27/10/2020.- The Hungarian filmmaker Lili Horvát presented her second feature film, Preparations to be Together for an Unknow Period of Time, in the Official Section at the 65th Seminci today. Shot on 35mm, Preparations tells the story of a renowned neurosurgeon living in the United States who returns to her native Hungary to start a new life with a doctor she has fallen in love with.
The decision to shoot on 35mm, which gives the film its classical touch, has to do with mystery and intuition. These were crucial elements in the plot, which had to escape from the perfection brought about by the video image. “We made the decision at a very early stage of the project and decided not to change it. It forced us to rearrange the budget as we approached filming, but our co-producers understood how important it was and we stuck by it”, Horvát explained at the press conference.
This “classical” film was born from the following idea: a woman (Marta) arrives from a faraway place full of love and expectations in order to see the man she loves, and when she does, he claims he has never seen her before. “When I made this decision, I didn’t know who either he or she were”, said the filmmaker. She mentioned that the protagonist, who is “head over heels in love with this man,” is also a top-level neurosurgeon. “She is not this teenager who’s lost her mind”, Horvát made clear, and also pointed out that there is a “certain poetry” to neurosurgery.
Due to the importance the protagonist has in the story, the casting process was “crucial”, particularly important. “I had experience with other directors when it came to carrying out that part of the work, so even though the casting is always crucial, this is especially true about a film that pivots so centrally on a leading character”, Horvát explained.
The filmmaker took part in the Meeting Point section at the 60th Seminci with her first feature film, The Wednesday Child, which won an award at Karlovy Vary.
