Premiere: FESTIVAL NATION | CINEMA CITY ALLEE

Attila Csizmadia’s feature film Festival Nation, exploring Hungary’s festival culture, hits cinemas nationwide from September 18!

After the screening, the film’s participants Károly Gerendai (founder of Sziget Festival) and Balázs Varga (founder of Fekete Zaj Festival), together with the film’s producer Claudia Sümeghy, will join a conversation moderated by Kata Orsolya Molnár.

Venue: Cinema City Allee (Budapest, 1117, Allee Shopping Center, Október huszonharmadika u. 8–10.)

Date & Time: September 23, 2025 (Tuesday) at 7:00 PM

Guests: Károly Gerendai (founder of Sziget Festival), Balázs Varga (founder of Fekete Zaj Festival), Claudia Sümeghy (producer)

Travel with us into a world everyone knows – but no one has ever seen quite like this!

Sziget, VOLT, Balaton Sound, Valley of Arts, Fishing on Orfű, Paloznak Jazz Picnic – iconic festivals that have shaped our summers for decades. Where did they start, and where are they heading? What drives them – passion or business? And what do they mean for different generations?

Dive deep into the Hungarian festival universe and hear from Károly Gerendai, Norbert Lobenwein, Zoltán Fülöp, István Márta and Péter Müller Sziámi about what makes the summer pulse with energy! Party to the biggest hits by Дeva, Beton.Hofi, Sisi, Margaret Island, Blahalouisiana and Pogány Induló. Step backstage and discover the most exciting festival stories of András Lovasi, Halott Pénz, Bagossy Brothers Company, Quimby or Soma Mamagésa!

Music, stories, nostalgia and plenty of humor – in their co-directed film, Attila Csizmadia and Tamás Yvan Topolánszky, in coproduction with Halluci-Nation and JUNO11 Pictures, reveal the human stories behind festivals that have become almost a Hungarian specialty, showing how from dust a sense of freedom could rise.