The National Film Institute will no longer assume long-term financial obligations due to the change of government. Csaba Káel’s mandate as government commissioner responsible for the development of the Hungarian film industry will end at the same time as the mandate of the Prime Minister. The NFI has achieved outstanding results in the development of the Hungarian film industry since 2020.
In view of the change of government, the National Film Institute will no longer make decisions involving long-term financial obligations, but will take the necessary measures to ensure the continuous and uninterrupted operation of the Hungarian film industry during the transitional period.
According to the statutes of the National Film Institute, the election and recall of the board of directors falls under the exclusive competence of the Hungarian National Asset Management Company.
The mandate of Csaba Káel, the government commissioner responsible for the development of the Hungarian film industry, will expire at the same time as the mandate of the Prime Minister, but according to the relevant legislation, the government commissioner will exercise his authority until the formation of the new Government.
The National Film Institute achieved outstanding results between 2020 and 2026.
The volume of the Hungarian film industry has increased fivefold in the past 5 years thanks to developments and has exceeded 300 billion forints per year, providing work and livelihood for around 20,000 filmmakers. Hungary has become the leading European center of world film production.
Following its launch in 2020, the National Film Institute has unified the comprehensive support system for audiovisual works prepared for theatrical distribution and television/streaming services. During the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to the NFI’s measures, actors in the domestic film industry who were in a difficult situation received significant support, and film production was able to restart in Hungary, the first in the region.
As a result of the continuously and transparently operated unified, application-based support system, more than 90 feature-length films and 500 television works have been produced since 2020, including many popular and globally presented and awarded films. 21 films have been produced in the Incubator Program, which supports beginning filmmakers, since 2020. 44 works produced with NFI support have been invited to A-category international festivals, and these have won 14 awards and recognitions.
The success of the National Film Institute’s co-production strategy is demonstrated by more than 40 works realized in international cooperation, increasing the financing volume and distribution opportunities of films. In 2025, two Hungarian competition films – Silent Friend and The Orphan – were included in the competition program of the Venice Film Festival, which was unprecedented. Revenue from domestic and foreign film sales increased significantly, exceeding one billion forints for the first time in 2025.
Our films have broken all records in domestic cinemas, on TV screens, and on streaming. More than 1 million people bought cinema tickets for the rom-com How Could I Live Without You? – such a success has not been seen in four decades. The TV premiere attracted 1.5 million viewers to the screens. Hunyadi, a world-class series about the greatest Hungarian general and his era, produced in European collaboration, made film history with almost 1 million TV viewers per episode, and broke television viewership records.
The NFI has developed a dedicated program to strengthen and develop the economic and cultural performance of the animation industry and ensure its long-term competitiveness. As part of the animation industry development strategy, the Annecy Festival’s Hungarian guest of honor program was implemented with approximately 200 Hungarian participants, resulting in unprecedented visibility.
A historic 22% expansion of studio capacity in Hungary has been achieved in recent years as a result of the collaboration between the public and private sectors. At the NFI film production base in Fót, filmmakers were able to take possession of four new world-class studios, totaling 10,000 square meters, and 20,000 square meters of supporting infrastructure.
As part of the National Film Digitization and Restoration Program, which aims to preserve Hungarian film heritage for the long term, around 200 Hungarian films have been restored thanks to the coordinated work of the NFI Film Archive and the NFI Film Laboratory. The NFI Film Archive carries out a wide range of activities to bring the works of Hungarian film heritage to viewers and to use film classics in education.
NFI Filmlabor has become a leading player in domestic and international film production with its unique analog and digital post-production services. Its specialists have participated in such world-famous, Oscar-winning works as Poor People and The Brutalist. As part of a comprehensive modernization, a new, high-tech call room was built and the world’s first call machines manufactured by Photomec were put into operation.
Our national film treasure has become accessible online in an almost unique way in Europe, through the streaming service FILMIO, launched in 2020. In line with new consumer trends, works from our film heritage and contemporary Hungarian films are continuously available to a wide audience. Currently, 1,200 works can be viewed in FILMIO’s offer, with users initiating approximately 300,000 playbacks per year.
