The team of Hangvető produces documentary films about topics such as the Hungarian dance house movement, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, and brings life stories in the genres of folk music and jazz.
The stunning Fly bird, fly… documentary, directed by world music journalist and filmmaker Simon Broughton and musicologist Weyer Balázs of Hangvető, tells the true story of the grassroots Hungarian dance house movement that took place in the 1970s. People from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds suddenly felt closer to traditional Hungarian folk dances, and frequenting dance houses became a hip and popular activity for the youth of that time. This created a colourful and energetic Hungarian folk music scene that is alive even today. The folk dance house movement became a blueprint for the safekeeping of living cultural heritage all around the world and is noted by UNESCO. The documentary film visits important figures, musicians, dancers and venues of the dance house movement.
Currently in production is The Sounds That Made Us docuseries, presenting the folk music heritage of Central Eastern Europe – how these traditions survived and became a part of everyday modern life. Created with musicologist Balázs Weyer and Anna Melocco, the roadmovie-style series visits Central Eastern European countries and features beautiful human stories, bringing the roots of folk music closer to the viewers.
We brought together some of the most innovative Hungarian directors (Gábor Reisz and Bálint Szimler, Fanni Szilágyi, Attila Damokos, and the Gábor Karcis – Mátyás Kálmán duo) with experimental Hungarian world music artists in beautiful Budapest venues. The short films are much more than concert movies: they create a visual world for the musical ambience. Truly exceptional short music films were created for the world-renowned Dresch Mihály’s etnojazz string quartet, for the psychedelic and beautiful Odd ID, the popular dark folk rock band, Mordái, and the legendary figure of ‘70s folk revival, Károly Cserepes. The short music films produced for Budapest Ritmo Online in 2021 are a point of pride for Hangvető, as they are examples of how much we could make of even the lockdown, a time where we felt stuck, but music still inspired us to create something that will no doubt stand the test of time.
After the success of online screenings of music films created specifically for Budapest Ritmo during the pandemic, we decided to post an open call for folk and world musicians who paired up with young Hungarian filmmakers. As a result, films with music by the Uljana Quartet and Дeva were born, both of which debuted at Budapest Ritmo.
In Lumine, a msytical and magical, earthly film by director Marcell Bajor and writer, cinematographer Bence Szemerey is based on the philosophy of Plato and stars Дeva.
Director Anna Korom and cinematographer Flóra Fecske present the everyday life of a multi-generational family with raw honesty through nine songs recorded live by Uljana Quartet.
