Andy Vajna’s funeral – here’s everything you need to know

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The funeral of Andy Vajna, the Hungarian film producer, took place on January 31st. Serious security measures had to be taken before the ceremony started, as about 3-4 hundred people attended the funeral, many of them celebrities.

Daily News Hungary reported before about the death of media mogul Andy Vajna. Now, we share details about the funeral that took place on Thursday.

Guests kept arriving for an hour before the ceremony started at 11 am – reports NlCafe. Many of them had a white flower or a cigar with them – the idea of the organisers to commemorate Vajna. Numerous Hungarian celebrities attended, including Kata Dobó or Róbert Kárász. Some arrived in cars with tinted windows while there was also a bus that took people – including the grandmother of Tímea Vajna – to the location.

The list of attendees included Viktor Orbán as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger who arrived in separate cars but met up before entering the area. You can watch a short clip of them together below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGHgs7muomg

Because of the volume of the event and the status of the attendees, the location of the ceremony had to be secured beforehand. Bomb-sniffing dogs and employees of the Counter-Terrorism Centre searched the are before the ceremony started while the police were instructed to guard the entrance.

Several people gave speeches in memoriam of Andy Vajna. According to Blikk, Antal Rogán called him a friend and said that he was a kind of folktale hero who fulfilled the ‘American dream’ while still loving his homeland with a passion.

One of the significant moments of the funeral was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s touching speech about Andy Vajna. He told the story of how they were introduced after Rambo became successful and thus their friendship started. He said what an excellent businessman Andy Vajna was and that even though he was annoyed at first for not being cast as the lead in Rambo, he forgot about that after the idea of Red Heat was born.

“He not only made action movies but was an action hero himself” – said Schwarzenegger of Vajna.

He gave the example of the time they snuck into Russia on a private jet during the shooting of Red Heat because they did not have a permit.

He also praised Vajna’s generosity and big heart.

“He had the biggest heart and did everything for his friends. There was nothing he would not do for me, and there was nothing I would not have done for him.”

Schwarzenegger also emphasised that even though Vajna was already a very successful man in Hollywood, he did not hesitate when he was asked to do something about the Hungarian film industry and instantly said yes.

“When we were shooting the latest Terminator movie here, Andy and Timi insisted I eat dinner with them once a week. Even when I arrived with nine other people, he gave me a warm welcome. Because he was a sensitive and special man. My dear friends, we did not lose Andy. We have to look at it as a boat that leaves the port and we cannot see it anymore, but that does not mean it disappeared, it only means we can no longer see it.