Without Air

Elfogy a levegő

64th TIFF: Greek Premiere

Following a script that could have come straight from the headlines of the most sensational Greek media outlets just a few months ago (and their account of Shower Boys), Without Air takes us down the deepest corridors of a modern-day Hungarian high school. Here, a young ambitious teacher suggests that her students watch Agnieszka Holland’s film Total Eclipse, a fierce biography dealing with the passionate relationship between Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, as a means to gain a deeper understanding of the poets maudits’ poetry. However, when one student's father stumbles upon a segment of the film, he accuses the school of promoting homosexuality, leading to a scandal. While Hungary may have transformed into one of the most conservative and regressive countries in Europe recently, this brave, thoughtful, and captivating film underlines clearly that no social environment is immune to hatred and obscurantism.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Direction: Katalin Moldovai

Script: Zita Palóczi, Katalin Moldovai

Cinematography: András Táborosi

Editing: Orsolya Soltész

Sound: Gábor Kerekes

Music: Tibor Cári

Actors: Ágnes Krasznahorkai, Tünde Skovrán, Áron Dimény, Soma Sándor, Zsolt Bölönyi, Ágnes Lőrincz

Production: Magma Cinema, Spotfilm, Salamandra Film

Producers: Béla Attila Kovács, András Muhi, Katalin Moldovai

Costumes: Gyopár Bocskay

Production Design: Gyopár Bocskay

Format: DCP

Color: Color

Production Country: Hungary

Production Year: 2023

Duration: 105'

Contact: NFI World Sales

Katalin Moldovai

Born in Dés, Transylvania, Romania, 19/12/1982. At the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvanian in Cluj-Napoca, Romania she finished her BA degree in Film-Photo-Media studies in 2013. She continued her studies in Hungary at the Budapest Metropolitan University, where she earned her MA degree in Television and Film Directing. During this period, she directed short movies and a documentary film. Her latest short, As Up to Now (2019) was nominated for Cinéfondation Award at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival.