From hungary-report-owner Mon Nov 27 08:09:01 1995 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id IAA01789; Mon, 27 Nov 1995 08:09:01 -0800 Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) (fnord) by nando.yak.net (8.6.5/8.6.5) id IAA01780; Mon, 27 Nov 1995 08:08:43 -0800 Received: from jbrown@isys.hu () via =-=-=-=-=-= for hungary-report@hungary.yak.net (1778) Received: from kingzog.isys.hu (KingZog.iSYS.hu [194.24.160.4]) (fnord) by nando (8.6.5/8.6.5) with ESMTP id IAA01771 for ; Mon, 27 Nov 1995 08:07:23 -0800 Received: from [194.24.161.32] (hrep.dial.isys.hu [194.24.161.32]) by kingzog.isys.hu (8.7.Beta.11/8.7.Beta.11) with SMTP id RAA02453 for ; Mon, 27 Nov 1995 17:06:45 +0100 (MET) Date: Mon, 27 Nov 1995 17:06:45 +0100 (MET) X-Sender: jbrown@mail.isys.hu (Unverified) Message-Id: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: hungary-report@hungary.yak.net From: jbrown@isys.hu (Jennifer Brown) Subject: The Hungary Report 1.29 Sender: owner-hungary-report@hungary.yak.net Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hungary-report@hungary.yak.net ======================== The Hungary Report Direct from Budapest, every week Also available on the World Wide Web (http://www.isys.hu/hrep/) No. 1.29, November 27, 1995 ======================== SPONSORED BY: iSYS Kft., providing full Internet solutions for companies and individuals in Hungary. For further information, send e-mail to , view our World Wide Web home page (http://www.isys.hu) or call (+36-1) 266-6090. ======== CONTENTS BRIEFS Socialist's congress smoothes over tensions Education minister resigns Bosnia peace dividend to benefit Hungary Electricity strikes off Privatization revenues expected at $610 million Peace Corps resigns from Hungary early Prague's CEU campus coming to Budapest Requirements loosened on new Antenna Hungaria bid Hungarian television head resigns NUMBERS CRUNCHED Percentage of the liquor market operating black Housing units built in Hungary this year Number of crime victims Number of police arrests FEATURE STORY Movie dubbing: Hungary's dying art PARLIAMENT WATCH Bokros's resignation means political rescue MAGYAR NET WATCH Sorry, no Magyar Net Watch this week! The Hungary Report is also supported in part by: MTI-Econews, a daily English-language financial news service. For on-line (fee-based) subscription information, contact the Internet address: . (It's not automated -- write a nice note.) ====== BRIEFS By Kriszta Fenyo and Jennifer C. Brown Copyright (c) 1995 ------------ GENERAL NEWS Socialist's congress smoothes over tensions At the leading governing party's congress last weekend, the Socialist Party (MSZP) delegates managed to smooth over tensions, emphasise party unity and pledge support for the stabilisation programme. The closing statement of the congress declared that the stabilisation programme must be carried on but with the support of the majority of society. The document also says that left wing values should be given more prominence. Prime minister and party president Gyula Horn ensured journalists at an international press conference at the end of the congress on Sunday that "most of the tensions vanished." Indeed, during the congress the critical voices from the hard-liner left wing became silent. The compromise that the many platforms, factions, groups and workshops seemed to have reached is that the stabilisation programme, ie, the "Bokros package", is necessary and as a whole, has no alternative. However they agreed that there can be alternatives in the details and in the means of achieving it. The working section on the economy stressed that the stabilisation programme should be carried out as soon as possible but only with regard to how much society can endure. At the beginning of the congress, Horn delivered a two-hour speech in which he set the tone for party unity. He called on delegates to stop the "hysteria" and "ruinous self-torment", and not to take debates outside the party. He criticised the work of his government calling its performance "uneven", but at the same time, said that there had been many achievements. He ensured the party members that the government was "on the right path" and had achieved its election promises, Hungarian radio reported. On Sunday the delegates voted overwhelmingly to have another congress at the end of March next year where they would deal with the personal questions and the party structure. -KF Education minister resigns Gabor Fodor, minister of culture and education, announced his resignation last Friday. In his letter to Horn, quoted by Magyar Hirlap, Fodor said that the immediate reason of his resignation was due to the government's decision to take HUF 7 billion from the education budget to cover pay rises of public sector workers. He also said that further cuts in the number of teachers would be unacceptable. His criticisms had mostly fallen on deaf ears, Fodor said in his letter, adding that he did not feel he had received enough support from the government, especially from the prime minister himself. Prime minister Gyula Horn accepted his resignation with regret, while the opposition parties welcomed the move as long overdue. The teacher's trade union leader, Mrs Istvan Szolossy told the radio that it was "the wisest move" Fodor had done in his ministry. Fodor had been one of the most widely criticised ministers in Horn's government. The former FIDESZ party gentle heartthrob joined the SZDSZ, the present coalition member, before the elections in 1994. As the youngest minister in the cabinet, ( he is 35), he's been often labeled as incompetent. During his tenure, cuts in the culture and education budget have been severe, and at a recent demonstration, teachers demanded his resignation. In a radio interview last Saturday, Fodor defended himself by saying that he had not agreed with the severe cuts in the education budget but went along with them because of his loyalty to the government. He said he was willing to sacrifice much of his popularity for this loyalty, but the government decision last Thursday was "the last drop". The SZDSZ is expected to discuss Fodor's successor this week. -KF --------------------- BUSINESS & ECONOMICS Bosnian peace could mean business opportunities for Hungary With a Bosnia peace dividend is in sight, Hungary expects economic benefits ranging from reconstruction to trade opportunities, writes the Budapest Business Journal (BBJ). The three and a half year embargo imposed against Serbia and Montenegro has cost Hungary some US $2.25 billion. Bilateral trade with the former Yugoslavia suffered as well, trickling from US $200 million in 1991 down to US $55 million last year. With the lifting of the embargo, Hungarian companies can transport freight unhindered through the former Yugoslavia on their way to the Middle East. During the embargo, Hungary's largest freight-forwarding company Hungarocamion had to spend an extra DM 250 per trip to circumvent the former Yugoslavia. Hungary also expects to restore bilateral trade with rump Yugoslavia, but due to low purchasing power there, it is expected to take several years before trade reaches pre-war levels. In one example cited by the BBJ, Hungarian companies were allowed to export US $1.4 billion worth of food and pharmaceuticals to Serbia this year but ended up exporting only US $30 million. Hungary, which historical ties with Bosnia and Croatia, may also participate in the reconstruction of war-torn areas. According to the BBJ, Hungarian construction, warehousing and freight-forwarding companies will be well-positioned to become subcontractors for Western firms competing for reconstruction contracts issued by international aid organizations. Hungary's economic interests in the former Yugoslavia were echoed by Prime Minister Gyula Horn during his visit with Serbian and Croatian officials in October. -JCB ----------- SHORT TAKES THE THREATENED ELECTRICITY STRIKE IS OFF following a compromise agreement reached last Friday between union leaders and industry representatives. The agreement guarantees a 21% pay rise in the electricity sector next year. The unions originally demanded 3% to 4% more but eventually both parties settled for a compromise. The agreement came at the last minute before a threatened nationwide electricity strike. -KF HUNGARY IS POSED TO EARN US $610 FROM THE SALE OF state-owned assets by the end of the year. Italian, French and German investors have placed bids worth US $461 million for five gas distribution companies. The sale of shares in the Hungarian Oil and Gas Company (MOL) has already poured $150 into the privatization pot. The Budapest Business Journal reports that total investment revenue of $610 million will increase the $ 3 billion in privatization revenues Hungary has earned since 1990 by 30%. Other year-end sale hopefuls include Hungarian telecommunications company Matav, Budapest Bank and MVM, the Hungarian Electricity Company. Those deals could bring in Ft 400 billion, almost twice as much as the targeted privatization levels for 1995 and 1996. -JCB U.S. PEACE CORPS WILL CLOSE ITS HUNGARIAN OPERATIONS EARLY due to budget cuts expected to be passed by the U.S. Congress, The Budapest Sun reports. No new volunteers will be assigned to Hungary next year and the organization's Hungarian operations will officially cease in August 1997, when the last group of volunteers completes its programs. There are currently 92 volunteers in Hungary. Some 306 volunteers have served here in non-governmental organizations and schools since 1990. The American service organization was originally slated to remain in Hungary until the year 2000 at the latest. -JCB CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY'S PRAGUE CAMPUS WILL BE moved to Budapest where the majority of the university's operations are located. According to the Budapest Sun, the decision to move the campus came after Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus decided against subsidizing the campus's rent. High levels of asbestos discovered in the Prague campus's main building also provoked the move. Budapest's CEU campus currently hosts seven departments. -JCB THE STATE PRIVATIZATION AND HOLDING COMPANY (APV RT) PLANS to issue a new, easier bidding tender for national broadcasting company Antenna Hungaria. The decision came after investors complained that the last invitation was too strict. Only one company, TeleDiffusion de France, offered a bidding package. The new invitation, to be released early next year, is expected to attract more bidders. Unlike the last tender, it will not require investors to put HUF 8.4 billion into the company and also doesn't require the purchase of a 50% plus one vote share. -JCB HUNGARIAN TELEVISION'S PRESIDENT ADAM HORVATH PLANS to step down from his post Jan 1. Horvat, who has been in his post for only a year, is dissatisfied with the media bill that is currently standing before Parliament. Besides privatizing part of Channels 1 and 2 and satellite channel Duna TV, the bill would also limit the president's powers during the privatization process. -JCB ------------------ NUMBERS CRUNCHED * Percentage of the liquor market operating in the black (Association of Spirit Importers): 30% to 35% * Number of housing units built in Hungary in 1995, up from 21,000 last year (AB Information): 23,000 * Number of crime victims in Hungary between January and September. (Budapest Week): 187,285 * Number of arrests made by police during this period. (Budapest Week): 87,361. -------------- EXCHANGE RATE Monday, November 27, 1995 (National Bank of Hungary) US dollar -136.32 Deutschemark - 95.85 =========== FEATURE STORY Movie dubbing: Hungary's dying art by John Nadler Copyright (C) 1995 For a generation, the great banes of expatriates living abroad have been money changers, diarrhea, ... and dubbed movies. In Hungary, the practice of changing the voice track of an English film and screening it in Magyar is a 50-year-old institution, cherished by locals and hated by 'Angol' speakers. What homesick expat in the Carpathian basin hasn't seethed upon learning that a long-awaited foreign movie has been synchronized into Hungarian for local consumption? Oh, the frustration. A kulfoldi trying to watch a dubbed film with beginner's Hungarian is like playing pool with a crooked cue -possible, but achingly annoying. English and American expats can take solace. The fine and controversial art of film dubbing is currently under siege. In recent years, fewer feature films have been synchronized into Hungarian, and the quality of dubbing is steadily degenerating. This wasn't always so. "There used to be a time when the Hungarian version of an American film was even better than the original," recollects Gizella Takacsy, a translator and voice-over director who currently works for Magyar Televizio (MTV). "Take, for example, Woody Allen movies. The translations were always good and the acting of Andras Kern" -the Hungarian actor who dubs Woody's voice -"is, in my opinion, better than Woody Allen himself." Better than Woody? That may be stretching it, but Hungarian's ability to translate the vernacular, humour, and cultural references of a foreign film is a result of long years of practice, and stems from one odd fact: Hungarians have been synchronizing their own movies since the 1940s. "All domestic films [here] are dubbed, because this industry doesn't have the same film-making technology they do in places like America," explains Canadian-born Hungarian actress Kathleen Gati, who has starred in a host of Hungarian feature films such as Sose halunk meg (We Never Die) and Este Kornel. "The voice-over is a very important part of the film making process here." At one time, Hungary led the world in cinema technology. Hungarian movie magnate Sandor Korda erected Mafilm studios early in the century before going on to invent the British film industry, and to co-found the United Artists group in Hollywood. But Hungary's ascendancy as a cinema powerhouse ended with World War II. By the late 1940s, Magyar film found itself poorly tooled and under-funded. The inferior cameras filmmakers were forced to use made loud noises when operated and compelled directors to do something that had never been done in Hungary since the advent of "talkies" - abandon the use of "original" sound. In the post-war era, it soon become standard movie-making practice in Hungary and a few other European countries to shoot a film, and then dub in the dialogue afterwards. The cost in quality of this custom - the fact that lip movement and sound never completely match on screen - was overpowered by the advantages - directors could eliminate unwanted camera sounds, filter out background noise and re-write dialogue after a movie had been filmed. In some instances, this system bears fine results. "Sometimes I like it," admitted Hungarian-born filmmaker Gabe von Dettre. "I like the sterile effect" of a movie that does not use original sound. "I remember seeing French films that have done this technique very artistically, very interestingly." In other instances, the system sucks. "It's a terrible thing," said Gati. "You lose so much of the movie if you don't use the original sound. You lose quality. You lose feeling. I would say that Hungarian films become two dimensional because of the dubbing....There are good Hungarian films that have become mediocre because of it." For Magyars, one consolation grew from the dubbing tradition: When foreign films began arriving here in the 1980s and '90s, the industry had the know-how to make icons like Woody Allen, Bruce Willis, and Eddie Murphy speak directly to Hungarian audiences. Five decades of dubbing their own films had made technicians, directors, and voice-over actors experts at their craft, and well able to synchronize imported movies. Distributors were also pressured to synchronize. Audiences wanted it. Cultural expectations made sub-titled films anathema. And the industry could afford it, due to Hungary's low technical production costs and the ability to hire top actors and actresses for a song as voice-over artists. (Hungary's struggling thespians get about US $250 on average for dubbing a feature movie, according to MAFILM AUDIO Ltd., one of Hungary's premier sound studios.) The use of stage and movie stars to breath life into foreign films is the Hungarian dubbing industry's greatest asset. In the United States, English voices in dubbed foreign movies (think of the last gladiator flick you saw) are often performed by lower echelon actors, or -- at best -- professional "voice-over artists" who earn their living narrating TV commercials and documentaries. In Hungary, the situation is different. "The same actors who are stars on stage and screen also do dubbing parts," explains Takascy. Because of hard economic times, local distributors are able to hire the Magyar equivalent of Bruce Willis to be the voice of the real Willis in 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Die Hard'. Often the popularity of the local actor doing the voice-over can enhance the movie's successs. Muses Gati: "Woody Allen is a favourite here because of Andras Kern." Kern is not the only star involved. Istvan Bujtor is the voice of Bud Spencer. In a casting decision proving synchronization knows no color, Magyar star Gyorgy Dorner is the voice of both Bruce Willis and Eddie Murphy. But a film's dialogue is more than voices. Bringing a movie to Hungarian audiences in either a dubbed or sub-titled form necessitates translating the humour and cultural references of a strange land into the local vernacular. This task can be daunting when rhyme and word games figure into the script. Consider the US movie 'We're No Angels', which starred Rober DeNiro and Sean Penn. A comedy about two escaped jailbirds who pose as priests in a monastery to evade capture, the movie's climax occurs when a child tries to reveal their identity by telling a cleric that the two are 'convicts'. The hearing-impaired brother expresses shock, and answers, 'Converts?'... and the joke leads to the story's resolution. Replicating this pun in its exact form in Hungarian - where the words for 'convert' and 'convict' are dissimilar - is impossible. Takascy, hired to render this movie into Magyar, resolved the problem by altering the script. In the Hungarian version, the informer whispers: "OK a rabok." (They are convicts.) The stunned cleric answers: "Arabok?" (Arabs?) ... Not quite the same thing, but funny and fitting enough to resolve the film dramatically. The pitfalls of translating Hollywood films are not unique to Hungary. Many West European audiences also prefer foreign movies dubbed. (Interestingly, movie goers in Finland, Hungary's distant linguistic cousin, opt for original sound and sub-titles when viewing foreign movies, even on TV.) Inspired dubbings of zany ethnocentric American movies such as 'Wayne's World' reveal just how difficult the task can be. How do you translate "Schwing", the sound Wayne and Garth, the two post-pubescent protagonists of 'Wayne's World,' make when expressing sexual excitement? Don't bother consulting linguist Laszlo Orszagh, or any European dictionary. In dubbed versions in France, the boys say Ch'poing!; in Italy, Sboing!; in Spain, Dooing! The French equivalent of "I think I'm going to hurl!" is: "C'est l'heure de la purge." Clearly, Hungary didn't invent dubbing. But generous state-funding and a healthier economy in years past gave Hungarians the time, money, and luxury to be good at it. "There are some really fine examples of how great dubbing can be," says Takacsy. Most of these "examples" took place more than three years ago when dubbing professionals labored on foreign films for as long as two weeks to get it right. Now financial considerations demand that the same job be done in two days, and Hungarian audiences can hear the results. "Dubbing has become a trade, a business," laments Takacsy. "It used to be an art, and now it is an industry." "The pace of the work is much more rapid," she adds. "Everything has accelerated, and you can feel the result in the quality ... Hungarian dubbing is still very good, because we have good actors. It's just that, it used to be better." There used to be more of it too. According to Ferenc Haber, managing director of MAFILM Audio Kft., only 20 to 30 percent of Hungary's foreign releases are synchronized. The rest are sub-titled (an infinitely cheaper process) with the original sound in tact. "It has changed," says Haber. "Four years ago, half of the foreign feature films distributed in Hungary were dubbed." The reason for the decrease. Fewers Hungarians are going to the movies, and the cost of dubbing -like everything else - is going up. This is good news to some. Local distributors will continue dubbing blockbuster Hollywood features in a bid to attract large audiences. But they will be doing this less and less - a cruel fact that is causing Hungary's synchronization industry to 'purge' ... and Angol expats to 'Schwing!' * * * John Nadler is a freelance writer based in Budapest who writes for local and international publications. =============== PARLIAMENT WATCH Bokros's resignation means political rescue By Tibor Vidos Copyright (C) 1995 Finance Minister Lajos Bokros has resigned because the Constitutional Court invalidated yet another piece of his famous March 12 austerity package. Prime Minister Gyula Horn did not accept the resignation of his second finance minister, and defended him in front of the television cameras. Bokros will certainly stay in office as long as the tripartite agreement of the government, business and labor is signed and Parliament approves the 1996 budget. Bokros will decide whether he will be ready to continue serving as finance minister after assessing what legal and political tools remain in government hands to reform public spending. Five Constitutional Court decisions cut a HUF 30 billion hole in the stabilization program already. Bokros' resignation, whether deliberately accidentally, was extremely well-timed. One day before a crucial tripartite meeting about a price-wage agreement and the opening of Socialist Party convention, and a few weeks before the approval of the 1996 budget, Bokros could prove that he is indispensable, forcing the media to treat him as a serious politician trying to improve the country's situation but hindered by constitutional bureaucrats. Bokros also demonstrated statesmanship in showing he could draw conclusions from the Constitutional Court ruling: Either he is incompetent - in which case he should resign - or the Constitutional Court is exceeding its mandate by limiting the government's freedom of action in economic decision making. Since Horn kept his finance minister in office, the message is clear: It is the Constitutional Court that is to be blamed. Bokros, the most unpopular politician in the cabinet and a probable candidate for the most unpopular finance minister ever, has therefore done thus a great favour to the prime minister, who was facing heavy fire at the Socialist Party convention over the weekend. By resigning and blaming the Constitutional Court, Bokros has created a "besieged fortress" atmosphere in the Socialist Party. In this atmosphere it will be much more difficult to criticize Horn and Bokros for their policies. Horn immediately used this opportunity to rally convention delegates to support him and his government "because without support the government can not fulfil the role it has been entrusted by the electorate- to put the things of this country right." Bokros, whose forthcoming sacking has been widely rumoured among fellow socialist politicians, has thus accomplished what many did not believe he could have ever achieved - he secured his own political survival and significantly boosted the position of his boss. Carry on, Lajos ! At press time Gabor Fodor, Minister of Culture has announced his resignation as well. His relation with the Prime Minister has been strained for a significant amount of time. This resignation will be accepted by Mr. Horn without hesitation. * * * Tibor Vidos is a lobbyist and political consultant in charge of the Budapest office of GJW Government Relations. or A version of this article appeared in the Budapest Business Journal. =========== FINAL BLURB The Hungary Report is free to readers. To subscribe, send an email message to the following Internet address: hungary-report-request@hungary.yak.net containing (in the body of the message, not in the headers) the single word subscribe Conversely, to stop receiving Hungary Report, simply send to the same address (in the body of the message) the single word unsubscribe Please note: all mailing lists suffer from frequent "error" addresses. If we have problems with sending to your address more than one week in a row, we will remove you from the list. If you haven't received the report for more than one week, feel free to inquire directly to Steven Carlson (but please wait for at least a week, as we're also just famously late in getting the thing out sometimes : ) * * * Back issues of The Hungary Report are available on the World-Wide Web http://www.isys.hu/hrep/ and via FTP ftp://ftp.isys.hu/pub/hrep/ * * * ABOUT THE CO-EDITORS Angels' Land, Budapest native Kriszta Fenyo is a researcher for the BBC World Service and BBC Television, (also fledgling freelance TV producer for Reuters). She is also completing her PhD in 19th century Scottish history. She has lived in Hungary on and off since birth. Whitefish, Montana native Jennifer C. Brown reported for the Budapest Business Journal for a year before joining the Hungary Report. She also works as a freelance journalist for regional and international business and foreign affairs publications. She has lived in Hungary on and off since 1991. * * * The entire contents of The Hungary Report are copyrighted by the authors. Permission is granted for not-for-profit, electronic redistribution and storage of the material. If readers redistribute any part of The Hungary Report by itself, PLEASE RESPECT AUTHORS' BY-LINES and copyright notices. Reprinting and resale of the material is strictly prohibited without explicit prior consent by the authors. Please contact the authors directly by email to inquire about resale rights. * * * For information on becoming a corporate sponsor of The Hungary Report, contact Steve Carlson by email. Feedback is welcome. Rick E. Bruner, Creator <74774.2442@compuserve.com> Steven Carlson, Publisher Jennifer C. Brown, Co-editor Kriszta Fenyo, Co-editor Tibor Vidos, Parliament Watch Attila Beno, Magyar Net Watch * * * For its briefs, The Hungary Report regularly consults the news sources listed below -- for information about subscriptions, contact them by email: The Budapest Business Journal <100263.213@compuserve.com> & Budapest Sun <100275.456@compuserve.com> Budapest Week <100324.141@compuserve.com> Central Europe Today (free online) , as well as most Hungarian-language media (e-mail addresses to come). ================= END TRANSMISSION