Kisvilágok meséi. Erdély képe magyarországi dokumentumfilmeken
The Tales of Small Worlds. The Presentation of Transylvania in Hungarian Documentary Films

Summary/Abstract: The present and past of Transylvania was an ideal subject for documentary filmmakers. On the one hand, it was a taboo and closed area until 1989, on the other hand, its areas preserved an archaic way of life, its present is connected to the past. The need and urgent necessity of sociological and historical exploration prevailed at the same time. The purpose of the films was to create a national memory community and publicize the silenced topics. The regime change made it possible to travel to previously closed areas, and the Hungarian state’s film producing system supported the production of documentaries on Transylvania from the beginning. In addition to historical documentary films, initially the goal was to document the still-preserved archaic way of life. The creators wanted to preserve the traces of the past that could be found before the expected social transformations occurred. By the 2000s, the emphasis shifted from documentation to the everyday life of the people living there. Film directors paid attention to today’s heroes, their individuality, their fate and their choices. These films are mostly close to anthropological films, with micro worlds at their centre. The heyday of this film type was in the 2000s. Most of them were made using the method of observation, often with performative elements, centred on a hero who is both typical and special, and in most cases lovable. A key role in the lives of its protagonists is the often ambivalent relationship to seclusion, the traditional way of life, and its maintenance or change. These are the tales of the small worlds.

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