The Eszter Hajdu-directed film was the only Hungarian movie in competition at Sarajevo. Labelled a “claustrophobic courtroom drama” by its makers, Judgment In Hungary used multiple cameras to film 167 hours of raw material of the trial, presenting the murderers and the presiding judge, László Miszori.

The killings targeted Roma people in the northern Hungarian villages of Kisléta, Tatárszentgyörgy and Nagycsécs over the course of 2008 and 2009. Victims were carefully chosen, usually residing in the end house of a separate Roma settlement adjacent to a motorway, ensuring the killers a quick getaway. The accused were arrested after more than 18 months of investigations. Finally two separate court cases were brought against them: one military, whose proceedings are classified, and one civil. The latter is the subject of the documentary.

Last year three of the four accused were given life sentences while the fourth received a 13-year prison term. They had carefully planned the murders as racially motivated attacks at a pub in the eastern Hungarian city of Debrecen. The documentary is currently being shown in Hungarian cinemas.

Source: The Budapest Beacon

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