András Kisfaludy collection

http://courage.btk.mta.hu/courage/individual/n2551

András Kisfaludy’s collection suggests ways of interpreting retrospective gazes on the alternative culture of the socialist period. While Kisfaludy is the owner of a sizable private collection that concerns alternative and dissent culture of the era, he is more a creator than a collector of documents. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was a member of the famous youth gang called "Kalef" (in 2006, he made a film about the gang). From 1968 to 1971, he was the percussionist of the underground band "Kex.” Kisfaludy began to make documentary films on cultural opposition in the 1990s. The core of his oeuvre was done between the early 1990s and early 2000s.

The status of the collection is special because the rights of the movies belong exclusively to András Kisfaludy, so the collection exists only as a private collection. However, the majority of his films are accessible via Youtube.

Location

Budapest, Hungary
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Languages

Hungarian

Website

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkGMR738BLE&list=PLDxywp84OBzvNMFZVkyfD93WAjEzkG8qT

Name of collection

András Kisfaludy collection

Provenance and cultural activities

Since the 1990s, András Kisfaludy has been making documentary films on cultural resistance in the socialist era. His private collection consists of copies of these films, which provide a backward glance on the socialist past.
Kisfauldy’s retrospection is very subjective. He himself was part of contemporary countercultural groups and movements as a member of the Kex rock-band and the Kalef youth gang. That is clear in his choice of themes, which include the Hungarian neo-avant-garde (e.g.Törvénytelen Muskátli I-III, 1996), the rock music scene (e.g. Elszállt egy hajó a szélben, 1998, R.B. Kapitány, 2002), literature (e.g. Mucius 1998), and youth culture (e.g. Kalef, 2008). Kisfauldy’s method of focusing his films on portraits of individuals (often artists) or groups of persons based on interviews suggests an intention to rehabilitate and reconstruct the experiences of a lost culture. His films juxtapose contemporary official footage and retrospective interviews with participants in countercultural groups. This approach to filmmaking draws a distinction between the mode of finding and showing existing documents and producing documents as replacements for allegedly lost documents. As a consequence of such representations, the generational experience of alternative and countercultural activities is seen as true cultural opposition: as subversive activities relating to musical performances (classical, avant-garde, experimental), exhibitions, and social habits.

Description of content

Kisfaludy András dokumentumfilmjeiben a neoavantgárd, rockzene és ifjúsági szubkultúra hazai történetének egy-egy szeletét (figuráját, csoportosulásait) ismerteti az érintettekkel készített interjúk és korabeli dokumentumok segítségével (filmhiradók, fotók, zenék, ügynöki jelentések, stb.). Személyes hangvételű filmjeiben egy-egy szereplőt vagy csoportot mutat be. R.B Kapitány - Radics Béla emlékére (2002) című filmben egykori barátok, zenészkollégák, rajongók emlékeznek Radics Béla alakjára, legendás - Jimmy Hendrixhez hasonlító (maga is ezt utánzó) - gitártechnikájára. Ez a momentum érdekes felvetéseket implikál a Kádár-korszak tömegkultúrájának alapvetően nyugat-orientáltsága, az eredetiségre való igény tekintetében (“ahogy Jimmy Hendrix”). A film Radics Béla portréján keresztül jól mutatja be ennek a vágyakozásnak a zenei hatásait, eredményeit és emberi nehézségeit.

Content

video recordings (including oral history recordings): 10-99

Operator(s)

Kisfaludy, András

Owner(s)

Kisfaludy, András

Topics

Founder(s)

Kisfaludy, András

Date of founding

1990

Place of founding

Budapest, Hungary
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Access type

parts are closed to the public

Publications

Zalán, Vince. ""...egész életét egy kártyára tette: a szellemre" (Kisfaludy András: A szellem filozófusa - Fülep Lajos című filmjéről)." Hitel 24, no. 9 (September 2011), 114-121.

Author(s) of this page

Bódi, Lóránt

References

Zalán, Vince. ""...egész életét egy kártyára tette: a szellemre" (Kisfaludy András: A szellem filozófusa - Fülep Lajos című filmjéről)." Hitel 24, no. 9 (September 2011), 114-121.

Kisfaludy, András, interview by Bódi, Lóránt, November 16, 2016. COURAGE Registry Oral History Collection

Last edited on: 2018-02-02 16:49:53

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