Retrospective of Márta Mészáros: The Girl / Eltávozott nap

Márta Mészáros, Hungary, 1968, 80’

The extensive body of works by the great (and first) Hungarian female director, whose films are political, relevant, and always imbued with realistic, hands-on feminism, includes a wide range of genres and styles. The retrospective focuses on Mészáros’ early fiction features.

Erzsi, a young textile worker, leaves the orphanage in Budapest where she grew up and heads to the countryside to visit her mother. The two women meet, but because of their very different views of the world and their role in society they become strangers for the second time. A liberating and unique portrait of just such a girl is the filmmaker’s debut and the first film by a female director in Hungary.