04-06-2009

Production: Judit Elek in pre-production with Retrace

By Gyorgy Karpati

    Judit Elek, the new Film New Europe ambassador, is in pre-production with Retrace, a Hungarian-Swedish-Romanian co-production.

    Elek told FNE that the film recently took part in ScriptEast in Cannes and that she will begin filming in July.

    The movie is produced by Danielfilm Studio with Elek taking on position of producer. The co-production partners are Artis Film Romania (www.artisfilm.ro) with producer Cornelia Palos and Sweden's Illusion Film (www.illusionfilm.se) with producer Peter Hiltunen. Film-I-Vast (www.filmivast.se), a Goteborg regional film fund is also involved.

    The budget of the film is €1.7 million including €220,000 from Eurimages. The Motion Picture Foundation of Hungary (www.mmka.hu), The Board of the Motion Picture Section of the National Cultural Fund of Hungary (www.nka.hu) and CNC Romania (www.cincinema.ro) are also providing financial support.

    The shooting will begin in mid-July in Goteborg and will end in October with 48-49 shooting days. Shooting will take place on location in Sweden and Romania.

    Judit Elek was honored at the 2009 Hungarian Film Week as the Master of the Motion Picture. The director's last movie was The Eighth Day of the Week (2006). Elek is a member of the European Film Academy and has received awards at the Berlinale and in Locarno. The cinematographer and dramaturg Laszlo Berger. The cast will be a mix of Hungarian and Swedish actors.

    In the story of Reatrace, a woman travels to Ceausescu's Romania for the first time since finding refuge in Ireland as a child escaping the Holocaust. Her traumatic memories and the deceit of her husband with her sister push her over the edge. The story is based on the novels of Marguerite Duras and Miklos Meszoly.

    "I'm very pleased and can give much thanks to my advisors at ScriptEast, which was very useful to my project," Elek told.

    The release of the movie will be most likely be in autumn 2010. The world sales rights and the Hungarian distribution rights are under negotiation.

    Company credits:

    Danielfilm Studio Ltd.

    Judit Elek, producer

    1125 Budapest, Dániel út 22

    Tel.: +36 1 2752377

    E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Artis Film Romania Ltd.

    Cornelia Palos, producer

    59 Romulus Street, Sector 3
    70000 Bucharest, Romania

    Tel.: +40 21 322 36 48

    Fax: +40 21 322 36 65

    E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Illusion Film AB

    Peter Hiltunen, producer
    Tredje Langgatan 13
    SE-413 03 Goteborg, Sweden

    Tel: +46 31-775 28 50
    Fax: +46 31-775 28 80
    E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Credits:

    Director: Judit Elek

    Producer: Judit Elek, Cornelia Palos, Peter Hiltunen

    Production Company: DanielFilm (Hungary), Illusion Film (Sweden), Artis Film (Romania)

    Cinematography: Laszlo Berger

    Screenplay: Judit Elek

    Dramaturgy: Laszlo Berger

    Cast:

    Kathleen Gati

    Andras Demeter

    Lorand Vata

    Gizella Molnar