In the framework of the ELTE–NFI FILMIO University Film Club's screening and discussion series, we commemorate the outstanding film director who passed away in January 2026.
The first film by 22-year-old Béla Tarr is a contemporary document, a sociological report, and a brutally honest exploration of petty human relationships. The actors are amateurs who play characters close to their own real-life situations. The dramatic authenticity is guaranteed by the super-close-up, handheld camera shots with direct sound (i.e., recorded on location). Tarr is not interested in the social and public implications of the housing problem typical of the era, but rather in the development of human relationships and the interaction of emotions and passions revealed in seemingly hopeless situations. In The Family Nest, the housing shortage is not a temporary condition, but an unchangeable hell.
Young Irén lives with seven other people in her father-in-law's one-bedroom apartment, which lacks basic amenities. Due to the forced confinement, conflicts are a daily occurrence, and the situation does not improve even when her husband, Laci, returns home after completing his military service. They still do not have the money to move out, and Irén's weekly visits to the office are in vain, as no one there can offer her any encouragement. Her father-in-law constantly stirs up tension, accusing her of infidelity, and slowly her marriage begins to fall apart.
The film won the Grand Prize at the Mannheim Film Festival, as well as the Hungarian Film Critics' Award, and was recognised in the categories of Best First Film and Best Cinematography.
Date: 20 February 2026, 6:00 p.m.
Venue: University Square Campus (1053 Budapest, Egyetem tér 1–3., Weiss Emilia Hall, ground floor, in the corridor next to the cloakroom)
Director, screenwriter: Béla Tarr
Cinematographer: Ferenc Pap
Editor: Anna Kornis
Music: Szabolcs Szörényi, László Tolcsvay, Mihály Móricz
Cast: Mrs. László Horváth, László Horváth, Gábor Kun, Mrs. Gábor Kun, Gábor Kun Jr., Irén Rácz
Our guests in the post-screening discussion will be Andrea Pass, playwright and director, who created a stage version of the film in 2020, and Márkus Keller, PhD, associate professor and head of the Department of Comparative Historical Sociology at ELTE's Faculty of Social Sciences.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1gXkjQDnvc
Due to limited seating, advance registration is required:
https://www.ajk.elte.hu/csaladi-tuzfeszek-1979-in-memoriam-tarr-bela
The organisers welcome any correspondence regarding the film club at eltenfi.filmklub@elte.hu.
ELTE–NFI Film Club Facebook page