The Notebook
a film by János Szász
World Premiere: Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2013
Germany / Hungary / Austria / France 2013 // color // 100min // dolby digital
Synopsis
At the end of World War II, Hungarias Cities are infested by dearth. Hoping to save the lives of her twins, the young mother brings them to their grandmother nearby a little town. Grandmother, whom they call the Witch, harbors the boys expextant that they may be useful to her. She drinks a lot and carries an attitude of cruel and icy dispassion, making them work hard and showing them no love.
But they are wilier than she, spying on her through holes in the floor of the attic she can no longer reach, deliberately wounding each other to inure themselves to pain and learning the language of the occupying forces.
They articulate those experiences in their very own bible, they simply call „The Notebook“. Hereby they try to keep their remarks as detailed and emotionessless as possible. They teach each other to be hard, cold and callous, hoping to learn surviving. The conclusio leads the fable to a bitter truth: trying to survive they learned the language of warefare; but then, without even noticing, they became evils’ proponents.
| Written & Directed by | János Szász |
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|---|---|---|
| Based on | 'Das große Heft' von Agota Kristof |
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| Camera | Christian Berger |
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| Production Design | István Galambos |
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| Costume Design | János Breckl |
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| Make Up | Anna Kriskó |
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| Editing | Szilvia Ruszev |
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| With | András & Lásló Gyémánt, Piroska Molnár, Ulrich Thomsen, Ulrich Matthes, Sabin Tambrea |
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| Producers | Sandor Söth, Pál Sandor, Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, Bady Minck, Marc Irmer |
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| Supported by | MNFA, NEFMI, MMKA Dialóg Stúdió, MBB, MDM, DFFF, Filmfonds Wien, Filmstandort Austria, CNC, Media, Eurimages |
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| Production | Intuit Pictures, Hunnia Filmstúdió, AMOUR FOU Vienna, Dolce Vita Films |
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| Worldsales | Beta Film |
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| Distribution Austria | Stadtkino Filmverleih |
Awards & Nominations
Grand Prix Crystal Globe - International Film Festival Karlovy Váry
Europe Cinema Label Award - International Film Festival Karlovy Váry
Oscar 2014 shortlist for best foreign film
Festivals
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2013
German Films Previews 2013
Toronto International Film Festival 2013
Golden Boll Film Festival 2013
Haifa International Film Festival 2013
BUSAN International Film Festival 2013
BFI London Film Festival 2013
Chicago International Film Festival 2013
Hamptons International Film Festival 2013
Adelaide Film Festival 2013
Mostra Sao Paulo International Film Festival 2013
Kyiv International Film Festival Molodist 2013
Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2013
Stockholm International Film Festival 2013
AFM - American Film Market 2013
Seville European Film Festival 2013
Hungarian Film Festival of Los Angeles 2013
Brisbane International Film Festival, Queensland 2013
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2013
AFI Silver Spring Screening 2013
Annual Conference of the Europa Cinemas Network 2013
International Film Festival of Kerala 2013
Les Arcs - Festival de Cinéma Européen des Arcs 2013
Palm Springs International Film Festival 2014
Trieste Film Festival 2014
European Film Market 2014
Glasgow Film Festival 2014
International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights of Geneva 2014
Sofia International Film Festival 2014
International Film, Television and Video Festival Febiofest in Bratislava 2014
Wiosna Filmow Film Festival 2014
IMAGO convention Athen´s Cinemateque 2014
Al este de Lima 2014
Transylvania International Film Festival 2014
Guadalajara International Film Festival 2014
International Film Festival "Zerkalo" 2014
Shanghai International Film Festival 2014
Palic European Film Festival in Serbia 2014
Vukovar Film Festival Vukovar Film Festival - Danube Region 2014
International Cinematographers' Film Festival "Manaki Brothers" in Macedonia 2014
Helsinki International Film Festival Love&Anarchy 2014
Red Cross International Film Festival 2014
Festival of Contemporary Hungarian Cinema 2014
Rotterdam International Film Festival 2014
Giffoni International Film Festival 2014