VACSORA (THE DINNER)

Vacsora In The press -- Festival jury statements

2009-04-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

Jury Statements:

The Venice jury awarded Vacsora for the following reason:
“Using a language at the same time realistic and grotesque, and an image-sound relation with a strong emotional strain, the author portrayed a human and social condition ruled by the uncertainty of life and death.”

Cottbus Jury awarded the Main Prize for the following reason:
A well made film about the important things in life told with a brilliant sense of humor.

Press Articles:

Filmhu, February 1st, 2009 (Premier Hungarian online film magazine)
“From the two short film blocks (in competition at the Hungarian Film Week) without a doubt, Karchi Perlmann’s Venice Film Festival award honoree was the strongest. …Perlmann successfully awakens the ’70s bitter domestic satire tradition: the edge-of-the-seat suspense situation, filling the character’s lives with seemingly mundane pressures with cynical humor, which finally turns everything into a metaphor of an entire country where everyone’s banal existence is sliding toward inevitable tragedy. All this in the framework of the 2006 Budapest riots and a filmic masterwork long over due ”

Folyoirat (Newswire), Janurary 31st., 2009
“…the is film (Vacsora) is at once surreal and a gritty realism… which hits the bull’s eye for a modern day rural tragedy, and can only be taken seriously by laughing out loud; a Shakespeare drama or a Greek tragedy could easily survive on the amount of gruesome offerings as this film dishes out in the blink of an eye.”

Filmhu January 31st, 2009 (Premier Hungarian online film magazine)
“The day’s best short was Karchi Perlmann’s grotesque film, which, if it wasn’t so humorous and wasn’t based on a real event, one could think was driven by snobbism against Hungarian hicks. But the film is so well made and with so much humor (as earlier mentioned) that I can’t even accuse him of malicious, anti-patriotism. In other words, there is not one reason why I should denounce this film. I can only hope that Perlmann will succeed in realizing the feature film he talked about at the Q&A after the screening.”

The Auteurs, September 8th, 2008 (an online film magazine)
“The Dinner by Karchi Perlmann was a stand out for the audience as much as the jury, winning the Special Mention award. The highly stylized combination of bright colors and fairly-tale feel balanced out this short's grim story. A quick synopsis tells of a man who, while listening to a radio show where hosts tease callers sharing absurd stories of fatal accidents, slips on what turns out to be a lethal dollop of pig manure in the pen of his very, very hungry animals. That The Dinner was also a clever vehicle to address life in Budapest after the riots of 2006 is the extra kicker that wins Perlmann a mark as a director to watch. Though the ending of the short was by no means "happy," Perlmann's ability to make this piece reverent in feel shows his talent. You watch the credits feeling joyful and laughing, partly simply at the oddness of human psychology.

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Best Picture Win in Germany - Prague special exhibition.

2009-04-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

Following the Venice success "Vacsora" was invited to the 18th Cottbus Film Festival. The Cottbus festival is a celebration of Eastern European cinema. It was established in 1990 in commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. "Vacsora" was the only short film invited from Hungary and was honored with the Main Prize during the closing night ceremonies. Having specific post-socialist era themes laced throughout the story this acknowledgement was especially meaningful to us.

Just before the Cottbus Festival the "Vacsora" was showcased in Prague through a yearly program hosted by Hungarian Ministry of Culture. In a special program the Ministry of Culture presents a collection of high profile domestic films (in a given year) in foreign cultural centers. It is so wonderful to see the film getting good exposure on its own turf reinforcing our beliefs that the film taps socially and culturally relevant material.

Vacsora Premiere at the 65th Venice International Film Festival

2009-03-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Vacsora was premiered at the 65th Venice International Film Festival in September 2008. The reception was phenomenal. All three screenings sold out and the audience made its appreciation known by multiple applause. It was on account of this festival that the film got its first reviews. One from The Auter's Review and several from various Hungarian press (we will publish excerpts from these review in later posts). At the close of the festival, during the award ceremony, Vacsora was awarded the Honorable Mention Award of the Corto Cortissimo. It was an unexpected, but highly satisfying moment for us as the Venice short film competition (Corto Cortissimo) is one the most prestigious short film programs in the world. The program consisted of 18 short films, selected from 1500 submissions from around the world.

Welcome to Vacsora the Movie Blog

2009-03-30T18:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you for visiting our blogspot. It is time to post information about the exciting journey of our short film "Vacosra." We will publish stories from its the inception to the present, exciting news, festival announcements fun facts, but will stay away from "story spoilers" in case you've not yet seen the movie.

Vacsora is a Hungarian short film produced, written and directed by Karchi Perlmann. It explores Hungary’s current state of schizophrenia. It follows one day in the life of a small, rural family. When Gaspar slips and falls in the pigpen during the morning feeding, the farm quietly transforms into a stage of “Le Théâtre de l'Absurde.” Set in the shadows of the Budapest riots in the fall of 2006, this intimate family tale draws impish parallels to the psychosis of a nation that feeds on itself. The ever-present radio keeps the social context abstract and disconnected, stewing the film into an existential, cultural and political pot of Goulash.