Location Spotter: Continental Europe’s Oldest Metro, the M1

via Wikipedia Commons

A lot of local media attention has been focused on the opening of the M4 – Budapest’s fourth and newest metro line (blog post to come!). It is easy to forget that Budapest also has one of the oldest continually functioning metro lines in Europe: the M1, locally known as the Kisföldalatti, or ‘ little underground’. It has the distinction of being the first metro line constructed on continental Europe.

via Wikipedia Commons

With the construction of Budapest’s most elegant street, Andrássy Avenue around 1872, local politicians saw an opportunity to modernize transportation in the city without damaging the pristine architecture of the streetscape. It would take twenty years for construction of the project to commence in 1894. Two-thousand workers were employed for two years on the project, allowing the M4 to be inaugurated on May 2, 1896 by emperor Franz Joseph. In its initial years, it carried around 35,000 people a year from the head of Andrássy Avenue up to and under the City Park to the City Zoo. Today it transports over 100,000 people annually over the eleven stations, which run a total of 4.1 kilometers.

via Wikipedia Commons

While the trollies have been updated, the platforms have an ‘old world’ pre-war feeling. The exterior entrances are done in ceramic and metal work that echoes the secessionist style of the State Opera House, which it passes along its route. Though the M4 may be the newer and flashier addition to public transport in Budapest (media hog!) it is the M1 that remains a favorite with metro enthusiasts, and an ideal location to convey the ‘modern’ aspirations of old world Europe.

PPM Film Services is a Budapest-based film company offering an inspiring and creative work atmosphere for its host of clients from around the world. Since our inception, our focus has been providing the best of the best in terms of local production resources, locations, cast and technical teams to ensure that whatever the production we’re charged to create, we do it with no compromise. To sign up for the PPM Hungary newsletter, have a look here.

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Budapest by Night

Cities take on quite a different character after the cloak of night falls and the streets and buildings are lit up. What was once lush and opulent is now austere, if not a bit foreboding. We are pleased to say that Budapest fares very well once the sun has gone down, and we have the evidence to prove it. Below you will find a video with stunning – really  stunning – shots of Budapest after dark. To make it all the more dramatic, this compilation was filmed from the sky, so you can see birds-eye views of the city’s most spectacular landmarks, including most of the prominent bridges, the Parliament, the Castle, the Opera, Gellért Hill, in addition to some places less represented in publicity campaigns: Víg Theater, MUPA (the Palace of Arts), and the skating rink in the City Park. So what we have before us are two unique perspectives on Budapest combined into one great clip: Budapest after dark, and Budapest from above. It’s a rare treat. Enjoy.

PPM Film Services is a Budapest-based film company offering an inspiring and creative work atmosphere for its host of clients from around the world. Since our inception, our focus has been providing the best of the best in terms of local production resources, locations, cast and technical teams to ensure that whatever the production we’re charged to create, we do it with no compromise. To sign up for the PPM Hungary newsletter, have a look here.

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Stranger Than Science Fiction

It’s not very often we get a chance to report on a Hungarian science-fiction film. But equally exciting is the fact that the film – Aura – is an indie film and one that is having success in film festivals from Brussels to London. The pic – financed without the support of the Hungarian state – was directed by Zsolt Bernáth, and stars a cast of newcomers. Aura recently received its premier at the Horrorant Film Festival in Greece.

The film follows the story of a group of teens who fall asleep in a car and awaken to find that an unbreakable force field is holding them prisoner. Strange things begin to happen: the sun fails to rise, seashells appear from thin air in and around their car, and they begin to smell and hear the ocean inside their enclosure. Memories come to life, as they begin a journey of discovery about themselves and the planet around them. Kind of like if the kids from the Goonies were trapped in Stephen King’s The Dome.

Bernáth’s previous film – In the Name of Sherlock Holmes – was also an independent hit, with success at multiple international film festivals, including winning Best Youth Film Prize at the Stockholm International Film Festival.

Aura was screened this month at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival competition – one of the more prominent sci-fi, horror, and fantasy film festivals in Europe. Later this month Aura will be included in the Sci-Fi London Film Festival. Congratulations to these independent makers of Hungarian science fiction, and may the force field be with you.

Below you can see the trailer to Aura. It is in Hungarian with English subtitles.

PPM Film Services is a Budapest-based film company offering an inspiring and creative work atmosphere for its host of clients from around the world. Since our inception, our focus has been providing the best of the best in terms of local production resources, locations, cast and technical teams to ensure that whatever the production we’re charged to create, we do it with no compromise. To sign up for the PPM Hungary newsletter, have a look here.

 

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Budapest: Coolest City in Europe! (Yeah, We Know!)

As the weather warms up, Budapest is getting a lot of heat. Specifically, from various sources around the web. Recently Buzzfeed – pretty much everybody’s favorite time-waster – profiled Hungarian cuisine, then went back for seconds in an article proving that Budapest is the most beautiful city in Europe.

As if that wasn’t enough, a renown TV personality recently declared Budapest the “Coolest City in Europe.”  We don’t know why it took the video below so long to surface on local web-sites, but if you want a preview of Budapest in the summer, travel writer La Carmina’s stay over in Budapest last summer gives an excellent overview of Hungarian culture both high and low. La Carmina, our charming host over the course of the video, is quick to point out that scenes from Mission Impossible were filmed at Budapest’s Keleti railway station. She goes on to sample the fare at the market hall and check out the street art and ruin pubs in ultra hip District VII. In her own words:

“Budapest was once ruled by monarchs and Communists. Today, it’s the playground of twenty-something hipsters. The graffiti-ridden District VII is the center of trends like “ruin pubs,” or abandoned buildings that have been converted into bars. In this travel video, watch me explore the labyrinthine pub Szimpla.”

But enough chatter. Ready or not, summer is on its way, and here’s a great preview of things to come, complete with locations old and new.

PPM Film Services is a Budapest-based film company offering an inspiring and creative work atmosphere for its host of clients from around the world. Since our inception, our focus has been providing the best of the best in terms of local production resources, locations, cast and technical teams to ensure that whatever the production we’re charged to create, we do it with no compromise. To sign up for the PPM Hungary newsletter, have a look here.

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