Balázs Varga's (Institute for the Theory of Art and Media Studies) research explores the evolving visibility, recognition, and canonization of post-1989 East-Central European (ECE) screen culture within European and global screen culture.
It focuses on five national contexts – Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Romania – and examines how films from these countries are positioned within both local and European canons. The analysis draws on three major areas: participation and success at leading European film festivals (Berlin, Cannes, Venice), recognition through domestic awards, and patterns of local and European theatrical distribution.
Contrary to the widespread perception of East-Central European cinema as inherently marginalized, the study argues that visibility and recognition are shaped by multiple, interdependent factors. These include the persistence of festival hierarchies, the growing role of transnational auteurs, and the evolving relationship between domestic and international audiences. While ECE films have maintained a steady presence at major European festivals and often translate festival prestige into European arthouse circulation, disparities remain between countries, and between domestic recognition and international acclaim.
This research addresses these dynamics through the lens of Thomas Elsaesser’s concepts of double occupancy and antagonistic mutualities, examining how films simultaneously embody national specificity and transnational appeal. It also interrogates the assumption that the post-socialist period represents a phase of decline compared to the “golden age” of the 1960s new waves. While the modernist era produced canonical auteurs such as Wajda, Menzel, and Jancsó, the contemporary scene is marked by fragmented, multidirectional, and hybridized forms of transnational filmmaking.
Particular attention is given to the emergence of new auteurs since the 2000s and 2010s (figures such as Cristian Mungiu, Kornél Mundruczó, and Małgorzata Szumowska) whose works circulate fluidly between local and global contexts. Their films often challenge national cinematic traditions while contributing to the reconfiguration of European art cinema. The project also explores the complex interplay between domestic film policy, auteurist strategy and vision, and festival-oriented production, emphasizing how canonization processes are affected by shifting cultural economies and media infrastructures.
Finally, the study situates these developments within the broader transformation of the contemporary screen ecosystem, marked by streaming platforms and accelerated circulation. These changes call into question traditional notions of film canon formation and critical reception. The project concludes that East-Central European cinema is not peripherally “absent” but rather undergoing a redefinition of visibility and value, shaped by transnational networks, new auteur generations, and the hybridization of national and global cultural frameworks.