Moreover, Sing is the second Hungarian film that earned an Oscar in the course of the past year, following last year’s Son of Saul, which won the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the 2016 Oscars.

Sing takes place in Budapest in 1991. According to the director, it is inspired by a true story, and “follows an award-winning school choir, their charming teacher and the new girl in class whose arrival starts a series of events that might expose the dark truth behind their fame.” The film stars two child-actors, Dorka Gáspárfalvi and Dorottya Hais, while the teacher is played by Zsófia Szamosi.

The Hungarian film made the Oscar nomination shortlist after – along with the four other films nominated – beat out 70 other short films from all over the world. However,

Sing has already had a great degree of international success before its nomination: the film won the Grand Prix prize at the Short Shorts Film Festival in Tokyo, the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Kids category, and the Adult Jury Prize in the Live-action Short Film category at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival.

Sing is the first Hungarian live-action short film to win an Academy Award, and only the second to receive a nomination; the first was 1963’s Concert, directed by István Szabó, who would go on to direct Mephisto, Hungary’s first Foreign Language Film Oscar winner.

Source: hungarytoday.hu

Republished with permission