Winner of the Kingfisher Award 34. Liffe: 3000 Numbered Pieces

Directed by: Ádám Császi
Hungary, 2022, 95'

Cankarjev dom Cinema Winner of the Kingfisher Award 34. Liffe: 3000 Numbered Pieces

Screenplay: Ádám Császi, Balázs Lengyel
Cinematography:István Balázs Balázs
Music:Csaba Kalotás
Cast: Franciska Farkas (Szintia Lakatos), Kristóf Horváth, Christopher Pászik (Chris), Rómeó Pápai (Rómeó Rostás), Edmond Oláh (Edmond Kolompár), Norbert Varga (Márió Bogdán), Wieland Speck, Csaba Gerner (Rómeov oče), Ádám Varga (Othello)

A unique, wise and rough blend of cinema, theatre, musical and comedy. Ádám Császi bravely continues to oppose the authoritarian Orbán regime.

The film centres on a white director working with a troupe of Romas with severely underprivileged backgrounds. The troupe members are former heroin addicts, ex-homeless people, juvenile delinquents, victims of rape and abuse. The play they make together presents with false sincerity the unvarnished truth of their real experiences - in other words, the play capitalises on their misery. Following one of their performances, the actors get tired of being taken advantage of and leave the troupe. The troupe finally reunites out of practical reasons: the play is invited to Berlin's most prominent theatre and the prestigious festival promises to furnish them all with fame and fortune.

Three Thousand Numbered Pieces constantly plays with the notion of truth and fact through a fractured narrative. /.../ This is easily one of the best films of the year. Hopefully, it will get the attention it deserves. The film is everything that this year's Palme d'Or winner is not, and it never feels either square or superficial.
Christer Emanuelsson, The Disapproving Swede