Róbert Lakatos Bahrtalo! Good Luck!

Born in Kolozsvár - the cultural centre of Transylvania (the Western region of Romania – although his nationality is Hungarian), he was not fanatical about cinema and filmmaking as a child. Cheerful and high-spirited, he tried to put himself in the spotlight, but then in his early teenage years he felt a strong drive to get involved in the arts. Yet, despite his field of interest, Róbert began studies at the Kolozsvár University of Technology. He then got awarded a scholarship to study sociology in Łódz (Poland), which in the end he was able to change for film theory classes. This was the defining moment: when he knew he was going to follow a career in cinema. Róbert bought a photo camera and decided to start visiting university classes for cameramen. He never misses the chance to say thanks to Mr. István Kovács, the director of the Hungarian Cultural Center in Łódz, who helped him to get the scholarship that enabled him to enter the Director of Photography course.

"The most important value of filmmaking is being worthy; deserving the credit for the actual content of your work”, says Róbert. His films deal with Transylvanian rural culture - on the boundary between documentary and fiction. "People have been thinking that this is the only topic I’m interested in. But it’s more of a milieu than a real topic for me", he admits. Róbert appreciates the work of directors who can create abstracted visions - such as David Lynch, Emir Kusturica and Sergei Panadjov. As for himself as a filmmaker, he would never illustrate a philosophical thesis: "finding real, living worlds, be they dry or wet, cold or warm - in a word, creating your own style". This is the main focus of his Ars Poetica.

After graduating, he contacted several Hungarian producers who specialize in supporting young directors: György Durst and András Muhi. He’d been making many documentaries and short films (the most successful were The Kingdom of Silence and Red in the Summer, Blue in the Winter), until the chance came along to make his first feature: Bahrtalo! Good Luck! Róbert had worked on the script for three years. A 25-minute documentary was made first, which was then completed to become a longer movie. A shortened television version was also created.

Bahrtalo! is a docu-fiction road movie, based on two characters; Lali and Lóri, who travel from Romania to Egypt, across Hungary and Austria. Róbert comments on the filming process: "the actors’ performances were greatly improvised. We let the characters unfold, do irrelevant or uninteresting things and kept the camera rolling for long scenes so that we could select the best moments later on." The structure of the film is episodic, and subtitles are used to inform the viewer about where the characters are at each stage. The Borat-style comedy (but better, and more honest, than Borat) was quickly one of the most talked-about films at the Hungarian Film Week when it was shown in early 2008.

Róbert handled all of the fuss in his own modest style: "I am happy to see it - but ask me after the public premiere" he said after this initial success. Since then, Bahrtalo! has gone on to win over critics and in July won the Europa Cinema Label as Best European Film at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Jurors praised the film as “a touchy road movie about two outsiders […] a perfect balance between fiction and reality”. It’s screening at this year’s IDFA in the Panorama section will no doubt bring further glowing reviews.

Dániel Deák