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Twentieth century fresco

20th Century Fresco – Synopsis

The protagonist pulls a rusty shopping cart uphill, three children huddled inside. The cart’s creaking blends with the ceaseless chirping of crickets and insects—a tense, utopian world humming in the background. As he ascends, he recites the poem, his voice both a cry and an echo from a bygone century. Their destination remains unknown—perhaps toward a new world, or merely up an endless incline, burdened by the weight of the past rolling with them..

  • Róbert Bordás
    Director
    Melegvizek országa,Gettó Balboa, Menekülés a szerelembe
  • Sándor Weöres
    Writer
  • Gergő Hajdú
    Producer
  • Kritóf Horváth
    Key Cast
    aurA,Land of Storms, Three Thousand Numbered Pieces,
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Weöres Sándor: XX. századi freskó
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 15 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 1, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    300,000 HUF
  • Country of Origin:
    Hungary
  • Country of Filming:
    Hungary
  • Language:
    Hungarian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digitális
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography - Róbert Bordás

Róbert Bordás is a Hungarian cinematographer and photographer responsible for the cinematography of numerous documentaries and feature films. His work includes films such as “Land of Warm Waters” (2021), “Ghetto Balboa” (2018), “Tales from Teleki Square” (2018), “The 11th Life” (2007), “Escape into Love” (2006), “Like the Bees” (2004), and “Crooked Necrology” (2004). (port.hu)

His accolades include the László Kovács–Vilmos Zsigmond Award and the Hungarian Film Award, both of which he received for his cinematography in the documentary “Ghetto Balboa”. (cinematographerawards.hu)

Róbert Bordás’ work has had a significant impact on the Hungarian documentary film scene, and he is a recognized figure in the country’s cinematography community.

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Director Statement

Director’s Statement – Róbert Bordás

In my film, Sándor Weöres’ poem “20th-Century Fresco” comes to life—an apocalyptic vision evoking the eternal cycle of history, the painful dialectic of destruction and rebirth. The imagery of the poem remains eerily relevant today: Europe is once again teetering on the edge of uncertainty, the shadow of war looms over us, and we do not know where the road leads.

In the film, a man drags three children uphill in a creaking shopping cart—a desperate yet inevitable movement. Where are they going? Is there a way out? Both the poem and the film ask the same question: how long will history keep repeating itself, and is there still hope on the brink of collapse?

Poetry and cinema intertwine here to hold a mirror to our present—a world where uncertainty has become a part of everyday life. This film does not provide answers; it merely raises the questions that live within us all.

Róbert Bordás

Rendezői nyilatkozat – Bordás Róbert

Filmemben Weöres Sándor „XX. századi freskó” című verse kel életre – egy apokaliptikus látomás, amely a történelem örök körforgását, a pusztulás és az újjászületés fájdalmas dialektikáját idézi meg. A vers képei ma is hátborzongatóan aktuálisak: Európa ismét a bizonytalanság szélén egyensúlyoz, a háború árnyéka újra ránk vetül, és nem tudjuk, merre vezet az út.

A filmben egy ember felfelé vonszol három gyermeket egy nyikorgó bevásárlókocsiban – egy kétségbeesett, mégis elkerülhetetlen mozdulat. Hova tartanak? Van-e kiút? A vers és a film is ugyanezt kérdezi: meddig ismétli magát a történelem, és van-e még remény a pusztulás peremén?

A költészet és a mozgókép itt egybefonódik, hogy tükröt tartson jelenünknek – egy olyan világnak, amelyben a bizonytalanság a mindennapok részévé vált. Ez a film nem ad válaszokat, csak felmutatja a kérdéseket, amelyek mindannyiunkban ott élnek.

Bordás Róbert