The annual selection of films included in the Pragueshorts International Film Festival – organised by the KVIFF team – is presented in three sets at this year’s festival. One of them showed all five films awarded in the LABO experimental section and the International Competition, including the Hungarian half-hour film Diamond Beauty, introduced at KVIFF by producer Anna Szijártó.
The tragicomedy about an aging plastic surgery addict who sets on seducing her love of youth was created without any state funding. The film received support from the Freeszfe Society, an academy founded by people from the Budapest University of Theatre and Film Arts (SHFE) after the government had deprived the academic institution of its independence. “In Hungary today, there’s no point in applying for state support, so we’re not even trying,” the producer explained.
Director Anna Korom, a Freeszfe Society graduate, was a gymnast as a child and she met women like the film heroine in that environment, who were overly concerned with their appearance. “It's absurd that films about the pressure for woman perfection are only made these days,” Anna Szijártó noted in response to a comment of a lady from the audience who recalled last year’s Substance. Zsuzsa Nyertes, a former tabloid star famous for her beauty, was cast as the lead. “This is the first role where she could show her acting skills. Yet when the director called her with the offer, Zsuzsa thought someone was playing a joke on her. Luckily, she and her acting partner Mihály Kormos – who also starred in Béla Tár’s film – are crazy enough to have accepted their roles,” Anna Szijártó laughed. Finally, she pointed out that the actress’ appearance is far more natural in reality and was substantially adjusted by the make-up artists for the film.
