The festival’s chief patron was Angéla Cserdiné Németh, Mayor of Budapest’s 15th District, who is committed to supporting the artistic development and self-expression of young people. Csokonai Nonprofit Ltd. played a key role in organizing the event, providing professional and infrastructural support for the young filmmakers’ presentations, coordinated by Vanda Flaisz (main organizer) and Edina Bátyai (executive director). The co-organizing Budapest Cultural Center was represented by Krisztián Bakó, international coordinator. The event was supported by the Hungarian Academy of Arts.

The jury was chaired by Ágnes Kocsis, film director and recipient of the Balázs Béla Award. Other jury members included actress Júlia Nyakó, director Zoltán “Vozó” Végh, cinematographer Péter István Ferincz, and linguist Krisztián Bakó. The festival director was independent filmmaker Gábor Merza.

Each day, 50–100 people attended the screenings, and approximately 200 guests were present at the closing awards ceremony.

The Grand Prize of the festival was awarded to Zsuzsa Sándor for her work titled The Best Moment of The Day. In the elementary school category, Petra Nemes won with Kalamajka; among high school students, Kamilla Kiss took the prize with Notice It! (Vedd észre!), while in the young filmmakers category, Attila Mészáros won with Brothers (Testvérek).

This year, the festival gained an international dimension thanks to students from Latvia, participating through the 1CEBA Association with the support of the Budapest Cultural Center. A group of seven students from the Saules Skola, an art school in Daugavpils, attended the event accompanied by their teacher. The 1CEBA Special Prize was selected by the Latvian students and awarded to Mici Varga and Milán Maruszki for their film Friday Night Mercy (Péntek esti irgalom) for “a humorous reinterpretation of a serious topic.”

The Budapest Cultural Center’s Special Award and Certificate of Recognition, on behalf of director Dániel Máhr, was presented by Krisztián Bakó to Lili Kovács for her film Subjective Szombathely (Szubjektív Szombathely), honoring “a visual reinterpretation of the travel film genre.”

The full list of award winners can be found on the official website of the 32nd National/Carpathian Basin Student Film Festival by clicking here.

Report on the Award Recipient of the Budapest Cultural Center can be read here.

Short Films by the Latvian Students on the YouTube Channel of the Budapest Cultural Center: