Darking Way was chosen as the best film at the Canadian Cinematography Awards international film festival. The TV film was produced by Mythberg Films in cooperation with the Arad Chamber Theatre and with the support of the Hungarian National Film Institute, directed by Zsolt Pozsgai, a Béla Balázs Award-winning filmmaker whose work has already won awards at numerous international festivals.
The filming of Darking Way took place in February this year, not at the original location in Arad due to the pandemic, but in and around a newly renovated castle in Nádasdladány, a village in Transdanubia. Zsolt Pozsgai’s film commemorates Ignác Török, one of the 13 martyrs of Arad, and through the fate of the martyr, shows the bloody retaliation after the Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848-49, the dawn of the execution of the 13 generals of the Hungarian Defence Forces. Sentenced to death by Haynau, Darking Way follows the twists and turns of Ignác Török’s last night, as a consequence of which the military general met his destiny right before his hanging.
The film has been in competition at several international film festivals, and in an unprecedented speed it won its first Best Film Award at the gold category Canadian Cinematography Awards international film festival. The film was also a finalist at two other international competitions, the Oniros Film Awards in New York, and the Hollywood Venus Awards in Los Angeles, with the results to be announced in June. The film has also been invited to several international festivals starting in the autumn, from the United States to Africa and Australia.
The theatre production of the same title, on which the award-winning film is based, premiered at the Arad Chamber Theatre on 5 October 2018. The drama was written and directed by Zsolt Pozsgai.
Ernő Tapasztó, artistic director of the Arad Chamber Theatre can also be seen on the small screen alongside Máté Szabó, Katalin Pap, Ádám Lux, László Janik, Tamás Varga, and Viktória Békefi. Cinematographer: Claudia Kovács, editor: Réka Pálfalvi. The soundtrack was written by Sámuel Pásztor, the composer of the highly successful Hungarian band Anna and the Barbies, and a song specially composed for the film is performed by Anna Pásztor.
According to plans, the gala premiere of the TV film will be held on 5 October 2021 in Arad.
