Gergely Fonyo will direct a biopic of the famous Hungarian pop singer Miklós Fenyo budgeted at €2 million, titled Made in Hungaria. The director, who previously lived and worked in the US as a cameraman, was brought on board the project by Adam Nemenyi, the producer of Next Station Productions (www.nextstation.hu).

Gyorgy Palfi, the director of Taxidermia (2006) and Hukkle (2002), both of which are often described as "unique" and even "bizarre," has just finished the shooting of Triptichon, which by the director's description may well compare with his previous two productions.

Hungary's New Wave directors, seeking a way to counter declining film admissions, have launched a webTV site (www.madzagtv.hu) to get their films before a wider audience. Eight directors and three other members of the Madzag Film Club have agreed to put their works from the last 14 years on the website.

The former CEO of a top Hungarian distributor, Andras Kalman, has returned to his former position as executive of the Hungarian Foundation of Public Interest for Copyright Protection of Audiovisual Works (www.asva.hu) to help lead a new government initiative against piracy.

Astra Film Studio (www.astrafilmstudio.com), a new Hungarian studio that will cater to mid-budget movies in the $10-30 million range, will open for business in mid-March, Eva Herskovits, one of the managers, told FNE on Feb. 19.

Nine Miles Down, the only foreign movie currently in production in Hungary, has completed four weeks of shooting in Hungary, Csaba Czinkoczky, head of the domestic producer Silverback Company (www.silverback.hu), told FNE on Feb. 18. Shooting on the feature film starring Nick Nolte and Adrian Paul had been halted for nearly four months because the previous Hungarian partner, Laurinfilm, was unable to secure a bank guarantee.

Thanks to no. 2 and 3 domestic hits Cat City 2 and The Train Keeps a Rollin', Hungarian distributor Budapest Film had the best year in 2007 on the local movie market. Budapest Film handled only five of the country's 28 releases, while Hungarian film specialist Hungarotop handled 14 for third place by total gross revenue, according to the Hungarian National Film Office.

There were 28 domestic theatrical releases in Hungarian cinemas in 2007, the best year since 2004, but only one - S.O.S. Love! - made the Hungarian Top 10 box office for the year. Admissions for domestic films totaled nearly 1.3 million people and gross revenue stood at 889 million forints (€3.4 million), the lowest figures in four years.