HUF 109 million for documentaries

Under the Hungarian Media Patronage programme, the Media Council awarded HUF 109 million in the first round of the 2017 Judit Ember tender to sponsor the production of 17 documentaries, one outside the area of Hungary. Zoltán Bencze, the applicant from outside the country will tell the story of a hockey team founded in Csík county in 1929. Hungarian productions will include documentaries on painter Mihály Zichy directed by Ferenc András, on water polo player Olivér Halassy by Gyula Czinke and on animation film director Attila Dargay by Richárd M. Nagy. Tamás Babos’s film will be dedicated to the three times Oscar winner Miklós Rózsa, composer of blockbusters such as Ben Hur and The Thief of Baghdad, while Barna László’s production concerns Csángáló, a musician of the Szászcsávás band. Directed by Péter Gerő, Pókerarcok (Poker Faces) features three theatre experts around 95 years of age (István Lénárt, Egon Lázár and Emil Sívó), portraying the cultural scene of the past 70 years, while Zoltán Bonta’s film displays the effect of Hungarian film comedies of the 1930s and 1940s on Italian film production. Gábor Hörchter will tell the story of an alternative home-building project, during which a group of young people decided to build a handmade adobe house from locally produced material. Directed by Gábor Zsigmond Papp, the latest, third episode of the Magyar retró (Hungarian Retro) series will offer an overview of the history of the family as a basic social unit between 1950 and 1980. The everyday struggles of protected homes reserved for those fleeing from traffickers will be brought to life in Védelem alatt (Protected) by Mihály Schwechtje. Following the four-episode online series Privát tanmenet (Private Curriculum), Márton Szirmai moves on to the field of television, portraying teachers employing non-traditional methodology such as board games and situation exercises of democracy. Ferenc Lavro’s film will tell the story of the Petőfi Brigade, a Hungarian group of partisans formed in late December 1944, through the lives of seven brothers from Bačka Topola, Serbia. Péter Mihály Hajdú will shoot a film about the history and current efforts of the Szekler autonomy movement. Hungarian body builders will be portrayed in Anna Nemes’s Szép testben szép lélek (A Beautiful Mind in a Beautiful Body). Judit Beszterczey’s filming crew will, for an entire week, shadow master hairdresser Alex Budai, who not only creates beautiful works of (hair) art for Hollywood celebrities but also cuts the hair of the poor at Deák Square once every three months. The documentary of Csaba Szekeres aims at fostering awareness of elderly couples who are forced to cope with Alzheimer’s Disease together.

HUF 60.7 million for animated films

In the first round of this year’s Gyula Macskássy tender, the Media Council awarded HUF 60.7 million to seven animation film proposals. A new episode of the series Szupermalac és Űrpatkány (Super Pig and the Space Rat) by Csaba Máli and Bab Berci Kalandjai (The Adventures of Berci Bean) by Márton Kovács will be produced. Csaba Bárdos will adapt one of the stories of Judit Berg’s Cipelő Cicák (Carrying Kittens) to the television screen, while Tamás Baltavári will direct a 3D animated non-fiction film about the Battle of Bratislava and the years leading up to the fray. Directed by Marci Nagy, Tesók (Brothers) will tell the story of the friendship of a boy and a piglet in the distant future. István Heim’s dogs named Detti and Drót embark on a time travel in various dimensions in a two-episode series. Béla Weisz’s series will deal with Hungarian proverbs.

Fines imposed for too loud commercials

The Media Council has imposed a fine of HUF 390,000 on the service provider of TV2 and HUF 300,000 on AMC Networks Central Europe Kft. operating Sport 2 since, as determined by the official commercial loudness tests performed in Q1 of 2017, on both channels the volume of commercials was higher than the volume of the programmes preceding and following them: three times on the former channel and five times on the latter. When applying the legal consequences, the Media Council always determines their form and measure in accordance with the principle of progressiveness and proportionality whilst considering all circumstances of the case.

The list of events of major importance for the Hungarian society are expected to become effective in June

The Media Council will inform the sports associations and media service providers concerned in a letter about the list of events of major importance, which is expected to become effective this month. The national list, along with the official translations, will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, and also made available on the NMHH website, and will become effective on the day of its publishing. Pursuant to the directive on European audiovisual media service providers and the provisions of the Hungarian Media Act, certain events must be made available to at least 80 percent of the Hungarian population without a subscription fee.

Radio-related decisions

In the local radio frequency tender for Eger 101.3 MHz, the Media Council awarded the contract to the only bidder FW Befektetési Kft., while in the Békéscsaba 88.9 MHz tender, Radio Plus Kft. was selected as the winner from two bidders. The Council also approved the draft of the invitation to tender for the local radio frequency Szolnok 90.4 MHz, which will be available from Thursday on the Media Council website. Having reviewed the formal requirements of the proposals received for the Hajdúszoboszló 100.6 MHz local radio frequency tender, the Media Council has registered the bid submitted by LB Rádió Kft. and called upon Kredit Holding Kft. to submit additional documents.