The 40-year-old Kecskemét Animation Film Festival starts in a month

Hungary’s first animation film festival – and one of the country’s longest-running film events – the Kecskemét Animation Film Festival (KAFF), celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, places a strong emphasis on showcasing the greatest Hungarian creators alongside a vibrant international programme. Between May 27 and June 1, audiences will be treated to a wide-ranging selection of the most distinctive works from 111 years of Hungarian animation. The festival will also feature an exhibition dedicated to the 70-year history of slide film in Hungary and commemorate some of the iconic Hungarian animation artists celebrating milestone anniversaries this year, including József Nepp, creator of The Mézga Family and Dr. Bubó; the highly versatile Csaba Varga; Sándor Reisenbüchler, once described in Cannes as an “extreme lunatic”; and Béla Vajda, recipient of the Palme d’Or. The six-day interdisciplinary event is entirely free of charge.

The 17th KAFF, commencing on May 27, is marked by a wealth of anniversaries to be celebrated. This year, the festival itself celebrates its 40th anniversary. On the opening day at 5 pm, film historian Zoltán Varga will officially open an exhibition dedicated to Hungary’s oldest animation film festival, held in the chamber hall of Hírös Agóra. Following the opening, audiences will be treated to a curated 90-minute retrospective featuring some of the most memorable award-winning short films from KAFF’s illustrious history.

This year would mark the 80th birthday of Csaba Varga, one of the most versatile figures in Hungarian animation. His film The Wind (A szél), which is also featured at KAFF, was recognized in Krakow in 1998 as one of the greatest animation works ever made. Varga founded the Ixilon Studio in Pécs, which joined Pannonia Film Studio in 1979. A decade later, he became the first to establish an independent animation studio in Hungary. Co-founded with András Erkel, Varga Studio became one of the most influential animation workshops of the 1990s, renowned not only for its high-profile international commissions but also for its dedication to supporting auteur animation.

Last year would have marked the 90th birthday of Jószef Nepp, the creator of works such as The Mézga Family and Dr. Bubó, who was honored with both the Balázs Béla and Kossuth Awards. Nepp was virtually an institution in Hungarian animation history. Within Pannonia Film Studio, he was referred to as the “all-rounder” or “jolly joker,” who, in addition to directing his own films, contributed as a screenwriter, animator, background designer, and even composer, assisting his colleagues with their projects. His body of work is primarily defined by grotesque and dark humor, through which he frequently held up a distorted mirror to human weaknesses and compromises. His sharp wit is evident in his full-length animated feature, the 1984 cult classic Snow White (Hófehér), which will be screened on a giant projector in the main square of Kecskemét.

According to a legend, in the early 1970s, there was a saying in Cannes that “there are two extreme lunatics in Hungarian cinema”: Miklós Jancsó in live-action films and Sándor Reisenbüchler, the Balázs Béla and Kossuth Award-winning animator, in animated short films. Reisenbüchler, who would have turned 90 this year, is an unmistakably unique figure in Hungarian cinema, known for his consistently developed, cohesive body of work. He carried the spirit of the 1960s, particularly the values of pop art, into the realm of animated filmmaking. In his sweeping, visionary, and sometimes grotesque works, he appears as a passionate prophet concerned about the future of humanity, a conscious creator, and a dedicated environmentalist.

This year would mark the 90th birthday of Balázs Béla Award-winning Artist of Merit Béla Vajda, one of the representatives of animated documentary in Hungary, who also made a lasting contribution to caricature animation. His most significant work is Moto perpetuo, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980 and will be screened at KAFF.

Finally, to celebrate the 111th anniversary of Hungarian animation, the festival will showcase the best of Hungarian animation in three 90-minute blocks, spanning from the 1960s to the present. The selection includes award-winning short films that have been honored at major international festivals, from Cannes to Berlin, from Annecy to the Academy Awards.