Interkozmosz – Film about a sci-fi geek

„The countdown has begun…soon we will switch you into the program!”

Hungarian short film (20’)

Written and directed: Béla Bánhegyi

Cast: András Szőke

Music: Béla Bánhegyi, The Outsiders

Shooting start date: november 2013

Premiere: february 2014

Synopsis

Bandi is a 51-year old fanatic sci-fi geek. He grinds his days lonely in a small Hungarian village and he subsists on repairing electronic devices as a self-employed. His parents died, he does not have any friends and he has minimal relations with the external world. Since his childhood he has collected everything that is related to space research, astronomy and science fiction: magazines, films, news articles and pieces of information. His devotion has grown exceptionally when the country's exclusive space telecommunications ground station was built when he was 15. He is convinced that the station receives and broadcasts extra-terrestrial transmissions therefore his greatest dream is to enter the facility once. In spite of the unsuccessful 35 years that have passed innumerable petitions and experiments his devotion has remained unbroken. Owing to the film we can track one of Bandi’s Sundays by getting acquainted with his individual views and closed world: his unusual routines, awe-inspiring collection of relics, his radio broadcasting station furnished at the parish and his secret room guarded by 7 locks.

Distribution

We would like to present the completed work at international cultural and film festivals, television channels and the most popular video sharing portals.

The film is defined by the actor's play, the sphere of images and music. It is free of texts the advantage of which is that we can share it much easier to sci-fi fans all over the world.

Interkozmosz.com

We would like to start a website on the interkozmosz.com domain which would present the following contents to those interested:

Backstage materials (photos, story behind the idea of the film, pre-production works, interviews), Facts on Bandi, Downloadable gears, Shop, Bandi's relics (full list), Supporters, The Valley (Taliándörögd and the Space Telecommunications Ground Station), The Staff, Links

The creators

Bela Banhegyi (Writer, Director, Composer)

He was born in 1982. It was at his age of 4 when he had acquired his first (electronic) musical experiences due to the theme tune of Knight Rider. In the following years the films/series and their tunes made in the 1980's impressed him very much. In his childhood he was exceptionally interested in astronomy, UFO research, science-fiction and paranormal phenomena. He has composed music since 2001 and his works have been broadcast continuously by radio stations for electronic music since 2007 all over the world. He worked in online marketing for 7 years and he participated in the production of commercial films for 2 years.

The idea of Interkozmosz came 3 years ago; its history is inspired partly by his own life. He is the follower of traditional film making and similarly to András Szőke, he opts for high-tech-less techniques.

András Szőke (Actor)

He was born in 1962. He is film director awarded with the Béla Balázs prize, he is a scenarist, cameraman and actor and he is the most well-known figure of Hungarian underground film making. He has been involved in film making since his age of 15, he worked in the two most important independent film workshops of the eighties'. The success in front of the public and critical renown were brought to him by Vattatyúk ("Cotton-wool Hen") made in 1990. He is the co-author of the Roncsfilm ("Wreck Film") (1992) displaying the losers of the periods before and after the Hungarian political transition, which has advanced to be a cult film by today, and for shaping one part of the 1993's Nyugattól keletre ("To the East of West") road movie he was awarded at the 1994 Magyar Filmszemle ("Hungarian Film Review"). In the 21st century he shot several high-budget films (Zsiguli, Hasutasok) "(Lada", "Belly travellers")  by the support of producers that were willing to high sponsorship. Since 1990 he has lived in Taliándörögd where he operates a paramedical centre named "Csend Háza" ("The House of Silence"). He devotes his spare time to the visual education of children having hard life conditions, e.g. that live in an orphan asylum.

Shooting locations

Taliándörögd and the Space Telecommunications Ground Station

 Taliándörögd is a locality with 650 citizens in the Bakony Mountain, at a distance of 165 km from Budapest. In its current form it is a dead-end village. It is far from industrial areas, it is surrounded by woods and meadows and there are several monument ruins over there.

After that Hungary joined the Interkozmosz (Intercosmos) programme combining the countries of the Soviet block in 1967, space telecommunications called Intersputnik separated as a commercial branch in 1971. Two years later a Hungarian-Soviet treaty was concluded on establishing a space telecommunications station in Hungary as well. The staff members of the Experimental Station of the Hungarian Post Office started assessing where such a station could be established in Hungary - with the aim of avoiding radio frequency disturbances - because it was a basic aspect that the construction should be started only in a circus. Therefore the Dörögd basin found in the Kapolcs valley was selected. The construction of the station was started in 1977 and it was inaugurated officially in 1978. The 12-metre-diameter parabolic aerial of type Cassegrain placed on the top of the building weighs 60 tons and it is such an integrate part of the building that it would be impossible to take it away without destructing the building. Thanks to its huge aerials, the station at Taliándörögd has become one of the most special built structures of the circus. The hugest - and the only as a complex - space telecommunications station of Hungary was retired in 2005 after a service of almost thirty years. The building is closed, it cannot be visited and it enjoys monument protection.

The Soundtrack

The tunes of the film show the marks of ambient and space music, are shaped on analogue synthesizers and are performed by Bela Banhegyi and The Outsiders.  The overture of the film had its premier in Terry Hawke's legendary radio programme, the Chill Out Sessions not long ago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej5q6shs5rE).

What will we spend the received grant on:

We wish to spend the received grant on human resources, renting and purchasing properties and appliances necessary for making the film.

What will we give to our Supporters

10 $ = Insure the downloading of the film in HD quality

25 $ = Insure the downloading of the film in HD quality and the full, one-hour soundtrack in CD quality

50 $ = Insure the downloading of: - the film in HD quality, -the full, one-hour soundtrack in CD quality, - the full size placard (594 X 841 mm), and record your name in the "Supporters" menu on the Interkozmosz.com website

100 $ = Insure the downloading of: - the film in HD quality, -the full, one-hour soundtrack in CD quality, - the full size placard (594 X 841 mm, 300 dpi), record your name in the "Supporters" menu on the Interkozmosz.com website and on the end credits

Up-to-date news and free downloads (wallpaper, logo) on Bela Banhegyi's blog:

www.belabanhegyi.com

Photos: Gabi Gombás, Viktor Rózsavölgyi, borealisz.hu

Placard, wallpaper: Zoltán Fehér