The University of Theatre and Film Arts Budapest (SZFE), in collaboration with the National Theatre of Hungary and the University of Sopron, proudly presents the second edition of the International Theatre Workshop – Sopron 2025, taking place from 1 to 9 July on the picturesque campus of the University of Sopron. The initiative gathers jung actors and directors from Hungary and abroad, alongside distinguished educators and theatre professionals, for a week of intensive artistic collaboration. The official opening ceremony was held on 2 July at the Ligneum Event House.

The Cannes Film Festival is the world’s most famous and prestigious film festival, held every year in the second half of May in Cannes. The main venue for the screening of films competing for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize, is the Festival and Congress Palace (Palais des Festivals et des Congrès) on the Croisette. This year, 25 students from the SZFE traveled to the festival; we spoke with two of them, first-year television production student Kata Hegedüs and second-year student Eszter Simon, about their experiences.

The University of Theatre and Film Arts will launch three 12-week masterclasses in February 2025: movement, voice training and a combined movement-voice training masterclass. The training coordinator for the movement masterclass is Vidáné Szent-Ivány Kinga, associate professor and winner of the Gyula Harangozó Prize, while the voice training coordinator is Borbála Keszei, assistant professor and winner of the Liszt Ferenc Prize.

Based on a survey by The Campus Advisor, Daily News Hungary published the European university ranking, in which Budapest ranked 4th. The analysis is based over 17,000 authentic ratings by students and reflecting the real experiences of those with first hand knowledge.

On a fortuitous day, December 13th, all eight of our Erasmus students presented their examination projects from their product design course under the guidance of Professor Éva Szendrényi. The focal point of their project work was the adaptation of the first scene of King Lear, either as a film or a stage play, applying the students’ unique concepts. The adaptations ranged from contemporary themes – a drag queen show, a modern USA Wall Street business narrative – to a fantasy tale. The presentations combined freehand drawings and photos. It was fascinating to observe how the students conveyed the characters’ features and dynamics through costumes, exploring how textures and colours could represent the nuances of the characters’ roles and the social distances within the narrative. Each presentation showed how the space, costumes, colours, and lighting design work in a play or film, expressing our students’ creativity and skills.

Prof. Paulo Leite teaches at Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa in Portugal  – He specialises in screenwriting and production and has long been involved in screenwriting and film finance and film marketing in the UK. We asked him about his experiences and views during his Erasmus exchange at SZFE. 

Prof. Vera Carmo, Universidade da Maia, Portugal – Renowned lecturer in fine and cinematographic arts, experienced in independent curatorial activities. During her exchange she introduced students to the relationship between video and art through a definition of the concept of Video Art and an exploration of early Video Art works. From the rise of video installations to curatorial issues, the course also provided insights into the world of the most revolutionary Video Art exhibitions.

Dr. Deborah Hardt teaches at Izmir University in Turkey. The American lecturer is a professor in the Department of Moving Image and Digital Media. During her Erasmus exchange she held a course about Old and New Hollywood, also walked our students through documentary film genres. The course also examined European influences – touching on Italian neorealism and the French New Wave. It also analysed the content of the script through films and documentary reconstructions and their impact on the perspective of truth.