Best Hungarian documentary movies

On 27th July 1986, British stadium rock band Queen broke new ground by playing for the first time in Hungary, a country which was still under a communist dictatorship behind the Iron Curtain.

The Komló settlement was a typical example of how Roma labour was exploited in the 1970s industrial mass production. This collaboration of Roma pupils and their teachers portrays the children’s everyday lives through their own drawings, often translating cruel facts into fairytales.

Hungary, 1990s. Travel abroad is finally possible, but unaffordable. By forging international train tickets, three young people get to know the world.

This is a spectacular, exciting and emotional portrayal of Ferenc Puskas, the kid from Kispest who became the brightest star in the footballing galaxy.

25 years after spending their holidays at a summer camp in 1980s socialist Hungary, the campers confont the demons of the past.

The story of the Hungarian men's national water polo team who won three Olympic gold medals in a row between 2000 and 2008.

A dearly departed VHS rental chain gets a bittersweet send-off in this documentary featuring testimonials from employees and film lovers.

A Woman Captured is about Marish, a 52-year-old Hungarian woman who has been serving a family for a decade, working 20 hours a day without getting paid. Her ID was taken from her by her oppressors and she's not allowed to leave the house without permission. Treated like an animal,she only gets leftovers to eat and no bed to sleep in. Marish spends the days with fear in her heart, but dreaming of getting her life back. The film follows Marish’s heroic journey back to freedom.⠀

At first glance, it's just like other European plains. Once the wind and rivers worked on it, today it bears the signs of human activity. The Hungarian Puszta is different nonetheless: it lives a secret life where always happens something. Big birds hustle and push each other, the traffic of the white, salty lakes competes that of major airports, antlers clash like swords, and an owl claps on all this. The most peculiar creature is the protagonist itself. The golden jackal once lived here, but it vanished for decades because of constant persecution. But this four-legged predator, defying the danger, has returned and founded a family. The new pack howls in the frosty night: "This is our land!"

The story of five secretive characters, told with Klezmer music. Five 21st century young and not so young men someplace in the world. They are musicians in search for someone and something which might have been born in their imagination. Once upon a time in the beginning of the 20th century there lived a Klezmer musician and storyteller Prince Nazaroff. Many people don’t believe he ever existed, but these five do. They have imagined him, and imagination can be stronger than reality. To this day, Nazaroff lives in them. They can’t except that something could disappear forever. They call themselves ‘The Brothers Nazaroff’. A deeply emotional story told through Klezmer music about identity, emigration, inner emigration, brothers and godbrothers, religion and belief, faith and disbelief. A modern story about our strange world we live in.

A feature length, lively - montage style - documentary, capturing the essence of what life was like in socialist Hungary - dubbed the "The most cheerful barrack" back then - using contemporary music, interviews, adverts and news footages.

Not far from Budapest, in the outskirts of Táborfalva, a board stops the arriving: "Keep out! Entry is dangerous and forbidden!" The Forbidden Zone starts here, the second biggest shooting and drill ground in Hungary, where military field exercises have been performed for one and a half century. In spite of the danger and prohibition, the area is densely populated. Many plant and animals species live their secret lives here, some of them being rare creatures that almost completely disappeared from the cultivated parts of the Hungarian Alföld. They are protected by weapons...

The long dead ghosts of celluloid are coming back to haunt the digital space.

Miklós Németh was one of Hungary's most popular politicians at the time of the regime change, and decades later, many encouraged him to come back and become prime minister again. But he withdrew. And not only from public life, but also from the public. However, 30 years after the declaration of the republic, he made an exception with the RTL Club and said yes to our request. He shared his personal memories in front of the camera, talked about successes and failures as well. From the interviews with him, the XXI. 20th century viewers could already see details, for example, about the dismantling of the Iron Curtain or the release of the East Germans. From the documentary 545 Days _ The Prime Minister of the Regime Change, we show from his point of view,

The Puszta is a seemingly less diverse part of the Hungarian Alföld, but it's actually teeming with natural wonders. The treeless plain was developed from a forested plain, and it's one of the last in the Carpathian Basin. Some of its plant and animal species are considered European rarities.

Throughout history, Hungary's waters have changed almost beyond recognition. Our swamplands have been replaced by reservoirs and fish ponds, and our largest floodplain is now an arid lowland wilderness. Today, 75% of our lakes are artificial and 90% of our floodplains are gone. But wildlife has had to adapt to this changing world or face extinction. Surprisingly, our artificial lakes provide the last refuge for some rare aquatic ecosystems and our former floodplains provide temporary shelter for hundreds of thousands of migrating birds during the winter. But this world is no longer governed by nature, but by man. In this new nature documentary from the creators of the highly successful Where Rivers Run Wild: Aqua Hungarica, the man-made aquatic world is revealed in stunning new images. From the crane migration in the Hortobágy National Park to the hidden labyrinths of Lake Tisza, the winter marshes of the Hungarian Great Plains and the jellyfish hovering in crystal clear mine lakes.

The Art of Dubbing…, a documentary about Hungarian dubbing, was made with the participation of dozens of well-known actors and professionals working in the field. The documentary is a fitting tribute to the legendary Hungarian dubbing actors and actresses and the dubbing profession. The film also talks about the origins, golden age, present and possible future of Hungarian dubbing.

With an intimate look into the band's life, this concert documentary is about the farewell concert of cult Hungarian band 'Kispál és a borz'.

The Tisza has meandered through the Great Plain for thousands of years. Ever since man first appeared on its banks, he has been trying to put the blonde river at his service. He has drunk its water, irrigated it, cut it up and levelled it. And 50 years ago he stopped it to turn it into a big reservoir. Little did he know then that his work would conjure up the world of the ancient Tisza. Thanks to the river’s waters, a unique ecosystem has been created. Man built it, nature built it. Thus was created a man-made paradise: the Tisza Lake. The narrator of the film, Dimitry Ljasuk, takes the viewer by the hand and shows, through all 4 seasons, what this special place has become over the decades. Millions of special birds and fish have settled here, and the dense vegetation has painted the banks of the blonde river green. Today, wild meanders, black-water inland lakes, labyrinths of reeds and thousands of islands are reminiscent of the ancient Tisza.

We're at Hungary's western gateway. The landscape is ruled by the representatives of economy: motorways, cities, industrial parks, wind farms, as well as the hydroelectric power plant commissioned exactly 20 years ago. But something hides among them. A giant alluvial fan with small, island-like villages, forests, wetland fields, reed beds, all of which are encircled by countless small and big watercourses and prongs. This inland delta is unique in Europe, and was created by the Danube coming out of the mountains. But today the river is not as free to move as once. Seeing the grip of the built environment, the question arises: Can the wildlife retain its former richness and beauty?

The documentary was shot in the prison for juvenile delinquents in Hungary. It does not aim at judging whether the perpetrators were convicted rightly or not but, given the burden they carry, how they can reintegrate into society after they are released.

Scenes from holiday life at Lake Balaton in Hungary during the communism.

It is the year 2546. Corporations rule the world, and an agent is on a secret mission to explore the untold stories of the past. His journey leads him into a secret virtual reality where one corporation has recreated the 1980s, an era that witnessed the birth of video game development, an event in which a politically and economically restricted small European country, Hungary, had a significant role. He discovers a strange but exciting world, where computers were smuggled through the Iron Curtain and serious engineers started developing games. This small country was still under Soviet pressure when a group of people managed to set up one of the first game development studios in the world, and western computer stores started clearing room on their shelves for Hungarian products.

Szani, Tina and Emese: or as they call themselves, the Divas are three twenty-year-old girls who can talk for hours about makeup, clothes, or profile pictures. Máté, a young director, enters the scene, following them with his camera until their graduation, to find out what is hidden behind their perfect makeup. Meanwhile they learn from each other, they all make a step towards adulthood.

A feature length, lively - montage style - documentary, capturing the essence of what life was like in socialist Hungary - dubbed the "The most cheerful barrack" back then - using contemporary music, interviews, adverts and news footages.

The recurring protagonists of the movie is an osprey family and a young otter. Through their story, the animals living in the wetlands of the Carpathian Basin and their rarely seen behaviour are presented. Deers, Hungarian grey cattle, asps, catfish, bee-eaters, hooded crows appear in the movie, as well as places like the backwaters of the Tisza River, the Danube and its tributaries, the Hortobágy, the Balaton and the Gemenc Forest. The movie presents one year of the animals living the wetlands and floodplain forests, from winter to next summer. A nature documentary about the lands, fauna and nature-related traditions of Hungary.

Hungary could have been the happiest barracks under socialism only because, with the involvement of the Colombian drug cartel, it smuggled several tons of drugs into the United States every year. The Hungarian mafia from Los Angeles was also actively involved in the distribution of the drug methaqualone produced in Újpest. Since the psychotropic drug, also known as Quaalude, generated millions of dollars in profit for the comrades on the Danube, Budapest used this amount to feed the population, plug the budget deficit and build hotels. Of course, it didn't take long for the American Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, to eavesdrop on the action and blackmail the People's Republic of the Carpathian Basin.

A music documentary about Hungarian musicians creating music around lake Balaton. The feature film continuation of the acclaimed Kodály Method (2011) videos.

A rockumentary about four Hungarian musician: Mester Tamás, Papp Szabi, Ganxsta Zolee and Tóth Tibi. They moved in together for seven weeks to record an album, put together a concert while they were recorded by the crew who made a music documentary film of the whole work.

Gemenc is the largest floodplain forest in Central Europe, where water is constantly changing the landscape. The river Danube defines the everyday life of plants and animals: it nourishes, protects and threatens, builds and destroys it.

The story of Ágnes Keleti, a sporting legend who defeated both her rivals and the existential threats to a Jew living through the turmoil of the 20th century.

Meet Dot, the little wild horse foal. She is a Przewalski's horse: the only true wild horse species of the world. Although the origin of this endangered species is in Mongolia, Dot lives in the heart of Europe, on the grassy plains of Hungary called the "Puszta". 25 years ago some were introduced here and the horses instantly formed an organic connection with this magical land with rich and unique wildlife. Today this is one of the largest Przewalski's horse herds on the planet. This is their story.

Bugs, the banning of Pride, incitement against Ukraine — in 2025, Fidesz faces the looming threat of defeat, and Viktor Orbán’s camp has launched a counterattack. Many expect the most brutal campaign the regime has ever conducted. There’s nothing new about the method. Just as this isn’t the first time Orbán’s power has been in danger. Stolen public funds, the internet tax, brokerage scandals, the U.S. entry ban, the so-called "G-Day" — ten years ago, Fidesz’s support plummeted within months, and their system fell into crisis almost immediately after winning the 2014 election. But the arrival of masses fleeing war offered a perfect opportunity to test a new strategy. And the experiment worked: this was the moment when hate became the cornerstone of the Orbán regime.

It's a documentary about the civilian and police victims of the 2006 protests in Hungary and tells the story of the prostest from the point of view of the victims.

The Balaton is the biggest shallow water lake in Central Europe. Although vacationers invade its coast every summer, the lake and its surroundings contain almost unbelievable natural treasures. The volcanoes, caves, tufaceous limestone stairs, sandhills and valleys are parts of the European Geopark Network, the moors are water habitats of international significance. Ground squirrels, wildcats, peregrines, ravens, mass-nesting egrets and herons, filber mice going on night adventures, asps doing wedding dance live here. The odd marriage of geology, wildlife and humans created this spectacular landscape.

Kafia, a young girl on the brink of adulthood, has to leave behind a lot of what defined her Somalian life as she tries to adapt to her new existence in Hungary. As the family’s cultural values and taboos start to fall apart, Kafia tries to explain and make sense of all these changes to her mother left behind.

Attila Baukó, aka Azahriah is one of Hungary's most famous singer, who filled the biggest sport arena of the country with three consecutive concerts. But this film is not a concert film. It is not a music documentary. Nor is it a traditional portrait film. We are Azahriah is the story of a real and an imaginary journey inspired by Azahriah's life and songs.

There is a phantom lurking in the forest. It is almost impossible to spot him, but his traces give him away. His footsteps in the snow tell us that he was heading towards the valley. The hole with the dry leaves was his ambush during the day. And the leftover of the prey shows what he was hunting for. As we follow his traces, we get to know the forest where he lives. We walk through river valleys, canyons, sunny crags and misty hills – this is the Northern Low Mountain Range, a transition zone between the Carpathians and the Great Plain, on the border of Hungary and Slovakia.

Two actors wandered from house to house in the countryside in the roles of the photographer and the retoucher business man offering their photographic services to the people.

April 26, 1986 went down in history as the day the biggest nuclear disaster in human history. Radioactive dust released from the destroyed reactor came across the Europe, and polluted entire countries. Since then, 25 years have past. 30 km-s Expulsion Zone, organized around 4. reactor is still works as a protective shield, closing down heavily contaminated areas from the outside world. Film of Anton Bendarjevskiy and Mark Maczelka talks show the Zone, located around the object "Shelter" (called "sarcophagus"), people working in the Zone, and the new town of Slavutich, which was built in place of deserted Pripyat. Who gave their lives working in the reactor during these 25 years, and how did the operation of the reactor and the lives of workers continued after the accident. In what state is now a protective shield around the 4. reactor the "sarcophagus" and what is hidden inside.

This Hungarian documentary explores the life and career of Olympic Pentathlon champion Andras Balczo. After winning five gold medals in the event, he retired at age 34. He was offered lucrative positions as a coach in many countries but elected to remain in Hungary, despite the fact that he was never permitted to train anyone there.

As Hungary’s political climate becomes increasingly radicalized, Virág, a former green politician, loses faith in the democratic parliament of Hungary and retires from politics. She and her musician partner Nóra decide to adopt a child and focus on building a family together. With a sensitive lens and close access, directors Asia Dér and Sári Haragonics follow the two women through their long and ultimately successful adoption process to bring home their young daughter of Roma origins. But tensions begin to rise between the two as Virág thrives in her role as mother and Nóra struggles to find her place within the family. As the rising tides of hate and homophobia in Hungary begin to overflow into their family, their lives hit a boiling point and they must face the difficult decision of whether to leave their country behind.

Some potted plants, odd hours of wakefulness, and the view from my window. A heliotropic film from the lockdown in Budapest.

The story of the birth of the Hungarian home computer scene back in the '80s behind the Iron Curtain. Smuggled in C64s, cracked games, swappers, diskmags, hacked phone lines to American BBS servers, demoscene, copy parties.

A documentary about the final years of legendary Hungarian guitarist, Tamás Barta.

Three charming 20-something grandsons take a unique journey with their grannies to discover their historic and personal legacies through stories from the Second World War. Three grandsons embark an anarchic journey into the past – a complex road movie about intergenerational dialogue in Great Britain, Germany and Hungary. Granny Project is a seven-year-long investigation of three young men coming to terms with their heritage through the extraordinary lives of their grandmothers: an English spy, a dancer from Nazi Germany and a Hungarian communist Holocaust survivor. The film deals with classic values and taboo-like historical topics, and the method used is equally important as it gives an insight to the zeitgeist of the young today.

A group of young journalists takes on the state propaganda.

With the participation of numerous well known and world famous Hungarian tattoo artists, the all night documentary "Varrat" features contributions from noted professionals working in the tattooing business. The show presents the art of tattooing with impressive imagery and explores the journey of tattooing from low to high culture.

Beyond the river lies a world where suffering, poverty, and violence define everyday life. The film doesn’t explain or judge - it listens. With no external narration, the community tells its own story - with pain, with humor, with dignity. An unforgiving mirror held up to a society that keeps what it doesn’t want to see at arm’s length.

The Aszú of Tokaj, a sweet wine of Hungary, was once cherished by King Louis XIV, Queen Victoria, Peter the Great, Goethe and Beethoven. But the world has since forgotten the noble Aszú, two world wars, the enforced collectivisation of the Communist regime and the deadly filoxera epidemic had all wreaked havoc on the vines. Three dedicated heroes, one passion: to create The Great Wine that can return to the most refined tables of the world.

Rise of the Árpáds tells the never-before-told exciting story of the 9th century Hungarian Conquest, and also gives an insight into the rise of the most famous Hungarian royal family, the Árpád dynasty.

Thirty years, three eras: they have been trying to save the Hungarian film industry again and again over the decades. Among these attempts were highs, lows, countless deals and compromises. And now some say that we are living in the saddest period of Hungarian filmmaking.

A film about a district in Buda, which to this day cannot face the inconceivably cruel crimes committed by its former inhabitants.

If this machine targets you, there's no escape. One of the most important and toughest weapons of the Orbán regime was first used against political opponents, but by now, everyone must be prepared to become a target. Truth plays no role whatsoever in these media campaigns. What can the justice system do about this, and how can one defend against it? The film was made possible thanks to the subscribers of 444.

About the first Hungarian Beauty Contest in 1985, that led to a tragic end.

The untold story of a Jewish baby who was born in the death camp before the liberation and survived. An extraordinary journey of the second and third generation, breaking the cycle of trauma to free themselves from Auschwitz - forever.

A unique drama about everyday athletes who join an extreme running race. Their dream and burden is to test their personal limits, heal their souls and release their demons.