The ELTE– NFI FILMIO University Film Club screening and discussion series continues. We welcome university members from all ELTE faculties.
A spectacular political parable using nature film techniques to illustrate the dangers of ideological fanaticism and the functioning of dictatorships. The flight of the falcons and the images of the sun-drenched plains are spectacular in themselves, but the sparse narrative clearly examines the power system of the time. At first, we are introduced to the landscape and the basics of falconry, but the viewer increasingly senses that something is not quite right. Gradually, the true nature of the community is revealed, and the emerging picture of oppression is disturbing. A young apprentice arrives at the settlement on the plains. In the middle of the steppe, falcons are trained to hunt smaller birds considered harmful. Training the birds of prey is hard, laborious work. The leader of the settlement, Lilik, is obsessed with his work. Not only does he treat the falcons with an iron fist, he also demands strict discipline from his people. Slowly but surely, the young trainee realizes that Lilik has turned the small community into a veritable dictatorship. The film is based on a novella by Miklós Mészöly.
Date: 18 March 2026, 6:00 p.m.
Venue: ELTE University Library and Archives, community space (Budapest, V. Ferenciek tere 6., ground floor)
Director: István Gaál
Writer: Miklós Mészöly
Cinematographer: Elemér Ragályi
Editor: István Gaál
Music: András Szőllősy
Main roles: Ivan Andonov, György Bánffy, Judit Meszléry, Sándor Nádai, Gyula Molnár, Sándor Nagy
Guests in the post-screening discussion: Diána Márjánovics, critic, literary historian, president of the Miklós Mészöly Association, and Milán Pap, political scientist, researcher at the Tamás Molnár Research Center, Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, National University of Public Service.
Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8rXTUJnTek&t=17s
Due to limited seating, advance registration is required: https://www.ajk.elte.hu/magasiskola-gaal-istvan-filmje-1970
The organisers welcome any correspondence regarding the film club at eltenfi.filmklub@elte.hu.