Pannonia Film: Some Kind Of Wonderful
Pannonia Studio Retrospective
Way back in 2018, MIAF was granted access to the extraordinary archive of animated shorts created at Hungary’s Pannonia Studio. Formed in 1951, the studio operated throughout nearly 40 years of Hungary’s communist governance, and continued for nearly two decades more after that. This meant a lot of shorts to choose from – in total Pannonia Studio produced more than 700 animated films! This extraordinary collection of works, many recently restored, showcases the elastic imaginations of several generations who worked for Pannonia, and whose works define not just a period of time but a uniquely creative and cultural approach to animated filmmaking. Often mining imagery that borders on the psychedelic and hallucinatory, this is work that is utterly unlike anything that emerged from communist era studios in other states at the time. We’re very excited to present to you the first of our Pannonia Studio programs; and you can look forward to seeing the second one at MIAF 2026!
Hey, You
Peter Szoboszlay
Hungary, 7’00, 1976
Aggression bears aggression. An insightful depiction of how the persecuted becomes the persecutor.
Sprinkling
Bela Wejsz
Hungary, 3’02, 1989
It is Easter Monday and a girl-mouse is surprised – to say the least – to find elephant boys outside her door.
Wavelengths
Gyorgy Kovasznai
Hungary, 9’20, 1970
“A tour de force of madness, psychedelia, poetry and painting.” From out of the ether the most diverse sound impressions come gushing in.
Parade
Jozsef Gemes
Hungary, 5’00, 1969
Within the magnificent insanity of a massive parade march individual styling can only lead to chaos.
Car With Seven Dots
Zsolt Richly
Hungary, 7’36, 1973
An urban boy-racer decides to explore the wonders of nature in his VW Beatle which turns out to be a little red ladybird with seven dots.
Gobble Gobble
Istvan Banyai
Hungary, 5’57, 1976
The story of a man who went out to have dinner in a fine restaurant but ended up eating the whole universe.
The Kidnapping Of The Sun And The Moon
Sandor Reisenbuchler
Hungary, 11’13, 1969
The Sun and the Moon are stolen by a vicious creature. Can the people get back what they need for their lives?
Tales From The Art World
Gyorgy Kovasznai
Hungary, 10’15, 1965
The unpredictable, crazy spaces in which artists make and break their work.
Order In The House
Peter Szoboszlay
Hungary, 4’52, 1970
A surrealist satire describing the power that is used to dehumanise and deny individual liberties in the name of order and the common good.
Ossztanc
Peter Szoboszlay
Hungary, 5’23, 1972
A hallucinogenic intersecting of classical music and utterly mad tangling of ideas it inspires in the right kind of minds.
This session is classified: Unclassified (M) Mature, not recommended for viewers under 15 years.
Please note that Backlot is NOT fully accessible. There are stairs with handrails, but no lift to the second floor where the cinema is located.