You were the founder and producer of the Duna Workshop, and before that you were the executive secretary of the Béla Balázs Studio. How did you get to the jury of this year's Primanima?

Perhaps my CV with some important figures will show you the most important milestones on my way to the Primanima jury: 20 years at the Béla Balázs Studio, 15 years at the Duna Workshop, 15 years at the Filmtett Camp, 25 years as chairman of the board of trustees of the Mediawave Foundation, and 25 years of involvement in the organisation of the ALTER-NATIVE festival in Târgu Mures. But I have been on break for 5 years, I am not working as a producer. I am 65 years old, I have been living mostly in Andalusia for a few years.

What are you doing in Andalusia? Escaped from Hungarian films? Are you bored?

A few years ago, the MMKA, of which I was a member of the board of trustees, and the Duna Workshop, of which I was the director, both ceased to exist. I didn't run away, but I felt that the ground had been pulled out from under me, in terms of my film activities. I was not bored, but I had to realise that I was not needed. I didn't want to stop until the edge of Europe, until Portugal. I was looking for a new home there, but - luckily - Andalusia came along. I have family ties here, I have friends, the butcher, the innkeeper, people from the street saying hello where I live.

So you won't be filming in Andalusia? But you see what Andalusian film is like? Is there any? Which genre is stronger?

Jerez de la Frontera is the city where I live. It's a small town between Seville and Cadiz, with about 200,000 inhabitants, close to the ocean. Home of flamenco and sherry. I'm having a good time here, I've recorded a lot of events, maybe one day I'll put something together. In a cultural bodega with theatre performances and concerts, I had the opportunity to organise a film club where I screened Hungarian films and a selection of films submitted to the Mediawave festival. This is now my film activity. Sometimes I watch a motion picture, but I don't claim to know about Andalusian cinema. I have seen many documentaries on flamenco and, thanks to a filmmaker friend here, on the relationship between sherry and film.

The Catalans seem to want independence, but what about the Andalusians? What do you see of them as Hungarians?

I met open, friendly, welcoming people. Perhaps this is due to the historical events of the past centuries, with so many nationalities mixing here. Andalusia is a province in its own right, with fantastic cities, seaside and ocean resorts and mountains. It has its own flag, a provincial flag, but I don't think it wants to secede. There's no reason to, it's already independent. With its southern dialect, its culture, its independent flag, it preserves its identity. Historically, Catalonia has also followed a different path, it is inhabited by people with a strong national consciousness, but the main reason behind the desire to secede is economic. It is difficult for a Catalan to understand an Andalusian and vice versa.

As a producer, what criteria do you usually use to choose which film ideas you support?

I have never made a film to make money. I chose the scripts that I liked and that I really wanted to see made. Whoever approached me, I talked to them a lot, not only about the film, but I tried to get to know the personality behind the film project. I was certainly wrong sometimes. I have been involved in the making of about 250 films, mostly as a producer. I would like to highlight 5 feature films that are particularly dear to my heart: Dyga Zsombor’s ‘Tesó’, Mészáros Péter’s ‘Kythera’, Igor-Ivan Buharov’s ‘Slow Mirror’, Szemző Tibor’s ‘Csoma legendárium’, Tolnai Szabolcs’s ‘Hourglass’, and 5 short films that premiered at Cannes: Iványi Marcell’s ‘Wind’, Mészáros Péter’s ‘After Rain’, Kenyeres Bálint’s ‘Before dawn’, Erdély Dániel’s ‘411-Z’, Kenyeres Bálint’s ‘The History of Aviation’, and 5 documentaries that I think are timeless: Makó Andrea’s ‘A Jánó testvérek’, Szolnoki József-Búzás Mihály’s ‘Leptinotarsa’, Cs. Nagy Sándor’s ‘Hintát kötök az életemből’, Somogyvári Gergő’s ‘Riksaláz’, Nemes István’s ‘Everlasting Damages’.

Together with the Cluj-Napoca-based Filmtett association, you founded the ever-popular summer film camp. What attracted you to the field of education?

When the camp started, there was no Filmtett yet. Talking to Balazs Zágoni (brother of the current frontman of Filmtett, Bálint), while I was still at the Duna Workshop, I came up with the idea of organising some kind of training for people interested in Transylvanian Hungarian film. Sapientia University was not functioning at that time, and there was no film studies either. One of the tasks of the Duna Workshop was to support young filmmakers from across the border. The result of this was the film camp that is now organised by the Filmtett Association.

Do you see any parallels between the golden age of Hungarian animation (the 1960s) and the recent animation festival successes?

The golden age of animated films is not necessarily the sixties, in my opinion. I would like to mention 5 animated films that were made in the seventies and eighties that had a big impact on me. First of all, ‘The Yellow Submarine’, which is from '68 and not Hungarian. But then there's Marcell Jankovics' ‘Sisyphus’, Péter Szoboszlay's ‘Order in the House’, István Orosz's ‘Mind the Steps!’, Ferenc Rófusz's ‘Fly’, and I could name more. However, after the demise of Pannónia Film Studio, the development of technical equipment made animation film as a genre accessible to more people. So, in a way, we are in a golden age. For example, there is Primanima.

Primanima will feature films competing against each other mainly from the younger generation . What do you expect from them, what kind of films do you go to?

I have always worked with beginner filmmakers. At the Béla Balázs Studio and also at the Duna Workshop. I have worked on films with almost all of the current famous filmmakers. As a producer, I considered it a challenge to find and help new talent. That is why I am curious about emerging creators in the animation field and their films.

Interview by Tamás Patrovits and Orsolya Láng