where I study) is only a couple of years old; this however is probably the first step towards building grounds for Transylvanian filmmaking by the Hungarian community. We have a 10-year old monthly film magazine, the Filmtett, which “turned” online two years ago.
Since then, it functions on a daily basis including film reviews, essays, interviews, festival reports etc. I’ve been writing film reviews for this magazine for more than two years. Before writing about a film, I always try to have a discussion with friends and in my own thoughts. This interaction is what I seek and I am sure to find at the Berlinale. Being able to be there will be my greatest experience so far in terms of professional progress and in making multicultural contacts and exchange of thoughts.
Some young Hungarian filmmakers in Transylvania have already proven their talent by making great short films. Slightly utopistic and financially very hard to manage, nevertheless, I hope that in a couple of years not only will you be able to hear from, but also see the rebirth of Transylvanian feature filmmaking.
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