Washington screening of The Notebook by Janos Szasz great success

Forrás: MTI | 2013. november 19. kedd 09:20 |

The Notebook by Hungarian director Janos Szasz received an ovation after a full-house screening at the American Film Institute in Washington, DC on Sunday local time.

"I've seen that the film had a strong emotional attraction for the audience," Szasz told MTI adding that The Notebook's North-American premiere had been held in Toronto at a screening he also attended.

        "It could be felt that the film had a deep impact on the people," he said.  "You don't have to be Hungarian to understand this film... In Sao Paolo for instance I was approached by an Indian woman who said this film should be played in the favelas (shanty towns of Brazil) to poor and neglected children because it is about their lives," Szasz said.

        Hungarian actress Piroska Molnar, playing the film's female lead, received a staning ovation at the Washinton screening. She had been previously awarded by the Chicago film festival's international jury.

        Szasz's film fetched the Karlovy Vary international film festival's main prize in July and it has been screened at several international festivals since, including in Haifa and Adelaide.

    The film Szasz made in 2013 tells the story of twin boys sent to live with a cruel grandmother at the end of WWII.. It is Hungary's entry to the 86th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

Foreign tram drivers to hit Budapest tracks

Forrás: MTI | 2013. november 20. szerda 19:14 |

The city of Budapest will host the 2nd European Tram Championship with competitors from 14 other cities, through the coming weekend, the Public Transport Company BKV told MTI on Wednesday.

The best tram drivers from Berlin, Dresden, Rotterdam, Vienna, Barcelona, Florence, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Manchester and Paris will compete on a designated section in Sport Street, in front of enthusiasts, the company said.

Smaller cities like Debrecen, Szeged and Oradea (or Nagyvarad - Romania) have also fielded their drivers.

Last year's contest in Dresden was won by two Hungarians, Zsuzsanna Ledniczki and Tamás Veperdi, who were best at smooth navigation of the tram carriage, without spilling the glass of water placed on their dashboard.

Szekszard Merlot, Etyek Chardonnay win Wine of Budapest prizes

2013. november 20. szerda 21:03 |

A 2011 vintage Merlot from the Szeleshat cellar of Szekszard, in southern Hungary, and a 2012 vintage Chardonnay from the Nyakas cellar in Etyek, near Budapest, have won the Wine of Budapest prizes, granted for the first time by the capital.

Deputy Mayor in charge of health and social affairs Tamas Szente said at the awards ceremony on Wednesday that Budapest wants to participate in the promotion of Hungarian wines, and the prizes for best red and white are planned to be granted each year.

Head of the National Wine Expert Committee Andras Horkay told MTI earlier that more than 70 submissions had been made divided roughly between reds and whites. City council representatives shortlisted the wines with the help of experts and the final prizes were granted after a repeat tasting of the shortlisted wines, he added.

A total of 16 gold medals, 35 silver medals and 16 bronze medals were also granted.

EU support pays observatory in SW Hungary

Forrás: MTI | 2013. november 21. csütörtök 20:52 |
An observatory will be built from 670 million forints European Union support in the Zselic area of southwestern Hungary which is free of light pollution, the head of the Somogy County general assembly said on Thursday after the cornerstone laying ceremony.

Attila Gelencser, of the ruling Fidesz-Christian Democrats, said that the Zselic Nature Reserve was first in Europe, together with the Galloway Forest Park in Scotland, that won in 2009 the Dark Sky Park status from the International Dark-Sky Association.

The Zselic observatory complex will be built on an area of 600 square metres and is planned to be completed by November 2014. 

The architects Robert Erdelyi and his wife Judit Erdelyi-Gaspar paid special attention to using environmentally friendly solutions, such as using water from a local well, rainwater for sanitation and geothermic energy for heating.

Abundant with forests, wild animals and natural water, Zselic is one of the most well-preserved microregions in Hungary. It is also well known among foreign hunters.

Egervar castle reopens as renaissance visitor centre

2013. november 17. vasárnap 11:26 |

A renaissance visitor centre has been established in the castle of Egervar (Zala county, W Hungary), which has been renovated for almost 640 million forints (EUR 2.2m).

Local mayor Jozsef Szijarto said at the opening ceremony on Saturday that the historic monument embodies not only the past, but the future as well for the community of Egervar as the renovation of the state-owned Nadasdy-Szechenyi castle could give a boost to tourism.

European Union and national funding covered 531 million forints of the project costs; the ministry of the interior provided 63 million forints and the municipality contributed 44 million forints.

A downloadable smart guide helps tourists in exploring the museum, available in English, German and Slovenian as well. The exhibition is fitted with replica reneissance and baroque pieces of furniture. 

Hungary to up border police by 600 before year's end

Forrás: MTI | 2013. november 17. vasárnap 21:03 |

The number of border police will increase by 600 before the end of this year, interior ministry state secretary Karoly Kontrat said on Sunday at the new police headquarters currently under construction in Balatonalmadi in western Hungary.

The new border police will be introduced in service mainly at Hungary's border with Serbia where the number of illegal crossings has increased significantly, from 2,700 in 2012 to more than 15,000 in the first nine months of 2013, Kontrat told the press. 

Kontrat said this is expected to further increase Hungarians' sense of security. 

He noted that in 2010, the government promised to increase the number of police and over the past three years and a half, some 3,500 new police have been introduced in service. 

The new police headquarters in Balatonalmadi will be built at total cost of 595 million forints and is scheduled to be opened next spring, he said.

Brain-dead woman gives birth, organs save four in Hungary hospital

Forrás: MTI | 2013. november 13. szerda 17:24 |

A woman treated in hospital for three months as a brain-dead patient gave birth to a healthy baby through cesarian section in the maternity clinic of Debrecen University, Professor Bela Fulesdi, head of the university's medical centre, told an international press conference on Wednesday.

After the unprecedented birth, five organs of the woman were given to four patients waiting for a life-saving transplant, the professor said. State Secretary for health Miklos Szocska, who attended the press conference, said that "one life has helped save five" and thanked both doctors and nurses of the hospital, and the deceased woman's family for "choosing life" through their consent to the operations.

Hungary Reformed Charity medical team with aid to help in typhoon-hit Philippines

2013. november 10. vasárnap 20:37 |

A team carrying medical equipment and 15,000 dollars in aid from the Hungarian Reformed Charity will leave for the typhoon-hit Philippines on Monday, the charity told MTI on Sunday

The team of eight doctors will provide medical help in the coastal city of Tacloban, on the island hit hardest by Typhoon Haiyan, where they will start work in a fully equipped tent upon arrival, it said.

The aid package provided by the charity contains medical equipment, medicine, bandages and infusions.

The secondary aim of the mission is to assess rebuilding needs.

Donations to the charity may be made by calling 13600 and punching in code 66, by visiting the website www.jobbadni.hu or through the account number 10702019-85008898-51100005.

According to the Philippine government's estimate, some 10,000 people have died in the disaster.

Synagogue reconstruction launched in Debrecen, Oradea

Forrás: MTI | 2013. november 12. kedd 10:18 |

The synagogue in Debrecen's Kápolnás street in eastern Hungary and the Zion synagogue in Oradea (Nagyvárad) in western Romania will be reconstructed in a 1.41 million euro cross-border project.

Tamás Horovitz, head of the Jewish Community of Debrecen, said the synagogue built in 1910 seats 600 people and has a dome of the Star of David. The building will undergo repairs to its roof and drainage pipes and the interior and facade will be repainted. Work will start on Dec.1 and expected to finish by May 31 next year, he said.

Felix Kappelmann, the head of the Jewish Community of Nagyvárad, said the synagogue, built on the banks of the River Körös, will help make the city a meeting place for not only different nationalities but for spiritual communities too.

Hungary Reformed Charity medical team with aid to help in typhoon-hit Philippines

2013. november 10. vasárnap 20:37 |

A team carrying medical equipment and 15,000 dollars in aid from the Hungarian Reformed Charity will leave for the typhoon-hit Philippines on Monday, the charity told MTI on Sunday

The team of eight doctors will provide medical help in the coastal city of Tacloban, on the island hit hardest by Typhoon Haiyan, where they will start work in a fully equipped tent upon arrival, it said.

The aid package provided by the charity contains medical equipment, medicine, bandages and infusions.

The secondary aim of the mission is to assess rebuilding needs.

Donations to the charity may be made by calling 13600 and punching in code 66, by visiting the website www.jobbadni.hu or through the account number 10702019-85008898-51100005.

According to the Philippine government's estimate, some 10,000 people have died in the disaster.

Korean films shown at Urania for free

Forrás: MTI | 2013. október 29. kedd 15:43 |

Five Korean films will be shown at free screenings in Budapest's Urania cinema between November 4 and 8.

The films will be shown with Hungarian subtitles in the main screening room and with English subtitles in the Csortos screening room, cinema director Edit Bakos told the press on Monday. Spokeswoman of the Korean Cultural Centre Dora Palffy said that four of the five films will be Hungarians premieres.  

The programme will include the 2012 award-winning historical drama Masquerade on November 5, the renowned 2004 thriller Oldboy on November 5 and 6, the comedy Barking Dogs Never Bite from 2000 on November 6 and 7, the award-winning 2010 thriller Secret Reunion on November 7 and 8, and the 2008 action moive Rough Cut on November 4 and 8.

Budapest hosts conference on Indian-Hungarian links in art

Forrás: mti | 2013. november 04. hétfő 17:49 |

A conference dedicated to Indian painter of Hungarian origin Amrita Sher-Gil (1913-1941) and cultural links between the two countries started in Budapest on Monday.

Gyorgy Fekete, head of the conference's organiser Hungarian Art Academy (MMA), said at the opening event that "the spiritual journey between the two countries" includes such notable persons as Hungarian Orientalist Sandor Korosi Csoma, Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, former Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, Hungarian writer and Islamologist Gyula Germanus and Hungarian-British archaeologist Aurel Stein. Ministry of Human Resources official Imre Lazar told the conference that cultural cooperation between the two countries goes back to the 16th-17th centuries but links became especially strong in the early 20th century thanks to many Hungarian scientists and researchers who visited India, including Stein, Ervin Baktay and Germanus. The conference features 23 lectures over two days exploring bilateral relations in science, painting, music, dance, literature, architecture and ethnography. The second day will be focused on Sher-Gil, whose birth anniversary is commemorated this year. The chief patron of the event is Minister of Human Resources Zoltan Balog.

Whale-shaped cultural centre opens on Budapest embankment

Forrás: MTI | 2013. november 08. péntek 17:50 |

Balna Budapest, a modern cultural and commercial centre built in the shape of a whale, opened its doors on the city's eastern embankment on Friday after prolonged legal and technical battles.

Deputy mayor Gabor Bagdy said at the opening that in 2010 his administration had inherited a technically unfinished building which lacked commercial potential, in an underfinanced project under a legally challenging public-private-partnership.

The building, designed by the Dutch architect Kaas Oosterhuis, should have opened by August 2010, but the contractor left it in a half-finished state and failed to pay his subcontractors. Budapest municipality bought up outstanding debt in 2012 and paid some of the subcontractors, although there still remain problems, Bagdy said.

"The Balna could be the Eiffel Tower of Budapest," he said, adding that the New Budapest Gallery opened its doors on level 2 and level -1 will house an eco-friendly market and antique shops.

The Gallery opened with an exhibition containing the works of 58 contemporary artists on Friday and a wide range of programmes will be on offer until Sunday.