"White Palms" wins Hungary's Oscar nomination

The Hungarian Film Union announced on Monday that it is entering "White Palms" (Fehér tenyér), a movie by Szabolcs Hajdu, as the official Hungarian nominee in the Foreign Language Film category at next year's Oscars.

Hajdu is one of the most promising directors in an exciting new generation of Hungarian filmmakers. "White Palms," his third movie, is a sports film with historical and autobiographical elements. It is inspired by the life of Hajdu's younger brother Zoltan, an Olympic gymnastics champion and member of the Cirque du Soleil acrobatic troupe in Las Vegas. Zoltan, called "Dongó" in the movie, plays himself in a story of a Hungarian gymnastics prodigy who is hired to coach a young Canadian athlete, Kyle (played by Olympic medalist Kyle Shewfelt). While struggling with the boy's difficult temperament, Zoltan reminisces about his own youth at the hands of demanding parents and a sadistic coach.

"White Palms" was a great success at the 37th Hungarian Movie Week, winning awards for both its production and direction. Every country submits one movie every year to the Oscars and at the end of January, five representatives of the Los Angeles film academy nominate films to appear at the prestigious Academy Awards ceremony to be held on February 25 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

In the history of the Oscars, eight Hungarian movies have been nominated in the Foreign Language Film category, of which one, Mephisto in 1981, landed the award. "White Palms" is currently being screened in a several cinemas in Budapest, but only in Hungarian.

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