Ballroom Dancing

Colour, 35 mm
Hungary, 2003, 46 min
Section: Documentary Competition

Synopsis

An elderly dance teacher living in an urban prefab building drives his car once a weak to a remote village to give dance classes at the local “cultural hall.” The classes play a very important role in the life of the village. A teacher, a general store salesclerk, a postman and a pig farmer exchange their worn-out work boots for fine patent-leather shoes and are whisked off to a different world, swaying to the rhythms of the rumba, tango and waltz. Despite the fact that it’s raining cats and dogs, the entire village attends the end-of-season ball. The film was awarded Best Director at Wiesbaden 2003, and the Silver Dragon at Cracow 2003.

About the director

Lívia Gyarmathy (b. 1932) took a degree in chemical engineering and worked for several years at a Budapest textile factory. In 1964 she graduated from Budapest’s Academy of Dramatic, Film and Television Arts. In addition to dramas she also regularly shoots documentaries, and her recent Our Stork (A mi gólyánk) won the 2000 Main Prize from the European Film Academy for Best Short Film. Selected filmography: You Know “Sunday-Monday”? (Ismeri a Szandi-mandit?, 1969), Dear Address (Tisztelt cím!, 1972), Wait a Sec! (Áljon meg a menet!, 1973), Lonely Person’s Club (Magányosok klubja, 1976), Ninth Floor (Kilencedik emelet, 1977), Every Wednesday (Minden szerdán, 1979), Koportos (1982), Coexistence (Együttélés, 1982), Now It’s My Turn, Now It’s Yours (Egy kicsit én…, egy kicsit te, 1984), Blind Endeavour (Vakvilágban, 1986), Recsk, the Hungarian Gulag (Recsk 1950-1953 – Egy titkos kényszermunka története, 1987), The Rapture of Deceit (A csalás gyönyöre, 1991), Escape (Szökés, 1996).