16/09/2008

The final leg of filming is underway on young Hungarian director Barnabás Tóth’s debut feature, The Shark in Me. The 30-day shoot will wrap up on September 26.

Born in France in 1977, the director – who began acting as a child (appearing in Ildiko Szabo’s Child Murders, which won acclaim in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 1993) – stars in the film alongside Zoltán Bezerédi. The cast also includes Douceline Derréal, Levente Molnár and Tímea Erdélyi.

A graduate of the Budapest Academy of TV, Film and Drama, Tóth has directed 11 shorts (including the multiple award-winning On a Train, unveiled in Cannes Critics’ Week 2005) and several episodes of the mini-series Born Loser produced by HBO Hungary.

Penned by the director, The Shark in Me explores generational differences between a father and son. The latter – a romantic in search of love – finds it hard to break free from the psychological dependence that binds him to his gynaecologist father whose life is dictated by the rhythm of professional success, hyperactivity, competition and hedonism. But a trip to see his uncle in France transforms the young man.

At Alba Projects in March, Tóth commented: "I’ve re-written the screenplay numerous times since 2005 and I’ve successfully taken part in several writing workshops. Jeanne Moreau wrote a few encouraging comments on the script and I won several development grants along the way". He continued: "But the characters and the concept haven’t really changed. Only the structure has developed."

Produced by Jeno Habermann for FilmArt, The Shark in Me has a budget of €470,000. This includes co-production support from French company Vie Des Hauts Production (30% investment), €158,000 in backing from the MMKA (Motion Picture Public Foundation of Hungary) and pre-sales from the Hungarian subsidiary of MTV.

The film is set to be unveiled at the 40th Hungarian Film Week in February 2009.

(Translated from French)