LYON, France — As Hungary took center stage as country of honor at this year’s International Classic Film Market ( MIFC ) in Lyon, the spotlight fell on an institution that tells a remarkable story of cultural resurrection.

Without a national cinémathèque, the National Film Institute (NFI), along with the Film Archive and Filmlab, set about restoring, digitizing and sharing Hungary’s cinema. “When I took over in 2017, it started from scratch – it was a ruin,” György Raduly, director of the Hungarian National Film Archive, told Variety . “The most difficult part was to change the mindset. For 10 years there had been no development, no change, and people were really on the floor.”

Eight years on, Raduly says the system now functions like a “Rubik’s cube”: “It’s a perfect model. We w

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