The Lighter Side of Transylvania: the Photographs of Tamás Hajdu

We invite you on a small journey into village life in Transylvania, with a local veterinarian and photographer Dr. Tamás Hajdu as our guide. While the area falls within Romanian borders, it was formerly part of Hungary, and many villages retain their Hungarian identity in language and culture. These photographs show rural Transylvanian life that is so different from the gothic visions created by Hollywood. The photographer has been carrying his camera with him since 2005 capturing evocative moments from where he lives in Nagybánya (Baia Mare in Romanian).

You can find more of these stunning photos on Dr. Hajdu’s blog here, or follow him on Facebook here. Click on the photos to enlarge.

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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Hungarian ‘Mop Dog’ Runs Wild in America

Talk about a lost dog. This Puli, a breed of dog native to Hungary, and rarely seen outside of Central Europe, has somehow made its way across the pond to what looks like Texas, where it is befriended by a kind-hearted Dr. Pepper delivery truck driver. Dr. Pepper has a reputation for being the soda of choice for people who don’t want to go with the flow, and the image of the Puli definitely represents that image. ‘Always be one of a kind’ reads the commercial’s tag-line. This Rastafarian on four legs fits the bill. Have a look at the fetching TV spot, which is making the rounds on social media here in Hungary, and then read a bit more about the Puli, as related in an earlier post. Funny for us – the video is titled ‘mop dog’ but a ‘mops’ dog in Hungarian, is actually a pug. Go figure.

The Puli is nothing new to Hungarians, who brought the dog to the region over a thousand years ago to herd and guard livestock. Because the thick fur makes it hard to bite, Pulis could defend a flock of sheep against much larger predators, including wolves and bears. The thickness of the coat also makes them totally water resistant; these are animals that are suited for work on the great plains of central Hungary. Though the Puli’s coat will grow out in matted chords, good grooming from a young age will keep the chords trim and neat as they flow towards the ground. To avoid regular maintenance, some owners opt to trim the chords down to bristles, significantly reducing both the size and striking appearance of the animal.

These days Puli’s are mostly household pets; though owners attest to their loyalty and protectiveness of their homes, traits which make for excellent guard dogs. The strange, intelligent beast has not gone unnoticed abroad. Pulis have won international dog shows, most notably, the Federation Cynologique Internationale (World Canine Organization), at which the Mexican-born Puli Cinko Duda Csebi took first place. In Butte, Montana, there is a stature erected to the Puli known as “The Auditor” a stray dog that was so resilient it was able to live in the contaminated atmosphere of an abandoned copper mine. Gavin Rosdale of the grunge band Bush published a picture of his Puli in an inset to the band’s album Sixteen Stone, and – more recently – Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg came to Hungary to get his Puli fix at the source, adding a second Puli to his collection. Now if only Slash from Guns N Roses would buy one, and confirm the adage that ‘pets look like their owners.’

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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Hungarian (Paintings!) in Hollywood

Here’s a headline you don’t read every day: Famous Lost Hungarian Painting Spotted as Set Design Prop in Hollywood Children’s Movie! And the best part is there is no sensationalism involved. Gergely Barki, a Hungarian art researcher, spotted the painting “Sleeping Lady with Black Vase,” by Robert Bereny (1887-1953) while watching the 1999 Sony Pictures film of the children’s book classic Stuart Little. Barki’s excellent eye and extensive knowledge of art served him well, as he had only seen the painting – which disappeared in 1923 – in a catalog of the Hungarian National Gallery. But there the painting was, on full view in a 10-year-old film that had seen by millions before Barki spotted it in 2009.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Bereny’s long-lost masterpiece on the wall behind Hugh Laurie, I nearly dropped Lola (his daughter) from my lap. A researcher can never take his eyes off the job, even when watching Christmas movies at home,” Mr. Barki said in an interview with England’s The Daily Mail. It took Mr. Barki a full two years before he was able to track down where the painting went after the film wrapped. He discovered that a set assistant had bought the painting from the studio, and it was hanging on the wall of her apartment. After learning this, Mr. Barki  set about bringing it back to Hungary.

Hugh Laurie, who stars in the film, put a humorous twist on the discovery, tweeting that that he had been a “little hurt to discover the foreground performances couldn’t hold the attention, but still, what an honour”.

It is speculated that the painting was taken from the country by Jews fleeing pre-WWII Hungary. The painting was discovered in an antique shop in Pasadena by film set designer, who opted to use it wile decorating the living room of the home the animated mouse in Stuart Little lives in.

Last month the painting was sold for over 200,000 euro at an auction in Budapest, bought by a Hungarian private collector. So don’t look to see it in any more Hollywood films. That is, unless Stuart Little III is filmed here in Budapest.

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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Bizarre Foods: Mission Hungary

This week’s post should speak for itself. Because if you are not familiar with Hungarian cuisine, you have to see it to believe it. From fried bacon-y pork blood, to rooster testicle stew, to a spicy-red fish soup, and offal everywhere you look, host Andrew Zimmern of the TV show Bizarre Foods tours rural and urban Hungary in search of the lesser known dishes prepared by Hungarian cooks. This means traveling to a Roma (Gyspy) village for a pig killing, touring an industrial waste-land for dishes that are no longer fashionable with health-conscious urban youth, and sampling Budapest’s Jewish quarter. Along the way even Hungarian food enthusiasts learn something: like for instance, that the famous Balaton carp used in fish soup was originally imported from China to eat Balaton’s plankton. Fat and blood ice-cream? There is nothing traditional about that, but the host claims it is one of the most adventurous dishes he has ever tasted (served at the nouveau Hungarian cuisine restaurant Bock), which is saying a lot – because the main course at the same restaurant is not to be believed (you will have to watch the episode to find out what it is). Kudos to Zimmern for staying away from the stereotypical fare of gulash and chicken paprikash, because for the curious palate, there is so much more to love about eating in Hungary.

 

 

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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