Mátyás Prikler

Kalman's Day

It’s a beautiful sunny autumn morning in a cosy house near a quiet lake. Kálmán doesn't know what love means anymore. His asexual wife Olga suggests redecorating in another attempt to save the relationship. Olga’s sister Zita comes to celebrate Kalman's name day with her husband Levente, who has a terrible pain in his stomach. Then, sensitive widower Erno knocks on the door. Olga has a strange dream where she sees misfortune for Zita and Levente. Trouble never comes alone.

Explanation for Everything

It’s summer in Budapest, high school student Abel is struggling to focus on his final exams, whilst coming to the realisation that he is hopelessly in love with his best friend Janka. The studious Janka has her own unrequited love with married history teacher Jakab—who had a previous confrontation with Abel’s conservative father. The tensions of a polarised society come unexpectedly to the surface when Abel’s history graduation exam turns into a national scandal.

Power

A boy is accidentally killed at an informal hunt somewhere on the border of two European countries. One of the people involved is Minister Berger, the hot candidate for the influential post of High Commissioner for Water Management, who will be tasked with finding the solution to increasing water shortages across Europe. The government hires secret agent Steiner to hush up the scandal. The more he investigates the case, the more embroiled he becomes in dilemmas of power and its execution.

Bandits of the Ballad

“A burned-out group of Brno intellectuals decides to go to Kolochava in Ukraine to perform ‘A Ballad for a Bandit’ there.” With these words, the author's collective presents their film, in which they use primarily documentary imagery to compose a lyrical grotesque about an epochal trip, which might be their goal. But it doesn't have to be. The main tool of expression here is the film’s edit, which places various shots, statements, and meanings next to each other, often in a sort of productive conflict. Just like in a poem, the “poetic function” of art and its ability to serve as the primary tool for expressing beauty is manifested in full force before our very eyes.

Wild Roots

Tibor and Niki, father and daughter. The young girl was only five years old when they last saw each other, before Tibor was sent to prison. He is released seven years later and tries not to think about the past. Yet he can’t erase his daughter from his life and so they are compelled to start over from the beginning. Both are irresistibly charismatic, headstrong and irascible, but also determined to find a way back to one another.

Mirage

Francis is an African soccer player whose life comes spiraling down after he fixes a match. Soon, he's on the run, taking shelter at a mountain ranch led by a deadly crime boss. Soon, Francis inspires revolt among the boss's workers, putting his life on the line for freedom.