Film production in Hungary to resume soon!?

Filmmaking in Hungary will soon fully resume once coronavirus-related restrictions are lifted, the government commissioner for motion picture said in business daily Világgazdaság’s Monday issue.

Hungary has not imposed a ban on the shooting of international co-productions and Hungarian films, most of which however suffered delays due to general restrictions related to the epidemic, Csaba Káel told the paper.

The production of every film scheduled this year will continue as the National Film Institute rescheduled their funding in March, the institute told the paper.

The shooting of ten state-funded feature-length films will start later this year and post-production is under way for another 16, the paper said.

The shooting of international co-productions is expected to be resumed in line with the lifting of travel restrictions, it said.

Films under production in Hungary include Showtime’s Halo, Netflix’s Terra Vision, Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi Dune, TriStar’s The Nightingale and American drama Birds of Paradise.

Direct spending in filmmaking in Hungary has totalled an annual 100 billion forints (EUR 290m) since 2016 mostly by international productions. The industry employs about 20,000 people, Világgazdaság said.