Hungarian cinema shines in Venice: Two films compete in film festival!

Two new Hungarian features, László Nemes Jeles’s Orphan (Árva) and Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend (Csendes Barát), are being screened in competition at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival starting on Wednesday.

Both films are supported by the National Film Institute (NFI), with Orphan to be screened on Thursday, and Silent Friend on 5 September at the Palazzo del Cinema on the Lido, the NFI said in a statement.

Nemes Jeles, the Oscar-, Golden Globe-, and BAFTA-winning director of Son of Saul and Sunset, drew inspiration for his new film, a Hungarian-British-French-German co-production, from his family’s history.

Orphan’s Hungarian premiere takes place at the Miskolc CineFest on 12 Septeber and will be on general release in Hungarian cinemas from 23 October.

Ildikó Enyedi, the Golden Bear-winning and Oscar-nominated director of On Body and Soul, explores a sensitive and philosophical parallel between the relationship of plants and humans in her new German-French-Hungarian co-production scheduled to be released in cinemas across Europe in the first half of 2026.