Youngsters! Cinema! Documentary? PANEL
Participants: Ágnes Garancsi (distributor, Cirkofilm), Fruzsina Vajda (organizer, ELTE Szemle), László Csáki (director), Bálint Révész (director)
Moderator: Szabolcs Szirony (Student Verzió curator, Kinedok Hungary program lead)
How can documentary films be made engaging, accessible, and exciting for younger audiences? Filmmakers, distributors, and festival and film club organizers share their experiences and best practices on how to bring the genre closer to teenagers and young adults, helping them connect emotionally and intellectually to real stories.
Szabolcs Szirony is the curator of the student edition of the Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, and serves as the professional director of Kinedok. In these roles, he has been actively involved in mentoring emerging filmmakers, organizing screenings, and shaping the programming of documentary films that highlight pressing social and human rights issues. His work bridges festival curation, educational initiatives, and professional guidance, supporting both the development of new talent and the promotion of socially engaged cinema.
While studying aesthetics at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), she began working with the company of Új Színház, as well as in the organizing teams of various cultural events, including the Hungarian Film Week. Since 2009, she has been a member of the Cirko Film team, where she is involved in the nationwide distribution of international and Hungarian arthouse films, as well as documentaries.
She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Film Studies (Film Theory) at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE). Now in her second year of involvement with the organization of ELTE Szemle, where she contributes in the areas where her skills are needed at the moment. As an early-career professional, she is particularly interested in how young people can engage with both Hungarian and international film culture.
László Csáki is a Béla Balázs Award-winning documentary and animated film director and visual artist. He earned his master’s degree in Media Design from the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in 2002, where he also began his DLA studies. He has been involved, since 2003, in art education (Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Animation and Media Design programs, Krea Art School, Applied Photography program), since 2013 he has been a full-time lecturer at the BA and MA Animation programs of the Budapest Metropolitan University. His works of fine art can be found in private and public collections in Hungary and abroad. The animated documentary film Pelican Blue is his first feature-length film, which has been selected for the competition programs of 40 festivals, receiving 15 awards. Pelican Blue is the first Hungarian-produced feature-length animated documentary film.
Bálint focuses primarily on films that explore disputed and controversial topics, often through experimental approaches. His first feature-length documentary, Granny Project, as well as KIX (released in 2024), have been screened at hundreds of festivals worldwide. He is the founder of the London-based production company Gallivant Film, the Budapest-based Roughhouse Project, as well as Kontra, an alternative distribution platform.
