Since 1965 · 45 editions · the 46th in 2027
The history
of the Hungarian
Film Week
The Hungarian Film Week is the most important professional and cultural event in Hungarian cinema. Over more than six decades, it has provided a space not only for presenting and evaluating new films, but also for filmmakers to meet, for professional dialogue and for direct contact with audiences.
- 1965the first Film Week, Pécs
- 45editions held
- 473entries in 2026
- 20,000+viewers in 2026
1965–1975
The Beginnings of the Feature Film Week
The first Hungarian Feature Film Week was held in Pécs in November 1965. Under the state studio system of the time, films were entered into the event by the heads of the studios.
At first the event was not held every year: there was no Film Week in 1971, 1972, 1974 or 1975.
1976–1988
The Travelling Years and the Budapest Film Week
From 1976, the Feature Film Week was hosted alternately by Pécs and Budapest, and from the 1980s Budapest became its permanent venue. The Film Week was deliberately held in early February, before the Berlin International Film Festival, so that international film professionals could also discover the latest Hungarian films in Budapest.
The awards system changed several times: no awards were presented between 1976 and 1980, and no main prize was awarded in 1981.
1989–2011
The Heyday of the Hungarian Film Week
By the time of the political transition, the event, now under the name Hungarian Film Week, had become the defining event of Hungarian film life. Alongside feature films, documentaries, short films, animated and experimental works played an increasingly important role.
The Film Week served as a shared forum for different generations of filmmakers, film workshops and professional organisations. The screenings were complemented by professional debates, audience meetings and international programmes. It played a particularly important role in launching young filmmakers and in introducing Hungarian films internationally.
The Film Week was not merely an awards event, but also a key venue for the regular, public self-assessment of Hungarian cinema and for professional dialogue.
2012–2024
The “No-Frills” Film Week and the Long Hiatus
During the restructuring of the film funding system, the 43rd, so-called “no-frills” Hungarian Film Week was held in 2012 under the direction of Béla Tarr, without a competition or awards.
13 years of silence
For the next thirteen years, no Hungarian Film Week was held. Hungarian film life sorely missed a comprehensive, open professional forum that gave different genres and creative workshops a shared platform to present their work.
2025 · 44th Hungarian Film Week
The Rebirth of the Film Week
- 382films entered
- 9competition categories
- 20,000+viewers
- 3–9 FebCorvin Cinema
The Association of Hungarian Filmmakers decided to revive the Film Week on the initiative of its president, András Muhi. The 44th Hungarian Film Week was held at the Corvin Cinema from 3 to 9 February 2025, with the support of the Municipality of Budapest and in cooperation with Budapest Film.
382 films were entered, competing in nine categories. The competition programme was complemented by Panorama and Information screenings, audience meetings and professional events, showcasing the diversity of Hungarian moving image culture.
The event attracted more than twenty thousand viewers. The very strong interest from both professionals and audiences confirmed that there is still a real need for a shared presentation of Hungarian films, independent of funding and institutional background.
2026 · 45th Hungarian Film Week
The 45th Hungarian Film Week
Held again at the Corvin Cinema from 2 to 8 February 2026, the 45th Hungarian Film Week confirmed the continuity of the revived event.
The competition programme was restructured: music videos got their own category, and popular science and portrait films were split off from the two documentary categories into a category of their own. Films now competed in ten categories. INGA Kultúrkávézó joined as a partner in organising the audience meetings and professional events, further strengthening the Film Week’s community-building role.
473 works were entered, and once again more than twenty thousand viewers attended the screenings.
The aim of the renewed Film Week
The aim of the renewed Hungarian Film Week is to continue its traditions as an open, professionally independent forum that embraces Hungarian cinema as a whole.
Above all, it aims to be a place of encounter, where the different generations, filmmakers and workshops of the film profession can come together again, talk, and engage in dialogue with each other and with the audience.
2027
The story continues.
46th Hungarian
Film Week
1–7 February 2027 · Corvin Cinema, Budapest
Submission deadline: 6 December 2026
