Szabolcs Hajdu – Filmmaker – Mirage

FRED’s Matt Micucci meets acclaimed Hungarian film director Szabolcs Hajdu, who presented his latest work “Mirage” in the World Cinema Panorama section of the 22nd Febiofest – Prague International Film Festival.

He talks about the array of influences both artistic and political that influenced “Mirage”, the contrast of the universal and regional potential of the modern western genre and how he came to cast the roles in the film.

Plot: A lone African footballer wanders through the sparsely inhabited Hungarian countryside. As soon as he reaches a farm, he realizes that he has entered a trap run by local modern slaveholders who intend to rob him of his freedom as well as of his well-guarded secret.

The Hungarian-Slovak meditative “Eastern” enchants with its captivating depiction of the landscape and patient narration, which unpredictably reveals the individual motives. The film by the celebrated director of the previous generation was introduced at last year’s festival in Toronto.