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For the first time ever, two Hungarian films are competing for the Berlinale’s Golden Bear: “Forest – I See You Everywhere,” a standalone sequel to the 2003 Berlinale hit “Forest,” from veteran auteur Bence Fliegauf, and “Natural Light” from feature debutant Dénes Nagy. Csaba Káel, chairman of the National Film Institute of Hungary (Nfi), says, “I believe it demonstrates the vitality and strength of the Hungarian industry flourishing despite the unprecedented circumstances caused by the pandemic worldwide.”

The two films represent opposite poles of current Hungarian filmmaking. Brimming with discourse, the independently funded “Forest” tells multiple complex, engaging stories of contemporary life in Hungary. And as he did in his Berlinale-winner “Just the Wind” (2012), Fliegauf creates deep empathy for his characters who deliver standout performances.

On the other hand, “Natural Light,” with its minimal dialogue, harks back to an older tradition in Hungarian cinema where stunning cinematography leads the other formal elements.

Hungarian auteur Bence Fliegauf made a head-turning debut in 2003 with his microbudget portmanteau drama “Forest,” which strung together a series of intensely performed two-hander vignettes depicting relationships in various forms of crisis. As a collection of miniatures, it promised intriguing things from Fliegauf, once given a larger canvas to work with — a promise largely fulfilled by such variously ambitious, unusual works as his Eva Green-starring sci-fi oddity “Womb,” the shattering massacre study “Just the Wind” and the mournful, reality-blurring mood piece “Lily Lane.”

In returning to the formal and thematic terrain of “Forest” for a standalone spiritual sequel, however, the director has taken an odd step backwards. Intermittently impressive on a granular level, “Forest – I See You Everywhere” is another claustrophobic collage of human dysfunction, jumping between heady themes of grief, abuse and retribution — though it never exceeds the sum of its many parts, lacking its predecessor’s vital shock of the new.

★★★★☆ Hungarian director Benedek Fliegauf's bleak and brutally affecting Eastern block drama Just the Wind (Csak a szél, 2011) was one of the very best films screened at this year's Berlin Film Festival, rightfully finding itself in the running for the top Golden Bear award. Fliegauf's latest may still be looking to secure UK distribution, but a hard-fought place in the revitalised Lff's 'Debate' strand may well bring the filmmaker - and his highly topical chosen subject matter - the platform it so richly deserves.

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Hungary chose "Just the Wind / Csak A Szél"Ukraine, Hungary and Azerbaijan join the small ranks of countries who have officially submitted their Oscar submission for the Best Foreign Language Film category. The Ukraine chose the biopic Firecrosser and Azerbaijan went with Oscar's second favorite storyline in this category with Buta (young child befriended by old person). The big story here, though, if only for being a slight curveball, is that Hungary did not go with a totally outre effort as they've been prone to do as of late. Instead they went with a more sober traditionally artistic effort. Which is not to say that they aren't still pushing the boundaries of what AMPAS will watch. Just the Wind is reportedly harrowing and brutal, dealing with a series of racial murders and poverty.

[Hungary hasn't been nominated since the heyday of István Szabó who had four nominations in the 1980s. Szabó's films were so hot in the Us arthouse that his actor muse Klaus Maria Brandauer even flipped over to Hollywood and became an Oscar nominated actor (Out of Africa) and international star for a time.]

You can read more about the films on the official chart, a staple of The Film Experience's famous Oscar coverage.

Experts in auteur cinema, German sales company The Match Factory have quite the sampling this year with names such as Thai Joe (Mekong Hotel – see pic above), Fatih Akin (Polluting Paradise) and Directors’ Fortnight invited The Dream and the Silence by Jamie Rosales proudly making us say ich liebe dich the label, and let us not forget Loznitsa’s In the Fog which is being featured in the Main Comp category.

In The Fog (V Tumane) by Sergei Loznitsa

Mekong Hotel by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Polluting Paradise (MÜLL Im Garten Eden) by Fatih Akin

The Dream And The Silence (SUEÑO Y Silencio) by Jaime Rosales

And If We All Lived Together (Et Si On Vivait Tous Ensemble) by Stéphane Robelin

Barbara by Christian Petzold

Home For The Weekend (Was Bleibt) by Hans-Christian Schmid

In The Name Of The Girl (En El Nombre De La Hija) by Tania Hermida

Just The Wind...

Going into this year’s Berlinale you could be forgiven for thinking that all the A-list talent was presiding over the jury. It’s an impressive roster: Mike Leigh is at the head, accompanied by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi (last year’s Golden Bear champion for A Separation), Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal, French auteur Francois Ozon (Potiche), Dutchman Anton Corbijn (Control), and Charlotte Gainsbourg. By comparison the competition line-up seemed extremely obscure. Whilst Cannes and Venice tend to lead with premieres from established directors, the Berlin Film Festival continues its recent tradition of backing more obscure auteurs.

Out of the directors in the main competition only Italian veterans the Taviani brothers (with drama-doc hybrid Ceasar Must Die) and actor-turned-director Billy Bob Thornton (Jane Mansfield’s Car) came with anything like a reputation. Most of the films come via relative unknown talents with few previous features to their name, such as...