UT film fest features 2 Hungarian works

3/19/2004

Americans typically stay away from foreign-language films.

But for three weeks running, the No. 1 film in the country, The Passion of the Christ, is a foreign-language film - told in Aramaic and Latin. Which has to give you hope for drawing a wider audience if, say, you're putting on a Hungarian film festival in Toledo.

Abandoned (98 minutes) and I Love Budapest (85 minutes) will be screened tonight and tomorrow night in the University of Toledo's Lab Theatre in the Center for Performing Arts.

Tonight's film, Abandoned, is the tale of a 9-year-old boy left at an orphanage ruled by a sadistic headmaster. The boy gradually garners the strength to lead a revolt. Arpad Sopsits' film won the Grand Prix des Ameriques at the Montreal World Film Festival.

I Love Budapest is about a young woman who leaves her rural home for the big city. She builds a good life until she discovers a friend's involvement with the criminal underworld. It will be screened tomorrow.

The films are sponsored by UT's department of theatre and film and the Toledo Szeged Committee. It's part of the department's theme of global film and theater this season, said Sue Ott Rowlands, department chairman.

Both are in Hungarian with English subtitles, and both were released in 2001.

"Abandoned" will be screened tonight and "I Love Budapest" will be shown tomorrow night in the University of Toledo's Lab Theatre in the Center for Performing Arts. Screenings begin at 7:30. Tickets are $3. Information: 419-530-2202.