France – Cannes
Winner of the Palme d’Or for short film at the last Cannes Film Festival, 27 is an animated film that tells a tender and whimsical tale of the constrained sex life and fantasies of a twenty-seven-year-old woman forced to live with her parents. The film also highlights the housing crisis in many parts of the world, but particularly in Eastern Europe. Born in Budapest, 32-year-old Flóra Anna Buda drew on the personal experiences of many of her friends. Her story addresses a worrying social issue, and the director is not afraid to get involved, as evidenced by her acceptance speech for the Palme d’Or short film award. She addressed the audience on the alarming situation of the world’s largest short film festival, the Festival de Clermont-Ferrand, whose regional subsidies have been drastically reduced.
Alumni of an animation school in Budapest after studying fashion design, Flóra Anna Buda is also a visual artist and draughtswoman. “I have one foot in filmmaking and the other in illustration. I don’t want to choose between the two. They complement each other: making animation takes a lot of time, so it’s good to have projects on the side, which are quicker to do”, explains the filmmaker, whom we met at the Annecy Festival, where 27 is also in competition.
The young director has a number of projects in the pipeline: an exhibition on her work as a visual artist, and a feature-length film combining live action and animation. She now lives in Paris. Lacking public funding in Hungary, she turned to France to produce 27. As a thank you, she decided to move to France, “to contribute artistically to the country that welcomed my project. But at the same time, I still want to keep my Hungarian side. I’m still fighting for Hungary to change, even from the outside.”
27 de Flóra Anna Buda can be viewed free of charge on the Arte.tv platform.
Pierre Charpilloz