Why isn’t there a museum of cinematography in Hungary – or does Hungarian cinema need a museum of its own?
MúzeumCafé 15.
Dávid Kitzinger, managing director of Neumann Nonprofit Ltd.: By then everyone might be able to have a film museum in their own pocket. These days a museum is a decreasingly significant site for learning, entertainment and information. The same can be said about schools. That’s not to say those institutions have lost their importance. It’s more to do with access to intellectual products and information becoming increasingly widespread and more democratic. Public collections are confronted with strong competitors, both market and non-market, which force the classical institutions of passing on knowledge to re-make themselves.
István Szabó, Oscar and Kossuth award-winning director: Much could be said about the need, but reality has to be noted. Hungary has a film museum, the Örökmozgó Cinema, but there is no Hungarian cinema museum ‘built in stone’ as in London, Berlin and Paris. Since the 1960s the number of cinema goers has tragically decreased. A museum might encourage younger people to have a love of the motion picture, which is present in older generations but has been greatly reduced by the spread of television, the internet and various distribution practices. A museum is rather expensive. It has to be maintained, employees and overheads have to be paid. Its collection must be guarded. The cinema profession could not finance such a museum today and in the present climate when hospitals and schools are in dire straits no cultural ministry would commission the building of a museum of Hungarian cinema. But it’s a nice idea.
György Pálfi, film director: What would be exhibited in a cinema museum? Memorabilia of old films? Gyula Kabos’s jacket? The Talking Robe? A piece from the set of The Round-up? Mr Illés’s viewfinder? Does anyone want to see such items? What would be the purpose and function of such a museum? Collection and holding of objects; their professional classification and display; research; programmes, organizing functions; promotion; providing a place for visitors; publishing texts.A good exhibition is not primarily about the objects displayed but is virtually an independent work of art in itself. Thus in a museum of cinematographic art I would be looking for what I seek in film, theatre, literature and music – the author’s creative will.
András Bálint Kovács, sociologist, university professor: It is difficult to reject the idea of a cinema museum. Of course, there is need for such an institution. We need all sorts of museums which protect the objects of human culture, especially one concerning the formation and development of the most important art of the 20th century! So the issue is not about need but what kind of film museum could be founded. Where is the collection which such a museum would display? What should be the period this museum would encompass? Would it be the history and objects connected to cinema in general or to Hungarian cinema – until when – to1980, 2000 or up to today? What data would be representative in a museum of Hungarian film culture. In short, what should the canon of Hungarian cinema in its museum be like?