Beast
(Csicska)

short, 35mm, 20 minutes

PREMIER (HUNGARY): 2011.

István Balogh, is a not too rich farmer has total control over his wife, family and slave. He does all it takes to guard the family image created by the rigid traditions in his farm in rural Hungary. The characters meet their tragic fate through their close but at the same time extreme relationships.
This film has been inspired by articles, news items and memories of people who have survived such situations.

In Hungary we see the renaissance of “csicskáztatás”, a kind of modern-day slavery. The word has now lost its original meaning in Hungarian prison and military slang; today we speak about the forced work of homeless people and wrecks or fallen addicts lacking love and will as well as the confiscation of their benefits and pensions.
In many cases slave-owners buy their victims cheap from special agents and then force them under inhuman circumstances to work and fully serve the whole family. The worker quickly becomes a slave, a “csicska”.
A tragic consequence of this widespread phenomenon is that the acceptance of the slave by the family can mean his very survival even when it happens with vile and selfish intentions.
In these archaic communities there is no clear distinction between the slave and the family members. These cruelly exploited people, unable to take part in everyday struggles for life, become second-class members of the community.
Thousands of people are estimated living in slavery in Hungary ten years into the third millennium.

2012 - BuSho - Budapest Short Film Festival: Silver BuSho

Creators

Attila Till Director
Attila Till Screenplay
Imre Juhász Director of photography
Béla Barsi Editor
Csaba Major, Iván Lantos Sound
Mónika Mécs, Gábor Rajna, Gábor Sipos Producer
M&M Film, Laokoon Film Production company
Judit Stalter, Csaba Tóth Co-producer
Szabolcs Thuróczy, Balázs Szitás, Mónika Balsai Cast

Awards

Shanghai International Film Festival - 2011 Best Short Film of Mobile SIFF
Budapest Hungarian Film Week - 2011 Best Short Film
Stockholm International Film Festival - 2011 Best Short Film
Vilnius International Film Festival - 2012 Best Short Film
Tampere Short Film Festival - 2012 EFA Short Film Nominee Tampere
European Film Academy - 2012 Nominated for Best European Short Film Award
Cracow Film Festival - 2012 Silver Dragon
Odense International Film Festival - 2012 Special Mention
Syracuse International Film Festival - 2012 Best Short Fiction
Barcelona MECAL - 2012 Special Mention
Torún TOFIFEST - 2012 Golden Angel

Festivals

Palic International Film Festival - 2012
Leeds International Film Festival - 2012 (in competition)
Ghent Flanders International Film Festival - 2012 (in competition)
Kosice Art Film Fest - 2012 (in competition)
Huesca Film Festival - 2012 (in competition)
San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival - 2012 (in competition)
Leeuwarden Noordelijk  Film Festival - 2012 (in competition)
London Film Festival - 2012
Luxembourg CinÉast - 2012
Cannes Quinzaine des Réalisateurs - 2011
Regensburg Short Film Week  - 2012 (in competition)
Trieste Film Festival - 2012 (in competition)
Bilbao ZINEBI - 2011 (in competition)
Cottbus FilmFestival - 2011 (in competition)
London Film Festival - 2011
Sarajevo Film Festival - 2011 (in competition)
Cluj-Napoca Transilvania - 2011

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