Department of Central Eurasian Studies

Inner Asian & Uralic National Resource Center (IAUNRC)		Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies (SRIFIAS)		Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region (CeLCAR)		Summer Language Workshop (SWSEEL)

List of CEUS Videos :: Related Links

Videos and compact disks are available for ten-day loan to IU faculty and students. Contact CEUS at 855-2398, kniggle@indiana.edu, or 855-2233, ceus@indiana.edu. Items may be picked up in Goodbody Hall 153.

Instructors outside IU who want to use items in the classroom or for curriculum development should make arrangements through the outreach coordinators at the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, 812-855-7319, iaunrc@indiana.edu, or the Russian & East European Institute, 812-855-7309, reei@indiana.edu. IAUNRC and REEI also have additional resources available to lend. There is no charge except return postage with insurance.

Borrowers agree to pay replacement costs (est. $25-$100) if an item is lost or damaged. CEUS makes no endorsement of any of these materials.

HUNGARIAN VIDEOS in VHS format
HUNGARIAN & FINNISH COMPACT DISKS
HUNGARIAN DOCUMENTARIES in DVD format
TIBETAN VIDEOS in VHS format
FINNISH VIDEOS in VHS format
MONGOLIAN FILM in DVD format

HUNGARIAN VIDEOS in VHS format:

AFTER THE REVOLUTION (Forradalom utan)
1990, Hungarian with English subtitles, 82 min., color, directed by Andras Szirtes
One of Europe's most innovative and challenging filmmakers, Andras Szirtes directed this experimental, tongue-in-cheek feature made in the wake of the cataclysmic political changes of his native Hungary. The "hero" of this film is a middle-aged writer who ekes out an existence, struggling to write a great novel, in a small, suburban apartment. Every morning, he sits down at the table to write after feeding his cat and letting it out into the streets. The point-of-view of the film is that of the cat. The world is perceived through the cat's eyes, ears and brain. Each night, the writer reviews the material "shot" by the cat during the day, which serves as the basis for the novel. However the writer is not satisfied with the material, for which he blames not the cat, but the world that he cannot experience because he has shut himself off from it.

ANOTHER WAY
1982, Hungarian with English subtitles, 102 min., color, directed by Károly Makk
Public and private morality collide in this psychological drama about a love triangle during the aftermath of the failed Hungarian uprising of 1956. Livia, the beautiful wife of an army officer, is a reported at the Budapest newspaper where Eva, an outspoken lesbian journalist, comes to work after two years of politically-motivated unemployment. When Eva and Livia fall in love, they embark on an affair that ends in heartbreak and violence for both. Their relationship's tragic consequences are mirrored by Hungary's oppression under Soviet rule.

BAD GUYS
1979, Hungarian (no English subtitles), 93 min., color, directed by György Szomjas
A Western from the East, this adventure film is made in "Western-style" and deals with the outlaws last days in Hungary. In the 1860's an outlaw and his henchmen hold a reign of terror over Transdanubia. Their movement is overtaken by the events of the time, and the posse is hot on their trail. The outlaw's second-in-command is persuaded by his wife Kata to betray the gang to the chief constable, whose task it is to round up the outlaws. She hopes her husband will be pardoned in return.

BOLSHE VITA
1996, Hungarian with English subtitles, 90 min., color, directed by Ibolya Fekete
In the hectic summer of 1989 Hungary opened its western border, which started a new migration in the upheaval of Eastern Europe. Refugees of politics, poverty and war all passed through Hungary, the crossroads of East and West. Adventure seekers, smugglers, Magioso's and a few young people who were looking for a new place in a world that seemed to be renewed. They are the heroes of this story. They arrive from various directions: two moony musicians and an engineer from Russia, two girls from Britain and America. They all meet in Budapest, in a rock-pub called Bolshe Vita. They fall in love and wander around town, the boys trying to make a living by playing music in the street or doing business in the "Comecom" market. They spend the summer together in the short interval between the collapse of the dictatorship and the dawn of the new chaos - that was the time we called freedom.

COLD DAYS
1966, Hungarian with English subtitles, 102 min., B&W, directed by Andras Kovacs
One of the most important Hungarian films of the 1960's, Andras Kovacs' Cold Days was an extremely courageous theme to tackcle at the time in view of the silence which had, until then, shrouded the Hungarian role in World War II. The film is based on the massacre of several thousand Jewish and Serbian people of Novi Sad in 1942. "The film is structured round the memories and self-justifications of four men involved in the massacre as they await trial in 1946. Each, of course, denies his complicity or responsibility for the events -- either he was just obeying orders and thus had no choice in the matter, or, in one case, he simply helped dispose of the corpses rather than taking part in the killing.... Many of the images of the film remain unforgettable, and the start black-and-white contrasts provide an atmosphere of coldness, remoteness, and detachment that is worthy of Jancso.... [the film] chronicles the way in which ordinary people can find themselves responsible for the lives of total strangers... [and] is particularly effective in displaying inhumanity as something casual and almost routine" (Graham Petrie).

DOWNFALL OF THE MONARCHIES/THE SURVIVING MONARCHIES (The 20^th Century: A Video Retrospective)
1998, English, 48 minutes, color/English, 48 minutes, color
By the end of the 20^th century, virtually all of the world's monarchies had been swept away by assassination, war, and revolution. The first program looks at the royal families who fell from grace, from mighty empires like Austro-Hungary to smaller players like Egypt's Farouk and Albania's Zog, and at the still splendid world of India's maharajahs, who have taught their fellow royals a lesson in how to bow out in style. Among those appearing in the program are Otto, heir to the Hapsburg throne, and former King Michael of Romania. The second program looks at surviving monarchies to see how they adapted and changed with the times to ensure that they remained popular with their people and relevant to the political world in which they lived. The program looks at the House of Windsor after the crisis of the abdication of Edward VIII, the Japanese Imperial throne after Japan's defeat in World War II, the Hashimite monarchy of Jordan after the creation of Israel and the rise of Nasser's Egypt, the Belgian monarchy after accusations of capitulation to the Nazis, and the Spanish monarchy after the death of Franco.

FATHER (Diary of a Week)
1967, Hungarian with English subtitles, 89 min.
A psychological drama about a young man who tries to discover the reality about his father who was killed during the second world war.

THE FIFTH SEAL
1976, Hungarian with English subtitles, 116 min., color, directed by Zoltán Fábri
Zoltán Fábri's powerful drama about honor and conscience is one of the great Hungarian films of the 1970's. The Fifth Seal is set during the closing days of World War II. A group of friends meet in a local cafe. A flippant political remark is overheard and reported to the Arrow Cross soldiers. The five friends are arrested. "Their abstract political discussions about human freedom and dignity are put to the test when, after a period of physical torture, the Arrow Cross commandant attempts to destroy their self-respect by offering them freedom if they will slap the face of a dying Communist partisan," writes critic Graham Petrie. Fábri deftly juxtaposes the question of physical survival versus a higher moral good in this haunting drama. Based on a novel by Ferenc Santa.

FLOWERS OF REVERIE
1984, Hungarian with English subtitles, 106 min., color, directed by László Lugossy
This film is set at the end of the 1848-49 Hungarian Revolution. Ferenc, a former soldier, is implicated as a member of the resistance and arrested. He suffers from depression and is moved to a mental hospital. After writing an open letter to the Emperor, he commits suicide by turning himself into a human torch. Director László Lugossy achieves a striking balance between historical forces and the ability of an individual to control freedom and shape the political future in this powerful drama.

GUILTY OF TREASON
1949, 85 min., B&W, directed by Felix E. Feist

HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY
1983, Hungarian with English subtitles, 101 min., directed by Miklos Jancso
Set in 1911, the film follows the central character, István, a nobleman who joins ranks with the peasants in opposition to his brother, who chooses to work for the established order. Director Miklos Jansco achieves a dialectical relationship between the forces of history and the viewer's subjective relationship to it, proving the essence of individual choice versus historical forces.

HUNGARY: A VIDEO HISTORY, Parts 1-3
1994, English, Roger Conant Productions
Documentaries on Hungarian history: Part 1: Árpád Hungary (earliest origins to 1301), 45 min. Part 2: The Golden Age of Hungary (1301 to 1437), 40 min. Part 3: Hungary in Greatness and Decline (1437-1526), 48 min.

HUNGARY: WHERE THE WATER IS DEEP
Hungarian with English subtitles, 55 min., color, directed by Janos Veszi
The lot of the Hungarian Gypsy is not a romantic one. The mistrust and anger between them and their neighbors stains the beautiful, pastoral landscape of the Putza region. In this emotional and stunningly photographed film the fiery widow of a murdered Gypsy seeks information about his killing, speaking with fortune tellers and police, meeting with witnesses and even challenging the presumed assassins. her rage boils as the trail leads nowhere and her concerns are ignored. This video is part of the Enemy Mine six-part series which gives voice to ordinary individuals whose lives bear witness to the contemporary consequences of age-old tensions. The narratives may seem like fictional constructs, but they are true, and they are enacted by the real people involved, not by actors.

LOVE (Szerelem)
1971, Hungarian with English subtitles, 92 min., B&W, directed by Karoly Makk
Love is a special film about the extraordinary relationship between two women: an aged aristocrat nearing 100 years old for whom the past is more vivid than the present, and her daughter-in-law.
In her last days, the bedridden matriarch enters into an unspoken pact with her daughter-in-law that will allow her to live proudly and die happily. The young Luca, whose husband has been seized by the secret police, loves her mother-in-law in a furious confusion of respect, tenderness, love for her husband, sexual frustration, and anger at what her life has been reduced to. The intensity of their relationship is developed with details and subtlety that reveals more artistry upon each viewing. When the husband is released, his reaction to the outside world and the utterly honest emotional truth of his reunion with his long-suffering wife make for a shattering final act.

MAGIC HUNTER
1996, directed by Ildiko Enyedi
Hungarian with English subtitles, 106 min., color
Max is the best sharpshooter on the Budapest police force. But when skill and luck desert him and he accidentally shoots a woman he was supposed to protect, a mysterious friend gives him seven magic bullets that are guaranteed to hit their mark. What Max doesn't know is that the last bullet belongs to the Devil and will only hit a target of the Devil's choosing. Mixing time, magic and thrilling suspense, this is a wondrous journey from the medieval to the present.

MARIA'S DAY
1984, Hungarian with English subtitles, 113 min., color, directed by Judit Elek
In an emotionally powerful film, director Judit Elek returns to the 19^th century, to the crucial years following the failed Hungarian revolution of 1848-49. An aristocratic family gathers at the home of Ignac Czendrey to celebrate his youngest daughter's Name Day. In the course of the one day, the unusual past and present of the family unfold. The family is related to the revolutionary and legendary poet Sandor Petofi and desperately tries to live up to the Petofi myth. They dream of a heroic new epoch, but while they dream, the mundaneness of the present overcomes them. Petofi's widow is disgraced because she married a man who can never live up to the image of her martyred husband. Petofi's syphilitic son Zoltan has run away in revolt against the family. A vgue rumor of a cholera epidemic hangs over their heads. And that same night, the rumor becomes a tragic certainty: it strikes a person whose death no one anticipated.

THE MEMORIES OF A RIVER
1989, Hungarian with English subtitles, 131 min., color, directed by Judit Elek
Set in the northeast corners of the Astro-Hungarian Empire, the film tells a story of the 1880's. A young girl is mysteriously drowned in the river Tisza. The Jewish raftsmen are accused of the crime. A trial is held; a religious Jew's young son is prepared and forced by the district attorney to testify against his own father.

THE MIDAS TOUCH
1989, Hungarian with English subtitles, 100 min., color, directed by Geza Beremenyi
The story unfolds in the flea-market in Budapest from 1945 until 1956, where Monori the merchant is the king of the market. Just like King Midas, whatever he touches turns to gold. This ability to turn a quick profit on anything from apples to lentils leads him to believe that gold is the ultimate power. In 1956 blood flows on the streets of Budapest. With gold in his sack, he is going to put the magical yellow metal to the test once more.

MY TWENTIETH CENTURY
1990, Hungarian with English subtitles, 104 min., B&W, directed by Ildiko Enyedi
My Twentieth Century has a witty and sensual style that earned it a place on five "Best-10" lists for 1990. Amid the wonder and excitement of Thomas Edison's electric lights and other dazzling inventions at the turn of the century, two identical twins grow up and explore their world in very opposite ways. The erotic and playful Dora is a soft and self-indulgent contrast to her bomb-throwing revolutionary sister Lili who was separated from her at birth. The sisters finally cross paths on the Orient Express by sleeping with the same confused man.

OH, BLOODY LIFE
1985, Hungarian with English subtitles, 115 min., directed by Péter Bacsó
The lustful police chief, stark naked, advances towards the equally naked Lucy, who suddenly produces a gun and forces the man to sing for his supper... The first half of the 1950's is shadowed by Stalin's name in Hungary. The story is set in the spring of 1951 when a most brutal operation was undertaken... the deportation of some of Budapest's citizens who had done nothing to deserve this fate. Lucy, the young actress, is also deported because her former husband was an aristocrat.

RECSK 1950-53 (2 copies)
1989, Hungarian with English subtitles, 100 min., color, directed by Livia Gyarmathy/Gwéza Böszörményi
This multi-award winning documentary about a secret labor camp reveals atrocities committed by the Stalinist regime of Hungary.

RIDDANCE
1973, Hungarian with English subtitles, 84 min., B&W, directed by Marta Meszaros
Jutka, a young woman who works in a factory, falls in love with Andras, a university student. She pretends to be a student, first to him and later to his parents, and comes to live a lie. Finally, she rebels not only against Andras and his demands but the social conventions that forced her into her lie, striving for a dignity denied her. A searing, uncompromising vision of divided sexes and classes, Riddance is a powerful film of people manipulated by enormous and sexual pressures.

THE ROUND UP
1965, Hungarian with English subtitles, 90 min., B&W, directed by Miklos Jancso
Set in an isolated 1868 Hungarian prison camp amidst a vast, featureless plain, the film tells the story of political prisoners suspected as "freedom fighters" in the newly created Austro-Hungarian empire. Subtle forms of physical and psychological torture are used to turn the men against one another and betray confidences which will result in others being shot or hanged. Jancso has produced a work of power and austerity bordering on the surreal about men stripped of their individual identities, abandoning all vestiges of humanity.

SINBAD
1971, Hungarian with English subtitles, 78 min., color, directed by Zoltan Huszarik
Based on a novel by Gyula Krudy, Sinbad is an evocation of memories of past romantic attachments by an aging Don Juan. Romantic and sensual, almost purely by virtue of its elaborate imagery, and for its dramatic cutting on the basis of the pure visual essence, Sinbad is praised for its strong use of color in film. The story is set around the turn of the century in Hungary.

WE NEVER DIE
1994, Hungarian with English subtitles, 90 min., color, directed by Róbert Koltai
A wonderful, unabashedly raunchy period comedy that takes place in the 1960's with Uncle Gyuszi about to take his gawky teenaged nephew Imi along with him from fair to fair to sell his fabulous wooden hangers. Unbeknownst to Imi, this is also to be an educational trip on the ways of life, happiness and love. Imi's parents have good reason to feel a certain apprehension in leaving their son with Gyuszi, who once they're out of sight promises the kid "Grub, booze and women." Indeed, Uncle Gyuszi is a fast-talking, fun-loving dynamo whose primary loves are gambling at the racetrack and nailing the opposite sex. Among Uncle's golden rules: don't take life too seriously, and find the humor in every situation.

THE WITNESS
1968, Hungarian with English subtitles, 116 min., color, directed by Péter Bacsó
This film was banned for twelve years. Set in 1949, the film is an irreverent political satire that mixes forms and styles, symbolism and screwball farce. The story concerns a hopelessly inept civil servant who's imprisoned and eventually manipulated into providing testimony against a government minister on trial for treason.

HUNGARIAN & FINNISH COMPACT DISKS:

Choral Works to Debrecen(Kórus Múvek Debrecennek), 1998
Kodály Chorus of Debrecen (Lajos Antal Sz cs) Emil Petrovics * Rudolf Maros * Sándor Szokolay * Ferenc Farkas * György Orbán * Miklós Csemiczky * László Kalmár * Zsolt Hamar * Attila Bozay * Máté Hollós * Miklós Kocsár * Miklós Mohay

Northern Lights, Music of Contemplation for a New Age, Finlandia Records, 1995
A visionary journey into the North Country is captured in this evocative collection of solo, chamber and orchestral music.

Universitas Helsingiensis 350 (University of Helsinki: 350^th Anniversary), 1991
Englund * kajanus * Salmenhaara * Aho * Pacius Includes multi-lingual booklet with background on the compositions and the musical history of the University.

Värttinä "Seleniko", 1992
Seellinnikoi * Lemmennosto * Kylä Vuotti Uutta kuuta * Sulhassii * Matalii Ja Mustii * Hoptson * Suuret Ja Soriat * Leppiäinen * Pihi Neito * Mikä Miulla Mielessä * Kiirama * Hyvä Tyttönä Hypätä * Fanaari * Paukkuvat Pasuunat

Chapters of Hungarian Scientific, Technical and Cultural History (based on the exhibition Dreamers of Dreams - Hungarians of World Renown) Fejezetek a Magyar Tudomány-, Technika- És Kultúrtörténetb_l (as Álmok álmodói - világraszóló magyarok cím_ kiállítás alapján), 1999
The CD is intended to recall the human interactivity that characterized the atmosphere, content and spirit of the exhibition. Building on the features of multimedia production the CD is better placed to emphasize and visualize the connections within the material relations between thematic sections, individual careers and intellectual workshops. Main thematic units: agrarium, star world, physics, chemistry and geology, healing, technical inventions, language, education, sports, spatial thinking. (Magyarok a világ tudományos-m_szaki haladásáért)

HUNGARIAN DOCUMENTARIES in DVD format:

THE FIRST BRICK FROM THE BERLIN WALL (AZ ELS_TÉGLA A BERLINI FALBÓL)
2008, PAL format, Hungarian with Hungarian, German and English subtitles. 20 min., color, commissioned by the Government of the Republic of Hungary
What do a young former GDR citizen, a middle-aged West-German reporter, a Bonn ambassador, the former foreign minister of West Germany and Hungary’s former foreign minister have in common? A date, an aim and a sentiment. And the fact that on the night of 10 September 1989 all five of them triumphed. That night Hungary opened its Austrian border to East German refugees. That night a brick fell out of the Berlin Wall. That night East and West came closer to each other. That night freedom won a battle against oppression.

HUNGARY IN 3D
Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

TIBETAN VIDEOS in VHS format:

TIBET: THE SURVIVAL OF THE SPIRIT
1991, English, 92 min., color, directed by Clemens Kuby
Shot in 1988 by filmakers who eluded their official Chinese guide, this film is a rare, uncensored look at what has become of this Himalayan nation. It shows a wrenching confrontation between two ideologies: the all-pervasive, compassionate Buddhism of traditional Tibet and the materialistic, militaristic political dogma imposed by the invading Chinese. The systematic eradication of Tibetan culture is exposed, and footage "liberated" from a Chinese cameraman reveals the police storming the Johkang temple and brutalizing monks. Yet through it all, the tibetans still visit revered sites, preserve the sacred dances, and quietly rebuild their ruined monasteries.

THE REINCARNATION OF KHENSUR RINPOCHE
1991, English, 62 min, color, directed by Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin

FINNISH VIDEOS in VHS format:

KILJUSEN HERRASVÄKI
1981, Finnish, 102 min.
The story of a wacky Finnish family which wins a trip to Helsinki. Kiljusen herrasväki saa ilouutisen: Perhe on voittanut matkan Helsinkiin. Leppoisa maalaiselämä saa myt jäädä hetkeksi, kun koko äänekäs perhe isä ja äiti Kiljunen, pojat Luru ja Mökö ja Pulla-koira lähtevät matkaan. Ehtiikö äänekäs ja innokkaassti koheltava perhe otta kaiken irti pääkaupungin houkutuksista? No varmasti! Muilla sen sijaan on vaikeuksia pysytellä herasväen vauhdissa - varsisnkin poliisilla.

MAAILMAN MESTARIT
1995, Finnish, 110 min.
Documentary about the 1995 World Champion Finnish ice hockey team

MAATALON ELÄIMET
1992, Finnish, 40 min.
Documentary about barnyard animals and their young.
Näin Me Kasvamme on ihastuttava ja viihdyttävä luonnontieteen sarja perheenpienimmile. Tämä loistavasti toteutettu video kertoo neljän eläimen, Kananpojan, Porsaan, Vasikan ja Karitsan varttumisesta täysikasvuisiksi. Näet kuinka ne kasvavat ja pääset jakamaan niiden kanssa seikkailut, kun ne tutustuvat uuten maiilmaansa, kerrottuna viehättävässä tarinamuodossa, josta jokainen nauttii tädestä sydämestään.

MONGOLIAN FILM in DVD format:

THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL
2004, Mongolian with English subtitles, 87 min.
The Story of the Weeping Camel is an enchanting film that follows the adventures of a family of herders in Mongolia’s Gobi region who face a crisis when the mother camel unexpectedly rejects her newborn calf after a particularly difficult birth. Uniquely composed of equal parts reality, drama, and magic, this film is a window into a different way of life and the universal terrain of the heart.