Identity Statement

Reference Code

HU OSA 394

Title

Records of the Film Studio of the Hungarian Ministry of Interior

Date(s)

1955 - 1989

Description Level

Fonds

Extent and medium (processed)

28 VHS PAL, 0.7 linear meters
58 DVD-ROM, 0.58 linear meters
3 Archival boxes, 0.38 linear meters

Context

Name of creator(s)

Hungarian Ministry of the Interior

Archival history

The records of the Film Studio of the Ministry of the Interior were first transferred to the Police Academy, where some of the films already on VHS were used for educational purpose for several years. By the mid-1990s the Police Academy must have forgotten about the films stored in its remote repositories. In 2000, OSA Archiuvm requested assistance from the Ministry to find these films. After a lengthy research the film collection was re-established and officially put into the custody of the Museum of Police History.

Content and Structure

Scope and Content (Abstract)

The Film Studio (called Police Film until 1960) was the film-making unit of the Ministry of the Interior (MI). Its main task was to produce educational and propaganda films used for the professional and political training of the MI staff. The main topics of these films include state security and administration, border protection, public order, fire department and direct political propaganda.

Usually, the film producing plan of the Film Studio was set for five years in advance, which was disregarded only in extraordinary cases, such as serious firearm accidents, successful illegal border crossings, or major fires. For several years in a row, the Studio also produced, roughly on a monthly basis, news programs too. These were the predecessors of the infamous Blue Light (crime investigation) program of the Hungarian State Television. About every five years, the Studio released a full-length feature film which eventually made it - more or less successfully - into the national film distribution.

The propaganda and trainig films produced here were classified according to MI archival standards. The most sensitive ones, classified as "Top Secret", were those dealing with state security. One or two unclassified propaganda films dealing with the work of the police forces were produced yearly for the larger public.

The earliest date of production among the approximately 320 films that were recovered is 1955; the last such film was made in 1989. Generally, the films have very slow dramaturgy and are using almost no live voice but continuous pre-recorded narration. Casts include MI staff and officers, but also unknown extras. In few exceptional cases, widely known Hungarian actors were also employed.

As a sign of good international cooperation with other such film studios from communist countries, the collection has a few Soviet and Czechoslovak training films as well.

Accruals

Not Expected

Conditions of Access and Use

Conditions governing access

No special restriction applies

Languages

Hungarian

Description Control

Archivist's note

Processed by Judit Krausz and Zsuzsanna Zádori, 2013 and 2019.