Between 26-29 January, the 9th BIDF (Budapest International Documentary Film Festival) will present seven award-winning, diverse documentaries on current topics at the Apollo Cinema in Pécs. For nine years, the event has been the only international competition festival in Hungary for the world's most prestigious documentaries, without thematic or other restrictions. For several years now, audiences have been able to see a selection of the Budapest festival programme in other cities as well, including Pécs. This year, you have the opportunity to choose from seven films. Tamás Horváth, President of the Cultural Committee of Pécs, will speak at the opening of the festival.
The films shown in Pécs offer insights into various topics. The documentary Young Plato takes the viewer to Belfast, to a Catholic boys' school, where the headmaster uses philosophy to show his young pupils that there are other ways of dealing with conflict than violence. The four days also include the story of a young boy freed from ISIS captivity (Imad's Childhood), you can also take a peek behind the scenes of the coronavirus epidemic in Sweden (Behind the Swedish Model) and you can learn more about the daily life of a public hospital in Shanghai (H6). We also learn about a rainbow family's guardianship ordeal (Silent Love), and confront a method of eliminating free speech in contemporary Russia (The New Greatness Case) and the bloody reality of the war in Ukraine (Freedom On Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom).
The documentaries will be followed by round-table discussions on the topic, with the participation of renowned experts of the University of Pécs and NGO staff. The motto of this year's festival is: “Respect life! "Don't kill!" The films will be screened one time only, in their original language, with subtitles in Hungarian and English.
Tickets: at the Apollo Cinema website and at the Apollo Cinema box office.
BIDF 2023 Program:
Thursday, 26 January
5 pm - Young Plato (IMDb 7.9; 1h 42m)
Friday, 27 January
4 pm - Behind the Swedish Model (1h 15m)
6 pm - Silent Love (IMDb 7.2; 1h 12m)
Saturday, 28 January
3:30 pm - Imad's Childhood (IMDb 8.0; 1h 17m)
5:30 pm - H6 (IMDb 7.2; 1h 54m)
Sunday, 29 January
3:30 pm - The New Greatness Case (IMDb 6.6; 1h 32m)
5:30 pm - Freedom on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom (IMDb 7.8; 1h 54m)
