Private Project

City of Terror

City of Terror is the story of one of the longest sieges of World War Two. In Budapest, Hungary 100 thousand German and Hungarian troops held up a force twice as strong comprising two Soviet Fronts, for 108 days between October 1944 and February 1945. Half of this time the defenders fought completely encircled by the mighty Red Army. Budapest was so important politically and strategically for Adolf Hitler that he sent the last reserves of his elite SS panzer divisions to relieve Budapest when the Soviet tanks were just 60 kilometers from the capital of the Third Reich.

The battle for Vienna took 6 days. Berlin fell in 14 days. In Stalingrad larger forces clashed but the civilians had been evacuated before the battle. In Budapest 1 million civilians did not have a chance to escape the war. And while the siege was raging, the Hungarian fascists were murdering the city’s Jews.

Our film tells the personal stories of two Hungarian soldiers and a Jewish boy. Other witnesses, soldiers and civilians add their own accounts to their stories while experts put these testimonies into context.

  • Tamás Babos
    Director
    Fehér nyíl (White Arrow), Szíven szúrt ország (A Country Stabbed)
  • Attila Nóti-Nagy
    Writer
  • Attila Nóti-Nagy
    Producer
    A látogató (The Visitor), Útitárs (Travel Buddy)
  • Erika Kissimon
    Producer
    A látogató (The Visitor), Útitárs (Travel Buddy), A játék (The Game)
  • Csaba Tóth
    Key Cast
  • Róbert Hrutka
    Key Cast
  • János Kulka
    Key Cast
  • Viktor Gibárti
    Key Cast
  • Csaba Talán
    Key Cast
  • Jolán Feldmájer
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Budapest ostroma
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 24 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    April 30, 2015
  • Country of Origin:
    Hungary
  • Country of Filming:
    Hungary
  • Language:
    Hungarian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, 8 mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Tamás Babos

Tamás Babos is a prolific filmmaker in the Hungarian market. Widely known as the sensitive cinematographer of six movies and dozens of TV films and documentaries, Tamás set on the journey of directing in 2012 with short film Fehér Nyíl (White Arrow). At the same time he has worked as a producer of a number of TV films for the Hungarian public service media. During his career he won numerous prizes for cinematography and his films have been awarded, too.

Tamás’ page at IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1064381/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

City of Terror has finally filled a void in Hungarian and European history. The story of the Siege of Budapest was intentionally put aside during Communism by the Hungarian and Soviet communists and even in Germany it was forgotten although a 100 thousand German soldiers were lost in the battle, a few months before the end of the Second World War. We believe the emotional strenght of the individual stories of the three main characters, i.e. two young soldiers and a Jewish boy, will bring the whole bloody episode of the war closer to the audience.