Hungary sends Enyedi's Silent Friend to the 2027 Oscars
Hungary has chosen Ildikó Enyedi's Silent Friend as its entry for best international feature film, the Oscar for films made outside the United States, at the 2027 Academy Awards, according to Variety. It is a return for a director the Academy already knows.
The film stars Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Luna Wedler, Enzo Brumm and Léa Seydoux. Enyedi premiered it in Venice, according to Variety.
Enyedi won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for On Body and Soul, which went on to an Oscar nomination in the international feature category in 2018. She followed it with The Story of My Wife, which played in competition at Cannes in 2020.
Silent Friend arrives with festival silverware. It took six awards at the 82nd Venice Film Festival, including the FIPRESCI Prize from international film critics, according to AwardsWatch. It was also named as one of five nominees for the FIPRESCI Grand Prix for best films of the year.
At home, it was named best film at the 45th Hungarian Film Week in Budapest. The same jury gave Gergely Pálos best cinematography, Károly Szalai best editing and Mónika Mécs best producer for the film.
Behind the camera, Silent Friend is a co-production of Germany's Pandora Film, Hungary's Inforg-M&M Film and France's Galatée Films, in collaboration with China's Rediance Films. It was produced by Reinhard Brundig and Mónika Mécs, with support from Hungary's National Film Institute. In the market, 1-2 Special is handling the United States release and Films Boutique is handling world sales, which covers licensing the film territory by territory.
The Hungarian selection was made by a committee of Mátyás Erdély, Gyula Gazdag, Gábor Gelencsér, Kristóf Horváth, Ágnes Kocsis and Sára László. For fans, this means a long wait. The Academy will announce its shortlist on Dec. 15 and final nominations on Jan. 21. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony is set for March 14 in Los Angeles.
