What does it mean for someone or something to be Hungarian? People in
Hungary grappled with this far-reaching question in the wake of the
losses and transformation brought by World War I. Because the period
also saw the rise of cinema, audiences, filmmakers, critics, and
officials often looked at films with an eye to that question, too. Did
the Hungary seen on screen represent the Hungary they knew from everyday
life? And-crucially-did the major role played by Jewish Hungarians in
the film industry make the sector and its creations somehow Jewish
rather than Hungarian? Jews, it was soon decided, could not really be
Hungarian, and acts of Parliament soon barred them from taking major
roles in cinema production. This book tells the troubled story of that
period in Hungarian cinematic history, taking it up through World War
II.